{"id":1956,"date":"2026-04-11T17:25:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ace-court.com\/felix-zen-me\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T15:02:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:02:38","slug":"felix-zen-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/felix-zen-me\/","title":{"rendered":"F\u00e9lix, Zen & Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I came to tennis late in life, despite a connection that had been well-marked since childhood by the annual rhythm of Roland-Garros every spring.<\/p>\n\n

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It just happened like that, during an ordinary match: the sound of a ball snapping against the strings. A click. That sound you then dream of hearing again and again, the adrenaline of it\u2014that sound that brings such a unique sense of joy. That sound which Jannik Sinner once explained plays a special role in his work and his relationship with tennis. <\/p>\n\n

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Ces moments de joie r\u00e9p\u00e9t\u00e9s me ram\u00e8nent curieusement au c\u0153ur des philosophies des arts martiaux et du zen lorsque l’esprit, d\u00e9barrass\u00e9 du mental bruyant, fait place \u00e0 une autre perception de l’espace et du temps, en le dilatant presque. Ce temps que l’on arrive \u00e0 se cr\u00e9er apr\u00e8s le rebond et avant notre frappe, ce temps si pr\u00e9cieux que l’on tente de gagner pour pr\u00e9parer le coup et surprendre l’adversaire.<\/strong> Ce temps qui semble devenir autre, plus lent, o\u00f9 tout peut se passer.<\/p>\n\n

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My martial arts teacher often reminded me of the importance for the mind to occupy the space\u2014to let go of preconceived patterns in order to execute the movement, to become one with the tool\u2014in this case, the racket\u2014as an extension of oneself.<\/p>\n\n

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Chez F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime, une puret\u00e9 de ligne et du geste qui rappelle la pr\u00e9cision d’un kata. Dans sa posture, tout est droit, \u00e9pur\u00e9, net.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

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Ce que je tentais d’appliquer sur un terrain de tennis. Faire le vide, le vide du zen, qui nous ancre dans l’instant, dans l’anticipation du geste adverse et tenter d’entrer dans cette danse, dans l’harmonie.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

With each attempt, one image would come to mind\u2014obvious, yet not entirely explainable (though perhaps that is precisely the magic of it): F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime. There is a purity of line and movement in him that recalls the precision of a kata. In his stance, as in his poise, everything is straight, refined, and sharp. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Many meditation and visualization techniques are now integrated into players’ preparation, and it is both fascinating and beneficial to open oneself up to explore other disciplines to find new depth in one’s tennis practice.<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

It seems to me that the Zen breath of Asian philosophies has much to offer to those who know how to listen to its sound… and its whispers.<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

Illustration r\u00e9alis\u00e9e avec Gemini<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came to tennis late in life, despite a connection that had been well-marked since childhood by the annual rhythm of Roland-Garros every spring. It just happened like that, during an ordinary match: the sound of a ball snapping against the strings. A click. That sound you then dream of hearing again and again, the adrenaline of it\u2014that sound that brings such a unique sense of joy. That sound which Jannik Sinner once explained plays a special role in his work and his relationship with tennis. Ces moments de joie r\u00e9p\u00e9t\u00e9s me ram\u00e8nent curieusement au c\u0153ur des philosophies des arts martiaux et du zen lorsque l’esprit, d\u00e9barrass\u00e9 du mental bruyant, fait place \u00e0 une autre perception de l’espace et du temps, en le dilatant presque. Ce temps que l’on arrive \u00e0 se cr\u00e9er apr\u00e8s le rebond et avant notre frappe, ce temps si pr\u00e9cieux que l’on tente de gagner pour pr\u00e9parer le coup et surprendre l’adversaire. Ce temps qui semble devenir autre, plus lent, o\u00f9 tout peut se passer. My martial arts teacher often reminded me of the importance for the mind to occupy the space\u2014to let go of preconceived patterns in order to execute the movement, to become one with the tool\u2014in this case, the racket\u2014as an extension of oneself. Chez F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime, une puret\u00e9 de ligne et du geste qui rappelle la pr\u00e9cision d’un kata. Dans sa posture, tout est droit, \u00e9pur\u00e9, net. Ce que je tentais d’appliquer sur un terrain de tennis. Faire le vide, le vide du zen, qui nous ancre dans l’instant, dans l’anticipation du geste adverse et tenter d’entrer dans cette danse, dans l’harmonie. With each attempt, one image would come to mind\u2014obvious, yet not entirely explainable (though perhaps that is precisely the magic of it): F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime. There is a purity of line and movement in him that recalls the precision of a kata. In his stance, as in his poise, everything is straight, refined, and sharp. Many meditation and visualization techniques are now integrated into players’ preparation, and it is both fascinating and beneficial to open oneself up to explore other disciplines to find new depth in one’s tennis practice. It seems to me that the Zen breath of Asian philosophies has much to offer to those who know how to listen to its sound… and its whispers. Illustration r\u00e9alis\u00e9e avec Gemini<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theaceopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Tennis-Zen-Debutant-e1776602941910.png?fit=2470%2C1696&ssl=1","acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1956"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2238,"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956\/revisions\/2238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaceopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}