Hal v. Stice: the axiom that governs the net
Axiom: the man who has to hit up from the net is going to get passed.
Context
The sport reduced to a law. Stice's lucky forced half-volley leaves him hitting up from the net, and the game's grammar takes over: "the man who has to hit up from the net is going to get passed." It's stated flatly, an axiom, because at this level tennis is a body executing known theorems — the point is half-decided by geometry before either player chooses anything.