Let Tennis Players Smash Their Rackets

Ms. Davis is the features editor at W magazine.

There’s a longstanding perception that tennis is snobbish and genteel, a country club activity that allows cheering only at appropriate moments. After all, it was a pastime for Victorian gentlemen and ladies who wore white because the color best masked sweat, an impolite fluid. But tennis is not a prissy sport to play or watch. It’s individuals locked in a solitary battle, enduring an often hidden psychological drama. Nothing makes that drama more visible than a smashed racket.

As a casual, mediocre tennis player, even I get angry with double faulting. I’ll loosen my........

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