R-O-A-R!

About to join yet another padel tournament, I thought it was apt that I did a quick recap of the last one.

For the first time ever, I joined the Women’s Beginner, whilst my husband competed in both the Men’s and Mixed Beginner. Though my partner and I didn’t progress past the Quarter Finals’ round, my no-stranger-to-tournament husband proceeded to win back-to-back championship in both categories he competed in.

At national level, the tournament was well documented in pictures. Starting with the customary pre-match snaps of flashing your most amicable smile as you stood side-by-side with your opponents – made more genuine when said so-called opponents were your good friends, the abundance of action shots ranged from the laser-focussed look painted on your face as you wait to receive a serve to flaunting appropriate body formations as you prepare yourself to execute bandeja/chiquita/vibora.

During the finals of the Mixed Beginner, however, the photographer managed to capture this raw emotions of my husband and his mixed double partner.

Posted solely on his IG story, the raw emotions displayed on both their faces – captured at the precise moment the ball was still bouncing slightly off the ground – was nothing short of special, and truly remarkable.

Starting as a chance match play one Friday night when my husband (and I) just started ‘padelling’ (yes… that’s a word!), the chemistry between him and his now mixed double partner was a) almost instantaneous; and b) undeniable. Of similar levels and skills, their movements in court grew more in sync with each match play. Tipping more towards the extrovert side, they fed off one another’s overflowing positive energy – on and off the court. In short, having forged and nurtured a powerful bond of friendship-slash partnership, competing in the Philippine Open tournament seemed to be the most natural next step.

With so much adrenaline and focus coursing through your veins, it was impossible to recall every. single. detail of every. single. game; more as players, but also as spectators. As Roger Federer stated in his commencement speech to the Class of 2024 Dartmouth graduates,

When you’re playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world.

But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you. This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point… and the next one after that…

Sure, there are certain details that had become permanently embedded in your brain, you could simply – and vividly – recall them at any given moment, even without having to refer to the footage you’ve recorded and permanently saved on your smartphone. Seasoned tournament participants, both my husband and his double partner for the Men’s Beginner choked on their first-ever match, trailing 4-0 on the first set before they could shake their jitters off, take back the first set and subsequently winning the second. You remember perspiring as you watched a nail-biting third-setter game ending in an equally intense, neck-to-neck tie break before the whole place erupted as your friends won the semi-finals. A return delivered so fast and powerfully would have knocked an opponent right on his stomach (or lower!) had he been too slow in putting his racket up to block the ball. Or a cross court smash aimed so beautifully the ball simply whizzed past the opponent’s unguarded side.

Having witnessed my husband and his mixed double partner celebrated little victories as a way to further motivate one another throughout any match, seeing the picture above was perhaps not only warranted, but also to be expected. Completely uncoreographed (and practically impossible to ever be replicated again!), neither my husband, his partner, nor myself could pinpoint which part of the game warranted such R-O-A-R. Perhaps, they were celebrating a win after ‘cooking the shot’ to perfection. Or maybe they were relieved that the opponent hit the ball out after a long and intense rally. For all our fuzzy minds could recall, they could simply be celebrating an oh-so-beautifully-executed switch, for my husband and his mixed double partner usually occupied the opposite ends of the court. But, for all the utter jubilation exuding out of both their faces, one would never contest this could as well be the moment they won that oh-so-pivotal championship point (even if in reality, they were occupying the other side of the court)!