Watching the hotel room scene with Tashi and Art and more and more I feel that Art was the one trying to make this personal while Tashi wanted it to keep profesional. And I think he was doing this because he desperately wanted a reason to feel again something,to play and win. That is why he was asking :" tell me it doesn't matter if I win tomorrow? Tell me if you would love me no matter what" " I am playing for both of us". While Tashi is the one wanting to keep the things professionaly :" you are the professional competitor",it must matter to him,not her ,"it can't be about avoiding my judgement" " I am your coach,I work for you".
Until Tashi finally made it personal and told him about leaving him,but did it help? I don't think so,that is why they reacted in that way and why Art was so sad and crying and Tashi with feelings of unease,it didn't work. And we see it the next day,Art is still not feeling tennis,even if she told him that,we are not seeing even a little bit of 6 grand slam winner Art Donaldson in that match against Patrick. And I think that is one the reasons she called Patrick,not just because she lived tennis trough Art,or for not fulfilling her ultimatum,or to fuck Patrick,as she said she felt winning against Patrick as Art had never did before,he could feel confident again,feel tennis again and even if he retired,it would be in his terms. She is taking care as she said to Patrick in his car.
And Tashi felt resentful about this, because she had to do that,like we don't think about how humiliating must be for Tashi to ask Patrick to lose,to show how bad Art and she are,she is asking him to save them,but she was still willingly doing it because she cared. She said in the scene when they were watching the match Art lost that she couldn't do that for him,giving his confidence back,but she is still here trying.
I even think Art isn't even sure about the retirement,that is why he wanted a reaction from Tashi when he told her,like yeah he lost his passion for tennis but I think he also wanted to have it again,he is tired not just of tennis but feeling that way,he is in a losing streak because he lost his passion,after a surgery,the brutal ,demanding,consuming life of a elite tennis player and confidence issues but also it isn't just a cause -effect thing,but a vicious cycle where his defeats made him less confident, tired and with desire to give up and retire and then he loses again... If retirement is what he really wanted and Tashi isn't confronting him,when that must be his biggest fear,why Art didn't feel any type of release at all ?
I remember their first scenes and how Tashi asked him two times " what do you want?"in different tones ,she gave him the option of retirement or continuing being tennis player and he didn't answer really what he WANTED,may be he didn't even know. They are fighting with this battle for some time after the injury,the hotel room scene is the lowest point.
