It All Ends One Day

Yesterday, when I and my hitting partner Jason were exiting the courts after a strenuous practice we saw that car moving past us.  Our smiles evaded instantly.  

“It’s him. He was here” said Jason. Our eyes followed the car till it disappeared taking a turn at the Ashworth Road. Then there was silence. Pretty long one though. Then I turned to Jason and asked the same question even though I knew the answer, “Any luck?”

As usual Jason shook his head.  We then slowly walked to our cars. I sat in my car. The beads of sweat moved down my neck from my forehead. I didn’t switch on the AC. I was staring at my windshield and then I closed my eyes. As always that flashback scene played like a YouTube video before my watery eyes. 

“Ed, what’s wrong with you?  Please pull the glasses down. Are you listening to me? I called you a million times.   Are you angry or something? Please”. He hadn’t lowered the glasses of his car. He just looked on without blinking an eye or uttering a word.

It was in April 2012 that I first saw Ed talking to Jason on Crossroads Tennis Park. He was 50+ but looked more like 40, fit as a rock. He looked Hispanic and must have been 5’ 8’’ long. He was speaking enthusiastically to Jason while they approached me. 

 “You use your wrist in your backhand. You should not use wrist” he told me in a Spanish accent

‘Who the fuck are you?’ I thought of telling him immediately surprised to see his guts to tell me on my face that my backhand sucks.

“This is Ed. I met him few days back” Jason introduced him to me. I and Jason played for the same club and were good friends.

I just shook his hand and left the courts. That night I couldn’t stop myself from browsing YouTube videos on one handed backhand techniques. Holy Christ! Ed was right. One shouldn’t use wrist or elbow for backhand drive. It’s only the shoulder. Then I realized why I wasn’t hitting through the ball and was finding it difficult to hit backhand winners.

  

 The next day I went and shook Ed's hand and thanked him for his tip.

“I am preparing for Michelob Light Open, an USTA tournament”, he said practicing his serve

“For the first time I am playing in open division you know. I am practicing since 3 months” He sounded lot more confident and enthusiastic.  After his practice we sat on a bench. I inquired him about his past.

Ed was born and brought up in Houston.  When he was in high school he was so bad in Tennis that he was being shooed away from the fellow players. Then he decided to learn the game on his own. He subscribed the Tennis magazine and learnt the game by hitting the ball to the wall for years.  Then he won his first USTA tournament.  He then went on to win many more tournaments and became a lethal player. He worked in the night and all day he would be in the courts.

“I have been playing since the past 30 years. Only thing that stayed with me is Tennis”  He said. That confirmed the fact that he had no family and was living alone.

One day I and Jason asked him if he could coach us. He neither said a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’. We took it as a Yes.

“There are two kinds of players. One, recreational players who don’t care whether they improve or not. They go on playing till they die. Second, those players who want to improve every single day. The moment they realize they are playing worse than before, they just stop playing”  He said.

I and Jason nodded after all Ed was a Tennis guru. 

Our coaching started. Ed used to ask us to hit balls. Then he would suddenly jump on court in the middle of play and yell, “how many times haven’t I told you? Lock your elbow while tossing the ball. And look at your toss, you are tossing to the moon; like Sharapova. Zero gravity! You have to hit the serve when the ball is at zero gravity” 

We used to incorporate his coaching religiously. He taught us many things. The game strategy, How to read opponent’s mind, how to serve depending on the match situation, high percentage tennis, volleying, rackets, strings, tension and so on.  He used to watch our club matches and later tell us what mistakes we did. Once Jason leading in a match tanked it because he was intimidated by the size of the opponent and his tantrums. Then Ed took us few sessions on Mental Conditioning.

That night he told us how he won his first USTA title.

“I was just out of high school. All my opponents were bigger than me. The key was to never look into their eyes”  He finished that day saying how much he was looking forward to the Michelob Lights tournament, his biggest of them all. 

Then I lost couple of matches back to back.  “Ed, please don’t watch my matches. I don’t feel comfortable” I requested. He nodded.

My next match was with Mark Schmitd at Wavalands. I was playing well as Ed wasn’t watching my game. I had won the first set and serving at 4-4 in the second. Then suddenly Ed appeared. I did a double fault. Then realizing I was tensed he quickly left the stands.  Then I recovered and won the match.

Next day Ed told me, “When the opponent is at the net, and when you are slicing with the backhand, never give any air to the ball. He will easily put it away. Your slice should always be just an inch above the net so that he has to dig down to fetch the ball”

He was pointing at my mistake in the previous day’s match.  Before I could ask him anything he said,

“I was hiding and watching you play”

In the second week of July 2012, Ed’s tournament was to be held in ASPEN indoor courts. I and Jason wished him luck. He smiled and said “Thank you”

And little did we know then that it would be the last time Ed would ever say a word to us or look at us with a smile. 

The following Sunday I got a call from Jason. He asked, “hey did you call Ed?”. I said no.

Then he said he called Ed several times but he wasn’t picking his phone.  I told Jason, “Since he lost his tournament he must be upset. Let’s talk to him in the courts”

For the next couple of days we didn’t see Ed at the courts. We had called him a thousand times already. No response. No reply to emails too. We panicked.  Next day Jason again called me and said he saw Ed at the Walmart but he didn’t stop the car even after seeing Jason. That was weird.

Something must have happened in the tournament.  I and Jason decided to find out the truth. The same day we went to the ASPEN center and requested them the info about the guy to whom Ed had lost in the tournament. It was Alan Reed.

“I am at the Walker Johnson park. Why don’t you come over?” said Mr. Reed on the phone

We went there and asked him breathlessly if anything uncommon happened to Ed at the match.

“Oh that guy? You don’t know what happened?” asked Mr Reed

“No” we said in unison

“He was cruising along well in the first set at 4-1. But suddenly his knees broke”

“What?”

“His knees froze in the middle of the match. He couldn’t move. He collapsed on the court itself.  He had been abusing his knees since decades. Every knee has a breaking point. I doubt if he will be able to play tournaments again”

Then suddenly Ed’s words echoed in my ears. ‘The moment they realize they are playing worse than before, they just stop playing’

I and Jason both looked at each other in disbelief.  We couldn’t contemplate the fact that Ed could have hanged his boots if whatever Reed told was true.

“I think Reed is right. Ed must be suffering from the shock that he wouldn’t be able to play competitive tennis anymore. So he must be avoiding everyone. May be he doesn’t want anyone to sympathize with him which would only hurt him.” Jason explained to me

That night was the longest night of my life. I didn’t get sleep. I kept on thinking. 

Than that scene which I explained at the beginning happened after couple of weeks. Even after my persistent pleading he refused to lower the glasses of his car and speak to me. 

It’s been 15 months since it all happened.  Everyday Ed drives his car to the courts, parks in the parking lot and watches people play for hours. He does that every single day without blinking an eye or uttering a word.  I just wish I don’t become another Ed Vargas. It all ends one day