The Toughest Game

It's the time of year when the BBC sets about whipping up Wimbledon fever. In the latest overexcited trailer, a portentous voice (John McEnroe's?) informs us that 'the toughest game of all is against yourself'. Well of course it is - if you've ever tried it you don't need telling. Lob the ball up, jump the net, dash to the far end, whack it back before it bounces twice, jump the net again, race it to the line, whack it up... Tough? I'll say - but does Wimbledon do solo tennis?
It reminds me of a running gag on a sketch show (The Fast Show?) where a couple would be having a quiet drink, and a desperate lonely old man would try to engage them in conversation by finding out what their occupation was. Whatever it turned out to be, he would claim to have done it himself. 'Yeah I was in the ballet game meself. Years I was in the ballet game.' Pause, suck in breath through missing teeth, shake head. ''Ardest game in the world, the ballet game.'