The OS Open

Roger federer had just completed the unthinkable - Winning 5 US Opens on the trot and now I was on my way to the court to play in the OS Open.

Well to clear any doubts on if I am a professional tennis player - Old Shepherd is the name of the Apartments where I live and any game played on the court in the apartment complex comes under OS Open(sorry if it sounds similar to US Open).


I reached the court and found that there are already 2 teams fighting it out for supremacy on the hallow turf and resign to the fact that I will have to wait until the match is over. There is only 1 court to play and so you will have to wait for your turn, which on a given day, would be 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile I am joined by my partner Muki and we start discussing about the our day in office and vent out our frustrations.


Soon the players clear the court for the STARS and we start off with a 15 minute practise session. What I like about this session is whatever shot I try during this period comes out perfectly be it a drop, cross court shot, overhead smash or backhand slice. As any sports person would say - "I am in the Zone" during the practise sessions.


The day we are joined by other players, Muki and I forge together to form the Fed brothers team and then set a target score to defeat our opponents usually 6-0 or 6-1. There have been instances when we have achieved the target, however it is a big fight in most of the cases and we start changing the targets as the match proceeds(asin we loose games in the set). All those shots which would have made Federer proud during our practise start falling like nine pins. At times we do end up playing badminton wherein the ball is in air between the teams.


The condition is the same when we play singles, balls tend to catch the net or go out long. The only good thing about playing singles is you end up running a lot thereby burning a small amount of fat - which was our ultimate when we started playing tennis. Both of us are almost evenly matched with the set going to the last possible game and usually won by the person who is least tired at that moment. We try to play as many games as possible as it is not always that we get the court free.

Today's game was pretty good but unfortunately could not play the full length as the sprinklers in our apartment started off and instead of watering the lawns they were wetting the court. We did try our best to play with the water on court but then better sense prevailed lest we fall and get injured. We walked back home with our hopes for a new edition of the O.S Open to be played tomorrow after all unlike US open, which happens once a year, OS Open can be played daily.