Tag Archives: tennis

What Tennis Meant to Tolstoy

By Robin Bates | Published: September 5, 2017

Leo Tolstoy picked up tennis late in life, even though at one point seeing it as symbolic of bourgeois decadence. A look at the novel “Resurrection” explains why he changed.

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Federer, Unlike Ulysses, a Family Man Hero

By Robin Bates | Published: July 13, 2017

Time and again with Roger Federer, thinking he is nearing his end, I have cited Tennyson’s “Ulysses.” He keeps proving me wrong. One reason may be because he has a different relationship with his family than Tennyson’s protagonist has.

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Sports Injuries, Declining Magical Powers

By Robin Bates | Published: April 21, 2017

My tennis performance, once decent, has declined since I suffered a foot injury and underwent cataract surgery. I therefore find myself identifying with Ged In LeGuin’s “Wizard of Earthsea” and Taran in “Black Cauldron” when they suddenly find themselves stripped of magical powers.

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One Equal Temper of Heroic Hearts

By Robin Bates | Published: January 30, 2017

Federer and Nadal resumed their legendary rivalry in the Australian Open finals and played a match for the ages. They are both old in tennis terms and by all rights should have been surpassed by the next generation. Therefore Tennyson’s “Ulysses” seems the proper poem to acknowledge them.

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Marriage & Tennis, One and the Same

By Robin Bates | Published: July 7, 2016

Maxine Kumin’s poem “Prothalamion” is at once a celebration of marriage and tennis. I share it today to honor Roger Federer, who continues to dazzle long past the expiration date for tennis players.

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Can Fed Keep Going? The Bard Weighs In

By Robin Bates | Published: August 23, 2014

I fear that, in the upcoming U.S. Open, Roger Federer will be like Gremio in “Taming of the Shrew.”

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Strong in Will vs. Time & Fate

By Robin Bates | Published: July 19, 2014

Roger Feder, like Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” braved time and fate and came up just short.

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The Agony of a Federer Fan

By Robin Bates | Published: September 7, 2013

Federer’s early tournament losses bring about an agony not unlike that of poet Richard Shelton mourning the death of his beloved Sonora Desert.

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Victorie, No Gory Bed, for Andy

By Robin Bates | Published: July 13, 2013

A Burns poems will serve to honor Andy Murray’s Wimbledon victory while a Susan Bright description of Martina Navratilova applies to woman winner Marion Bartoli.

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