Tennis in Chengdu

We were excited when we first read about Chengdu that they had the Sichuan International Tennis Center here with an annual Seniors Tournament.  Kirk was hoping to be involved in that, but apparently, the interest has faded and there was no tournament this year.  The website still only lists last year's tournament. 

However, UESTC has a Tennis Club, and Kirk was there right away to sign up. Membership in the club means you pay half price for court rental, but Kirk also is able to play free in the mornings when the "seniors" are allowed on court!  Ha!

He is always willing to give people, including our students, tennis lessons, and one day we went to the Ellison's apartment complex to play with them.  They have a list of rules for their courts which we found amusing.

Check the rules about high heels and warm-up--and don't lose the court.

The four courts on campus are outdoors near the stadium, swimming pool and exercise yard.  They are even lit at night!

The students and club members will choose their racquet on the way in.

The balls are kept in a hopper like this.  They actually started out green, but after about 4 hits, they're this color.  Beware the rust.

And the tennis club members could learn a lesson on what to wear when playing tennis.

But it's good to see them out there enjoying the sport.  

Last Saturday, the Tennis Club held a tournament.  Kirk and our neighbor and friend, Don, decided to compete.  I couldn't watch because we had no food in the house, so I had to go shopping and work on lesson plans.  But Kirk & Don came home beaming, telling of their great skills in showing the 18- to 24-year-old students that America Rules, and the Old Guys are Amazing!  Kirk won all his singles matches 6-0, and the last player shook his hand and said, "You never make a mistake!"  Don has only been taking lessons from Kirk since we moved here and has never played in a tennis tournament.  But in the doubles final, when he and Kirk were down, he held his serve and they broke their opponents' serves to win the final.  (And Kirk didn't knock him down like he once did me when I played doubles with him in a tournament!)  

International Tennis Champions Kirk Mosley & Don Mason

Their prizes were a knee brace, leg weights and some tennis balls. Way to go guys!