Well, let me tell you about this girl, Svitolina, yeah, Svitolina tennis, that’s what they call it. She’s a tennis player, you know, like those folks on TV, always hitting that little yellow ball back and forth. I don’t get it much, all that running around, but my grandkid, they like it, so I watch sometimes.
Svitolina, she’s a fighter, I tell ya. Seen her on the TV, sweating and grunting, just like us when we’re hoeing the fields. She ain’t afraid of nobody, that girl. Big shots, small shots, she hits ’em all. Sometimes she wins, sometimes she loses, but she always tries her best, that’s what I like.
They say she played this Coco girl, yeah, Coco Gauff. Folks say Coco is a big deal, but Svitolina, she didn’t back down. Fought hard, she did. Lost in the end, though. Three sets, they said. Tough luck, I say. But she held her head high, they told me. That’s good, real good. You gotta be proud even when you lose, that’s what my old man used to say.
- She runs and runs. My goodness, all that running! Makes me tired just watching her.
- She hits that ball hard. Whack! You can hear it all the way from the TV.
- And she makes faces, you know, like she’s really concentrating. Like when I’m trying to thread a needle, that same look.
They show her highlights sometimes, you know, the best parts of her matches. Saw her do this crazy shot, a backhand overhead drop shot, they called it. Sounded fancy. Looked fancy too. The other girl, Kalinina, I think her name was, she didn’t even see it coming. Svitolina, she’s tricky.
She plays against all sorts of girls, you know. Sabalenka, Rybakina, all them big names. Sometimes she wins, sometimes she loses. That’s life, ain’t it? You win some, you lose some. But she keeps going, that’s the important thing. Like when we have a bad harvest, we don’t just give up, do we? We plant again next year.
And this Svitolina, she gets paid for playing tennis. Can you believe it? They said she makes a lot of money. More than two thousand dollars, I heard. Two thousand dollars! That’s a lot of money. We could buy a new tractor with that kind of money. Or maybe fix the roof.
They show her on ESPN, that sports channel. My grandkid, he always watches. He knows all about her. He tells me, “Grandma, look, it’s Svitolina!” And I look, and I see this girl running and hitting that ball. And I think, “Well, good for her, making a living doing what she likes.” Better than hoeing fields all day, I guess.
She played at Wimbledon, too, that big fancy tennis place in England. Lost to Rybakina there, they said. Didn’t see that match, but my grandkid told me all about it. He gets all worked up watching these matches, yelling and cheering. Reminds me of the county fair when they have those pig races. Everybody yells and cheers then, too.
And she played in Rome, too. Saw some highlights on Sky Sports, I think it was. Another one of them sports channels. They showed her playing against Sabalenka. Tough match, that one. Those girls, they hit that ball so hard! Makes my arm hurt just watching them.
So, yeah, Svitolina tennis. That’s what it’s all about. A girl hitting a ball, running around, trying to win. It ain’t my cup of tea, to be honest. I’d rather be in my garden, tending to my tomatoes. But it makes my grandkid happy, so I watch sometimes. And I gotta say, that Svitolina, she’s a tough one. A real fighter. Like me, I guess, when I’m trying to get that stubborn mule to move.
She’s got guts, that girl. That’s what I like about her. She doesn’t give up easy, no sir. And that’s important in life, ain’t it? Whether you’re playing tennis, or farming the land, or just trying to make it through the day, you gotta keep fighting. You gotta keep going. And that Svitolina, she does. So, good for her, I say. Good for her.
