Some women now actually believe they are as strong as men

There really aren't many women stronger than men. Look at the Lat Pulldown - Most ladies might have 1 or 2 plates. Pretty much every man except the super old ones do much more than that.

Simple as, and it applies across the board. Can the average man beat the new women's records like 4:07 mile or 14-flat 5k? Heck no! Most male runners can't! Can quite a lot of trained men beat those times, most of whom will never really "make it" in the top levels of men's track? Heck yes! If you picked out a random male runner and a random female runner, is it most likely the male would win a race against the female? Of course -- but not always, I could be randomly paired against Faith Kipyegon and she would whup me!

To OP's point, I am definitely noticing some difficulty among the younger generation in telling fact from fiction. They'll get offended by some subtlety they don't like in a movie just as much as if they'd seen a real offensive thing occur in real life. I suspect that a lot of young women are high on their own supply after seeing movies where a tiny woman faces 12 hulking henchmen and she is able to throw them all through a wall. There's also a bit of a weird interplay in the whole "oppressed class" dynamic, where the privileged class (here, "men") is simultaneously supposed to go easy on the "oppressed" class without actually admitting they're going easy, and the privileged class is expected to gush about the oppressed class's "accomplishments" as if they were earned straight up rather than the result of going easy on them. That combination of youthful delusion and the contradictory "go easy but act like I won for real" demand are combining to create OP's situation with the female tennis opponents. Modern thought is full of weird contradictions like that, and people with certain political or social interests have purposely created and maintained the tangled "logic" that pervades modern thought because it benefits them.

Men do pull-ups, Sally

Weird troll thread. Do you actually play tennis? Because the idea of "losing by a point" really doesn't make sense in the context of this particular sport.

Chase Ealey

…Paul Chelimo

Pretty sure most tennis players would say “I’m leading by a point” rather than “I’m leading by 15” or w/e.

Right. I'm not arguing that.

A tennis match consists of sets. Sets consist of games. Every game must be won by at least two points given the way the scoring works. The idea of leading by one point all match and then winning the match by a point just doesn't make sense.

How do you win "a few games" leading by one point the whole way?

I'm not the OP and wouldn't feel the need to crush them. I'm just thinking about times I play my wife's sisters. We don't play too hard. We keep score on individual games, but don't have sets and matches. Just a few fun games and then out for a drink and appetizer. The OP could probably reach a very different outcome if they relaxed and enjoyed themselves.

There are many women stronger than some men...

mixed doubles is where it's at brah

Weird, insane and meaningless. It’s beyond me as to why anyone would care about your experiences in recreational tennis and why would such a small sample size mean anything?

Unlike many mammals, human males and human females are relatively close in size. There are many females whom are bigger, faster and stronger than most males. Why wouldn't strong female human athletes be confident competing against average men athletically?

Please come meet me at Red Roof Inn.

My current wife played tennis in high school. She took it very seriously and spoke about it often when we dated. She made it very clear, she was very, very good at tennis, having been a varsity player at a private high school.

I played casually, occasionally with friends, and took "tennis class" as a blow off credit, in college. But I never thought of myself as any good, at tennis, and never played competitively. I probably couldn't have made varsity in high school, certainly not college.

She very much wanted us to square off in a match. It became clear she had something to prove. I suggested we just hit the ball back and forth, for fun. She insisted, it much be a scored match. I agreed finally. (For reference, my wife is only 1/2 inch shorter than me and only 10 lbs lighter).

We finally squared up for her much desire tennis match. We played two sets. I beat her 6-0, 6-0.

It wasn't fun for either of us. I actually felt bad about it. She seemed crushed. I didn't use any special techniques in that match other than to hit it as hard as I could, over the net.

We have never played tennis since that first and last match over 20 years ago. In fact, I've never so much as brought it up in conversation, nor has she.

seems it was a pyrrhic victory for you.

Sure. It’s basically impossible to lead any scoring game by one point the entire contest though, isn’t it? So instead of leading by 0 to 1, 0 to 1, maybe the OP meant he leads by 1 to 2, 1 to 2.

I think it’s an inane thread, and admittedly this internal discussion is perhaps even worse. I’m just saying I don’t think his saying he leads by 1 point the whole match and wins by 1 point (which is the same as technically winning by 2 points) is evidence that he doesn’t actually play tennis.