It’s exhausting watching tennis for seven hours

Before recently, I never understood why my parents would say they were tired after a weekend of watching me play multiple three-hour tennis matches. Why were they tired? I was the one who was on a court in the Texas heat while they sat on a shaded bench. But after spending one day at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship at River Oaks Country Club, I finally understand my parents point of view.

Since I was seven years old, I’ve been playing tennis. Because I didn’t have a lot of confidence growing up, I would be extremely nervous before each match, which would result in almost all of my matches lasting at least three hours. However, as time went by I started to gain confidence.

Following some rained out matches, I ended up going April 13 and seeing John Isner beat Leonardo Mayer, Steve Johnson beat Dustin Brown, and Thomaz Bellucci beat Maximo Gonzalez. Two of those matches went to three sets and lasted for at least three hours.

Johnson and Brown’s match started off with Johnson easily winning the first couple of games. But, Brown was not going to go down without a fight. He came back and the men went into a tie-breaker in the first set. Johnson won the tie-breaker 14-12 giving Houston one of the longest tie-breakers in the Open Era tournament.

It was exhausting to watch the Bellucci vs. Gonzalez match because the stands for their court are a lot smaller than the center court. The stands are also closer to the court, so the audience has to stay completely still to not distract the players. Staying still for more than two hours tends to leave your butt numb.

Another reason why watching tennis is exhausting is because of the stress the audience feels with every sport. I think it’s fair to say that most people want to see a good match and get their money’s worth when they attend a tournament. However, when you’re watching one of your favorite players struggle and start to lose, you feel stressed and want to pull out your hair.

It was obvious that Isner was struggling during his match. He told the media after his match that his stomach was upset and the weather was getting to him. It is hard to watch players struggle when you have seen them in amazing matches. Because Isner was feeling sluggish, he received a time violation and the entire crowd booed the umpire.

I noticed that during long points I would hold my breath and start to feel light-headed after a while. I almost passed out watching tennis, so I can only imagine the stress my parents felt when they watched me play.

If you’re a fan of tennis in the Houston area, I highly recommend going to the Men’s Clay Court. Even though you may get sunburned, sweat profusely, almost faint from holding your breath for a few minutes, sit on a wooden bench and lose feeling in your butt, the Men’s Clay Court provides a unique experience that is unlike any other tennis tournament I’ve attended.

Also published on Medium.