Tennis and manners

I swear a lot while playing tennis. Italian would be the language of choice, but since Elena is Macedonian and Valentina Bulgarian, and we speak English, and I haven't yet learned any good Macedonian swearwords, English is the chosen language of invective.
What, however, does the following episode say about me:
Elena gives me a short, fast, difficult-to-get ball.
I'm not quick enough and miss. I bellow, "Bastard!", meaning the ball of course.
Two minutes later, same scenario.
Elena grins and says, "But it was your fault, not mine!"
So I understand that she thought the "bastard" was directed at her, not at the ball.
But: how do I explain the misunderstanding? "No, Elena, I didn't mean you, I'd never call a woman 'bastard'!"
Then, of course, I explained that I'd never, ever swear or dream of swearing *at* her.
Still, I'm slightly worried about the preponderance of semantics over manners...

Elena told me that a diplomatic tournament is being planned for September, and that I really ought to participate. I'll have to think about that and, most of all, I'll have to increase the number of my lessons because, as I think I already mentioned, I don't do things "just for fun". I'll participate if I can be sure that I won't be making an idiot of myself -- winning isn't compulsory, because I'm neither stupid nor conceited enough to think I might win.
But I think I'll have to tape my mouth shut, should I decide to go along with it, because the multiple fucks, buggers and shits might somehow taint the overall impression of ladylike-ness, which is difficult enough to keep up as it is.
Still, except for mixed doubles -- which there might be, but that's not sure as of yet -- women will be playing against women, and so I'm rather leaning towards participating. There aren't many embassy women (including spouses of course) here who play decently, i.e. the danger of coming last doesn't seem too imminent.

I was more than a little surprised to see what a difference playing with different coaches makes. Of course I'm not going to abandon Valentina, because not only is she an excellent teacher, I also like her a lot. Elena, however, is a completely different personality, a lot more feisty, a lot more demanding, and so I'm pretty sure that playing with and learning from both will be of great benefit. Plus, Elena prefers the clay and Valentina the synthetic court, and I like switching between the two surfaces and being able to play equally well on both.

No tennis today, though. Today it'll be the gym, and on Saturday as well. Tennis tomorrow and on Sunday. These quiet weeks without much work and virtually without evening activities have to be put to good use -- come September and October, playing more than three times a week becomes difficult, and sometimes there's not enough time between work and whatever it is I have to do in the evening for me to go to the gym, either.
If the weather is as hot on Sunday as the forecast threatens, I think I'll go and try a new pool I've been told about. It belongs to some hotel a little outside Skopje, you have to pay an entrance fee and bringing food or beverages is forbidden, so the public won't be too numerous, what with everybody being poor and the non-poor being on vacation. *dreams of swimming*