Schtitt & Mario's walk: the true opponent is the self
The true opponent, the enfolding boundary, is the player himself. [...] Tennis's beauty's infinite roots are self-competitive. You compete with your own limits to transcend the self in imagination and execution. Disappear inside the game: break through limits: transcend: improve: win.
Context
The metaphysical spine of the whole anthology, and the creed Incandenza found irresistible: the opponent across the net is "the partner in the dance," an occasion; the real match is against the self. "You compete with your own limits to transcend the self in imagination and execution" — the body drilled toward the moment it can disappear into the game and break through its own boundaries. This is the doctrine Stice's late transcendent match will embody and every plateaux-talk will restate: tennis as a technology of self-transcendence.