So, my last step into the tennis column world backfired with extreme pace due to the actions of one N.Kyrgios (whom I still hold out hope for) but I'm back for another go.
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As this one isn't so much opinion-based content and hopefully features a fair bit more fact, it should age with the gracefulness of Kim Clijsters - who, at the age of 36, has recently announced her second comeback to the sport.
Often described as one of the loneliest sports in the world, tennis is one of the few where coaches aren't - traditionally - accepted for mid-match communication (just ask Serena following her 2018 US Open meltdown.)
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
With my first dig out of the way, that can be a reason for many a junior to throw the sport away. But now at the highest level, steps are being made to join some of the greatest athletes in the world together for ground-breaking showcases.
In 2019 alone, Hopman, Laver and Davis cups all co-exist and complement each other with 2020's growing list of team events set to include one big representative party.
In a move with far more power than Sam Groth's record-breaking 263km/h serve, the men's professional circuit (ATP) has added a self-titled cup to their repertoire - completely re-shaping Australia's summer of tennis.
At the expense of the annual Brisbane, Sydney and most importantly, our beloved Hopman Cup tournaments, the fresh-faced event will feature the current top-10 ranked players to officially bring the best to Australia in a team environment.
How awesome is that?
Outside of Grand Clam competition, where else can our country see that standard of tennis?
If you then factor in the Tokyo Olympics in the representative equation where doubles competition sees the likes of compatriots and multi-time Grand Slam winners Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka team up - the question has to be asked.
If all the big-named players enjoy playing these events and the public virtually eat out of their hands, why did this take so long for these events to hit the calendar?
Look, I do completely understand that you can't have an Olympics every year and the Davis Cup has seemingly been around forever, but why did it take this long for team events to consistently attract the world's best players?
Don't get me wrong, I completely love the idea and history of the Davis Cup, but run by the International Tennis Federation, it faces danger of being seen as a completely separate 'tournament' to the regular season and majority of the world's best don't compete in the opening rounds.
Despite my rambling whinging and griping, the move to more team-based competition in the tennis world will make the game a better place for both players and fans as the combatants familiarise themselves with rivals in close quarters.
Take 2019's Laver Cup tournament for example.
Held in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend, two stars that can't stand each other put aside their monumental differences for continental and ultimately, world success.
The Laver Cup is the week I look forward to out of the whole year.
- Nick Kyrgios
No, not Kyrgios and Pat Rafter or Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt, the other two - Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas represented team Europe against the World and potentially against their best wishes.
Upon tasting defeat at the hands of his Greek rival last year, Zverev blasted the up-and-coming youngster with a refreshingly honest, "I don't think he played that well.
"I think the match was absolutely pathetic on all levels. Today was an absolute pathetic match I don't even think he played well."
He backed it up in September this year with: "Tsitsipas does a lot to make the opponent lose his focus," following a US Open defeat.
These two seriously don't like each other but the Laver Cup brought them together with Zverev having something positive to say about this experience.
"It was an unbelievable weekend. Those guys [Federer and Nadal] were screaming at me in the locker room before the match tie-break, saying this is how I could turn my season around. Without all of these guys on the bench, I couldn't have done it," he said.
"This is very special, especially playing in front of those guys and having them trust me to play the last match."
A sentiment then backed up by opposing Team World member Kyrgios.
"I'm just out there trying to do what's best for my team.
"If that's me watching them play, standing out there for practice, I'm going to do whatever they need. The Laver Cup is the week I look forward to out of the whole year."
This seems like a glowing endorsement from someone who has previously said they don't like tennis.
As I mentioned before, it isn't just the players enjoying the event. Laver Cup's fans got a glimpse of their heroes before a human side of Federer greeted them.
Captured in the aforementioned locker-room talk with Zverev, Federer let rip a "I want to hear a 'let's go' and 'come on' every f*****g point you win. And every point you lose you f*****g take like a man."
To hear a man I've grown up idolising swearing away to fire his teammate up could either have a positive or negative effect on my 20-year-old mentality as my clean-cut Swiss hero suddenly became as Australian as a Vegemite sandwich.
And as I book my flights to the US for next year's installation of the Laver Cup, I'd say it was positive.
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