Sports commentators are well known for talking complete bollocks. They are much better than they used to be when the only qualification for the job was a plummy voice, but they still get carried away in the heat of the action like everyone else. However, I keep hearing tennis commentators say something that I just cannot let pass. It is not a slip of the tongue - it is a sentiment they repeat over and over: "One reason X is such a good player is that they make the opponent play one more shot". I don't understand this. In fact I cannot proffer any meaning for it other than "I like player X". Here is a challenge. Suppose that 'making the opponent play one more shot' really does mean something, and I claim that when I play my friend at tennis, I am better at whatever this something is than (say) Lleyton Hewitt (who is often said to have this mysterious quality). Tell me what it is that you are going to measure about our matches that will decide the issue.
Simon Dobson's occasional musings, invectives and miscellaneous nonsense