When I was 18

 The hashtag #WhenIWas18 is trending on Twitter because Emma Radacanu listened to Piers Morgan. (Obviously she didn’t but he is claiming the victory as his because he was so rude to her after she pulled out of her Wimbledon match because she was having trouble breathing)

Not only did she win the US open, she did it as a qualifier without dropping a set and then stood up and gave the most perfect interview with pauses in the right places and nods to the right people. It was a masterclass that had us mere mortals in awe. These things have never been done before all at the same time. It was so amazing that all Tim Henman could say was, “Its insane,” and look like the proudest parent in the world and he’s not even her dad. I can only imagine how her actual parents were feeling.

When I was 18 I liked to wear socks the same colour as my jumper. 

Watching tennis always takes me back to when I was 18. The year I was doing my A levels was the year I was interested in tennis. (I have always been a serial hobbyist) I watched every Wimbledon match, walked the dog around the tennis courts to accidentally see the Long Suffering Husband playing tennis with his friend and I even had a go myself, which was an uncoordinated disaster. My form class were a motley bunch and I remember us talking about heavy metal bands and how difficult our A levels were.

We were all in awe of Lisa though because she not only had to do A levels but she also had to constantly argue with the school to let her have time off to play tennis. They were never very happy about it, even when, that year, she got to the middle Saturday of Wimbledon. 

Every time I watch tennis I hear an REO Speedwagon song, smell the unique smell of our form room (pencil sharpening sand rubber plimsoles) and wonder what she is doing now. I’m guessing she married a tennis player and they have sporty children but I don’t know. However at 18, while I was worrying about whether my socks matched my jumper she was about as cool as Emma Radacanu and had impossibly long , perfectly tanned legs.