A day of delights, a day for keeps. Friday, and a concocted tale of fatigue and vague illness to deflect the attentions of the school, and—above all, following a late school concert the evening before, which included an epileptic episode in the audience that meant evacuating the hall and as a result Dex wasn’t in […]

It was a long question, it’s true.

A sneaky two-setter at Clissold. Rain held off and, overlooked by increasingly bizarre bird-life – cackling crows blown in the breeze like ragged binliners, screeching parakeets, and a grey heron, big as a sofa passing overhead on matchpoint – I battled my way to a 6-2, 6-3 win against Alvin. The gloop of info. All […]

It is all in the trusting.

David V’s trick for me of not looking where my backhand goes, instead keeping my head still as I play through the shot, worked wonders. It seems the same laws of physics govern the universe whether I follow the ball with my eyes or just trust the shot. Why, then, has it never occurred to […]

Communal showers, fresh fruit, and did I mention coffee?