Ken Rosewall was playing at a tournament at UCLA.
He sat in the stands during a break. I headed his way
To ask him about his backhand. I hoped he’d hold court
And reveal the secret of his shot --- the best in the sport.
Rosewall kindly went into great detail --- I happily thrived
On each remark he made until his next opponent arrived.
*
I didn’t ever wind up competing in a professional tennis event:
At twelve, I had managed never to hear an Australian accent.
In this chat, I was so focused but that dialect was formidable:
I hung on every word without understanding a single syllable.
I learned about language then, not tennis. To be candid, one
Should also add that this assessment isn’t a backhanded one.
