THE DAY OUT AT THE TENNIS

My friend Luke and I went to the tennis today. It was great, but also an experience I've been reflecting on.

A little context. In October I won two tickets in a competition, to see the ATP tour finals - where the world's best players battle it out in an indoor arena (The O2) at doubles and singles. I took Luke, who likes tennis, so that I'd have some company, and someone would be able to tell me what was going on.

Melo and Kubot beat the Bryan Brothers, then Gregor Dimitrov obliterated David Goffin in a dazzling array of slices and powered returns of serve. That's what was going on. But oh so much more.

I loved the theatre of it - an element I wasn't expecting. The lights dim, the crowd of thousands hush, and the fine performers entertain and delight. The yellow ball rises clear against the dark and then gets thwocked around the immaculate blue court. Quicker than the eye it sails over the net, and dances as it bounces from racket to racket. Trainers squeak, the crowd gasp, the ball clips and flicks as the players dart and move majestically, impossibly. A line judge calls! The ball skips into the air and into the crowd, and the point is over with a colossal round of applause.

I loved it. I loved the story of it, not to mention the irrefutable feeling of actually being there, some 40 metres away from the fourth and seventh best tennis players on the planet, breathing the same air, feeling the same temperature, hearing the same Bulgarians chanting, live and in the room. It felt almost unreal.

Another thing I liked was how closely this difficult game resembles chess. I expanded my theory to Luke afterwards.

"In chess, you're always trying to push your opponent into a certain set of moves that end with you winning. The pattern of events is almost inevitable when you have control."

Of course, chess allows you time to think and flex and plan those moves. Tennis is like chess, but chess where you've got less than a second to plan your next move. It occurred to me that what I'd seen were players who made that look startlingly easy, and were probably doing it without thinking, as naturally as water flows downstream, or perhaps as smoothly as I might change key from G to B major without ever really thinking about it.

So we had a fabulous time, I think. Afterwards we went to the Natural History Museum and saw some dinosaurs. Then we ate pizza while Luke made me list Premier League teams, and I quizzed him about US Presidents of the Twentieth Century.

I thought about Dublin. Walking round that city had made all this possible - the Ha'penny Bridge, the O'Connell Monument, the GPO and Temple Bar. 75,000 steps and with no idea that my tired legs and worn-out old boots would lead to me having one of the most enjoyable days out I'd had in a long time. But of course, a lot of that was down to Luke, whose company for thirteen hours, never once wore thin. I was really grateful.

I should win more competitions!