A Dry Towel Belongs In The Tennis Bag

Seattle summer tennis is still tennis in a damp corner of the world. The court can be dry, the sky can be clear, and the bag can still end up with a sweaty grip, a wet water bottle, and one sad ball can rolling around together.

The fix is one boring hand towel that never leaves the bag.

It does three jobs:

1. wipe the grip before it gets slick
2. wrap the cold bottle so it stops sweating on everything else
3. mark a clean spot on the bench for phone and keys

I used to think of the towel as optional. It is not. It is the cheapest piece of tennis gear in the bag, and it saves the expensive pieces from becoming gross by the second set.