By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
I believe long-time tennis writer Matt Cronin used to have a tennis column somewhere called “Notes on a Draw Sheet” which I thought was a great name of a bullet-point type column from a tennis tournament. So with a shout-out to Matt, here are my “notes on a draw sheet” from the “opening weekend” at the Delray Beach Open in Delray Beach, Florida.
– Delray Beach certainly went “Cuckcoo For Coco” to use my quote for 15-year-old sensation Coco Gauff from last year’s New York Post (as seen here: https://nypost.com/2019/07/17/us-open-plans-to-bend-rules-to-make-sure-they-get-coco-gauff/) The new superstar in women’s tennis and a native of Delray Beach created a buzz for her Saturday night exhibition match against Estela Perez-Somarriba, the reigning NCAA singles champion from the University of Miami. The exhibition match actually sold out with all 5,500 seats sold. I came to Delray Beach with a non-media friend and had to scalp a ticket for her to come to the match! I was speaking with Blair Henley, the on-court emcee for this event and many others, about the success of the event and we believed that it was probably the biggest crowd to watch a match in Delray Beach since the 2013 USA vs. Sweden Fed Cup matches in the stadium that featured Venus and Serena Williams. (Fed Cup was also played there in 2005 and 2007). The 2004 Davis Cup quarterfinal between the United States (Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and the Bryan Brothers against Thomas Johansson, Robin Soderling, Jonas Bjorkman and Simon Aspelin and team Sweden also featured a capacity crowd. It should be noted that the upper-deck of the west side of the stadium is not in service – and hasn’t been in years. The last I heard was this was due to insurance reasons. Speaking of Blair Henley, it was at the Delray Beach Open years ago where she received her first media credential to cover a big tennis event under our sister website TennisGrandstand.com, which she reminded me of and thanked me for. When I left the USTA in 2005, one of my goals for the two websites I created – TennisGrandstand.com and this WorldTennisMagazine.com – was to give up-and-coming and aspiring tennis writers an opportunity to get some writing experience and have the opportunity to cover tennis events and network and help create the next generation of tennis writers. I’m so pleased to see people like Blair go on to bigger things, along with other writers such as leading women’s sports journalist Lindsay Gibbs, Andrew Eichenholz with the ATP, David Kane with the WTA, Kelyn Soong with the Washington Post and Washington City Paper, Mike McIntyre with the Match Point Canada Podcast, freelance USTA and ATP writer McCarton Ackerman and Van Sias of Tennis.com among others. The most important thing for young people who want to get involved in writing or reporting is to GET CLIPS – whether it be writing, video or audio. I did this in the “old days” when I would write stories from events where ever I could and was able to get “clips” writing for any paper who would take copy from the NCAA tennis championships or other events. Those clips helped me get a job at the U.S. Tennis Association, and the rest is history, as they say. Blair said that just getting into media rooms is where your best networking is done and I agree 100 percent! Meeting people leads to relationships which leads to opportunities.
– In addition to the Coco Gauff exhibition, the opening weekend of the event also featured a North America vs. The World ATP senior event, which featuring very entertaining tennis, including the recently retired superstars David Ferrer and Marcos Baghdatis. Prior to the Gauff vs. Perez-Somarriba exhibition, Johan Kriek and Vince Spadea played a very entertaining doubles match against Mikael Pernfors and Baghdatis. I think the sport of tennis would be well-served with more DOUBLES matches featuring tennis legends as the quality of tennis is great and it’s a relatable version of the doubles that most fans play. Can anyone say senior doubles tour?
– When you go to pro tennis event, you should always thank the sponsors, particularly the title sponsor. I made sure to go to the Vitacost.com booth on site during the event to thank them and check out the products and offerings. I’m sampling the products at this moment. Product sampling is a great way to get you as a future customer. Two brands that I can remember that I first sampled at tennis events in the past were Lavazza coffee and Belvita breakfast biscuits. They are now products that I buy often. HungBloodys Blood Mary mix is another product I may be buying soon. I also enjoyed the Celsius Heat performance drink. Fans also need to download the TennisONE app, which is the official mobile app for the event, but also so much more for the other 51 weeks a year.
– New Chapter Press is the publishing company that I own and run and our latest book release is “Juan Martin del Potro: The Gentle Giant” by Sebastian Torok. We anticipated that this year’s Delray Beach Open would be the site of del Potro’s return from his knee injury, but another surgery has set “The Gentle Giant” back even more in yet another comeback to tennis. So, rather than doing a book launch at the event, I simply handed a few copies out to a few folks in the media room. To order the book, go to Amazon.com here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559920/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_JhZsEb9YMNB7D
– If you want to do your part of help to promote and develop the growth of tennis, bring a non-tennis fan to a tennis match. I brought a lady-friend from Vero Beach to Delray Beach who knew very little about tennis, barely able to name any type of tennis player other than John McEnroe or Venus and Serena Williams. She had never been to a pro tennis event and, after the Coco Gauff match, was gushing to her daughter the next day on the phone how great it was. I asked her if this motivated her to want to come to another tennis event, which was met with an enthusiastic “YES!” She also said “And, I want to go out there and try to play too!”
– Another interesting observation from this aforementioned tennis newbie came at the Bernie Tomic vs. Ernests Gulbis final-round qualifying match. While I was off doing some work and in some meetings, she watched this match, that was won by Gulbis 6-2, 6-0 in 52 minutes. When I caught up with her later as the spotty rain that plagued the day was coming down kind of steady she told me about the end of the match. “It started to rain at the end of the match,” she told me. “The guy who sits on the chair in the middle of the court came on the court and said that they should stop playing but the two players said it was fine and they finished the match on the wet court.”
– Not only is the Delray Beach Open a great way to get an intimate look at some of the top stars in tennis, but a great tourist destination. Atlantic Avenue, where the Delray Beach Tennis Center is located, is really one of the great avenues not just in Florida, but in all of the United States. I’d put it up there with a Bourbon Street in New Orleans (except much more classy) or Ocean Drive in Miami. On Saturday night, one of my stops was the Cabana El Rey restaurant and bar, where I had, perhaps, the best mojito I ever had. The Bull Bar, which is a very short walk from the Delray Beach Tennis Center and a great place for pre-game or post-game pint. (I had a tasty IPA there). It is just across the street from Doc’s All-American, the iconic fast-food burger, fries and milkshake place frequented by many, including a teenaged Andy Roddick. The Fairfield Inn and Suites is just a half mile walk to the tennis and a great easy spot to not only walk to and from the tennis, but also to start your walk down Atlantic Avenue.
