the most incredible tennis match EVER

26 June 2010 laurie matthews Leave a comment

3 days. Multiple records broken. All eyes were on Court 18 for a momentous match between American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

Listening to it on Radio Wimbledon, we couldn’t believe our ears as game after game went on without a break of serve by either player. The fifth and final set of this match was longer than the longest previously recorded match in history. But the most impressive part had nothing to do with length of time or aces served. What impressed the most was how each player exhibited such incredible sportsmanship. They both wanted to win, that is undeniable, but they also showed incredible respect for each other throughout. And with that simple fact they gained the admiration of millions of tennis fans around the world. As John Isner said as he left the court when play was suspended at the end of Day 2, “Nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever.”

4:57 p.m. on Day 2 – Most games in a set (previous record – 48 to new record – 138)

5:44 p.m. on Day 2 – Longest match (6hr 33 min to 11hr 5 min)

5:59 p.m. on Day 2 – Most games in a match (112 to 183)

6:24 p.m. on Day 2 – Most aces by a player (78 to 112)

9:06 p.m. on Day 2 – Most aces in a match (192 to 215)

art, favorite things, photography

hope

20 June 2010 laurie matthews Leave a comment

I’ve found a ray of hope. It may not look like much, but that ray of hope is embedded in this photo.

It was taken with my old Polaroid SX-70 and new film made possible by the IMPOSSIBLE project. When polaroid announced a few years back that they were suspending production of their instant film I thought I’d never be able to use this (or any of my other polaroid cameras) again. So when the film arrived on my doorstep a few weeks back I was ecstatic.

I waited for a beautiful sunny day and then loaded my camera with the new film and went outside to shoot flowers in my garden… but try after try resulted in disappointment. Some got caught in my camera’s old cranky mechanisms, some turned out overexposed, and others were woefully underexposed. If I looked hard enough I could see some semblance of an image, but it was like finding a needle in a haystack. I put the camera away.

I didn’t hold much hope when I pulled the camera out again today, but thought I’d give it one more try. It wasn’t a beautiful sunny day. The light wasn’t flowing. Clouds had been hovering overhead all day long. Truth be told I gave it a few more tries and out of the ashes came a photo with a bunch of beautiful white daisies. They appeared out of nowhere… like magic. The magic that only this camera and this film can create.

It’s not perfect by any means, but hope has nothing to do with perfect. Hope is better. Hope just has to have another day. Hope is a bunch of little white daisies that appear like magic on a piece of film.