Frenemy tennis: 5-set comeback
Tim Lopez and his frenemy Evan staged a 5-set amateur doubles comeback at UCLA's Arthur Ashe Tennis Center, winning despite being down 5-0 in the third set.
Where this was said
Tim Lopez: Frenemies on the Court
At 29:20 · chapter starts 26:34
Tim Lopez lays out the scene carefully: four college friends, an empty stadium, the hallowed court where professionals play the Mercedes Benz Invitational. [1] — Tim Lopez "Tim Lopez and his college frenemy Evan couldn't agree on anything. They were garrulous, emotionally volatile, and each convinced the other …" 26:34 Tim and Evan — both garrulous, emotionally volatile, convinced the other was the lesser intelligence — draw each other as partners. It goes predictably badly. They're blown out in the first two sets and down 5-0 in the third, screaming insults and cataloguing each other's failures as human beings. Then something shifts. Their opponents ease off; Tim and Evan claw back to 5-5. By the fourth set, they've stopped talking entirely, communicating instead through gestures and body language in what their friends later call the longest either of them had ever been silent. They win the fourth set. They win the fifth on a stunning backhand liner down the sideline. They run at each other, hug, perform a spontaneous choreographed-looking dance, and carry each other off the court. Within months they are inseparable. The reason, Tim concludes, is simple: 'the only thing we hated more than each other was losing.'
Frenemies on the Court: The Most Amazing Amateur Tennis Match of All Time
Tim Lopez and his college frenemy Evan couldn't agree on anything. They were garrulous, emotionally volatile, and each convinced the other was the bigger idiot. But down 5-0 in the third set of a late-night doubles match at UCLA's Arthur Ashe Tennis Center, something shifted. Their stubbornness stopped pointing at each other and started pointing at the scoreboard.
The Silent Partnership: When Frenemies Stop Talking and Start Winning
In the middle of an epic five-set amateur tennis comeback, Tim Lopez and Evan stopped screaming insults at each other and started communicating through gestures and facial expressions alone. Their friends later said it was the longest either of them had ever gone without speaking. They won the match.
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