Inside Daniel-Yaw Miller's tennis bag
Bodega snacks, a giant dog-umpire, and Central Park locals that keep bailing on him the night before.
I sometimes joke to my girlfriends that I’m a jock. It’s not a very funny joke, but it’s a label that makes relative sense, since none of them are even vaguely into sports. Widen the scope and you’ll see that I only care about one sport; the sport of tennis, and would sooner reorganize my kitchen cabinets than watch a field full of adults squabbling over a ball.
Conversely, Daniel-Yaw Miller is properly into sports. He writes about all sorts of them in his very good newsletter, SportsVerse, a study of the ways in which sports fraternize with fashion. We met via this very app, and he’s quickly become one of my favorite people to hit with. He’s made me realize that I like my hitting partners ruthless yet unserious, and ideally, British. (Those last two traits are, of course, very much linked.) Dan has reminded me to laugh at the dumb shit I do rather than sinking into good-for-nothing shame spirals and throwing my racquet into the neighboring playground. Will somebody think of the children?
In this installment of Inside my tennis bag, Dan laments the (unrequited) hitting partners who keep bailing on him, shares the kind of bag he’d never carry, and shows you how to hit four gorgeous forehands in a row.
How did you get into tennis?
I’ve played tennis almost as long as I’ve been able to walk. My mum is a really good player and she used to take me and my younger brother to our local park to train us as kids. She always wanted to keep us active and engaged whenever we weren’t in school and tennis was her way of doing that. I played in patches throughout high school and university but a lack of formal coaching has meant I’ve maintained a level of inconsistency in certain areas that has kept me placed firmly in the bang average to semi-decent tier of player. I love so many sports (mainly: soccer, basketball, track and field), but tennis is my favorite to play.
Where do you like to hit and with whom?
I love to hit at the Jackie Robinson courts in Bed-Stuy. My guy Erick, a lovely man and the founder of tennis brand FURI, first introduced me to the spot shortly after I moved to this country earlier this year. These days I hit there multiple times a week with Mel, the very author of this newsletter.
Four forehands, a masterclass:
Elsewhere in NYC, I’ve played a bunch at Prospect Park, the East River Park courts, and I once got a chance to hit at the very fancy Hudson River Tennis Club. My next mission is to play at Central Park but people on the Facebook group who promise to secure courts there love to bail on me the night before, so it hasn’t happened yet. I also get down to Miami whenever I can, to hit with my guys Ransley, John and Cristina at Miami Racket Club.
What’s your favorite way to win a point?
I love hitting a deep forehand winner down the line to end a rally that has gone on far too long. I have also lately developed a taste for hitting a drop shot winner [Ed’s note: I have been humiliated by these more times than I care to admit] which we can thank Carlos Alcaraz for.
Why do you keep coming back to tennis?
It has so many positive associations for me. It’s the sport I have played the longest in my life and the sport I always used to play with my Mum and brother when I was a kid in our local park or even against a wall. It’s also such a good sport for my mental health because of how much you have to work on your psychology and calm your mind to play at a half-decent level or hit certain shots consistently. I have also met so many great people through tennis, and now it’s pretty much the only organized sport I still play, since my soccer days are over and running just hurts. Also, there’s no better feeling than hitting an ace or a winner right out the sweet spot.
What’s in your bag?
My warm take is that unless you’re a pro or wannabe D1 athlete, carrying around those massive tennis bags is kinda lame. I use this sturdy Wilson tote bag that fits my FURI racquet, has a cute clip to hold my hand sanitizer, Cadence electrolyte powder I got for free at a Miami Racket Club event, Nike sunglasses, and my spare Yonex strings and Wilson overgrips (both of which I helped myself abundantly to from [redacted brand event] during the US Open). Also my On sweat towel, plus dried mango and trail mix from the local bodega. Essentials. Oh, and my tennis bag will soon welcome a new racquet: a Yonex Ezone 98, which I’m very excited about.
The weirdest thing you’ve ever brought to court?
One time back in London, a friend and I were babysitting another friend’s crazy, giant, misbehaved dog, but we desperately wanted to get a game in—so we brought the dog and he became our umpire. He was surprisingly chill and sat down and watched the whole game without any fuss.
Morgan Riddle, main chick to Taylor Fritz, used her IG for good last week, sharing a video with the strapping Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota where Moorgs is from. The unlikely besties react to the federal government shutdown that further extinguishes the special education services children with autism, ADHD, and other disabilities rely on.
This is a Snoopy tennis stand for a Nintendo console of the same name. It is engraved and spectacularly cute and you could surely use it for something else??
Do you, as a New Yorker, have a reliable tennis plan for winter?! Supposing you don’t, AD-IN will be hosting weekly indoor round robin sessions at McCarren Tennis Center and Stadium Tennis Center so you can avoid joining Equinox or whatever people do.
Further reading:
What an honor!!
Cum Umpire