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Arthur Ashe, Virginia Wade To Be Honored At Forest Hills On 50th Anniversary of “First” US Open

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The West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills will celebrate its 126-year tennis tradition on Saturday, August 25 with a special banner ceremony at the famed Forest Hills Stadium as part of the first annual Tennis Heritage Day.

The Club and its Stadium hosted the United States’ premier tennis tournament from 1915 until 1978, when the tournament — by then the US Open — moved to its current site in Flushing Meadows.

The first US Open, played in 1968, will be the focus of the inaugural Heritage Day. Scheduled to appear at the ceremony is the first Open women’s champion, British tennis legend Virginia Wade, who will unveil the banner honoring her victory. Also in attendance will be Johnnie Ashe, younger brother of Arthur Ashe, who will reveal the banner documenting the ground-breaking accomplishment of his sibling’s capture of the first men’s crown . A third banner, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the event, will be unveiled by representatives from the United States Tennis Association and the International Tennis Hall of Fame, including the USTA’s first female president, Judy Levering.

“To recognize how significant the role of the West Side Tennis Club has been is exciting for me,” commented Director of Racquet Sports Luke Jensen, a former French Open doubles champion. “Our membership embraces our tradition and having individuals like Virginia Wade, Judy Levering and Johnnie Ashe celebrate with us makes that experience even richer.”

“Working with our Forest Hills Stadium promotional partners Tiebreaker, we’re putting great effort into sharing our heritage with our community and with the tennis world,” added West Side CEO Mario DiPreta. “These banners will hang in the Stadium and tens of thousands of visitors will see them and better understand the remarkable events that have happened here, events that changed tennis forever.”

The ceremony, which will be open to the media, is scheduled to start at 6 pm, following the 7 pm reception and dinner.

For more information, please contact West Side Tennis Club CEO Mario DiPreta, 718-268-2300 or by email at mdipreta@foresthillstennis.com.

Virginia Wade, Arthur Ashe
Virginia Wade, Arthur Ashe

The Greatest Four U.S. Open Matches In The 50 Years Of The Open Era

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By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher

Steve Flink is not only recognized as the International Tennis Hall of Fame journalist and historian, inducted in 2017, but also as the leading authority on the greatest tennis matches of all time. So much so that he wrote the book on it, not surprisingly called “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Times”

In his book, Flink describes in great detail and ranks the 31 greatest tennis matches of all time. (A last minute entry just before press time bumped the number of matches featured in the book from 30 to 31, as you can read here: http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6294)

As part of his collection, Flink includes four that were played at the U.S. Open and we present them to you in US Open and All-Time order below.

US OPEN #4, ALL-TIME #21 – BILLIE JEAN KING d. EVONNE GOOLAGONG 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, final, U.S. Open, Forest Hills, grass, 1974

The last edition of the U.S. Championships to be contested on the grass courts, Billie Jean King and Evonne Goolagong played one of the most iconic major finals of all time, featuring some of the most exciting points that are still shown on highlight reels. “King and Goolagong produced some of the most spectacular points ever played in a match of this importance,” wrote Flink of this battle between 1970s tennis icons.

“In many ways, none of her competitive victories matched her triumph over Goolagong at Forest Hills in 1974,” Flink wrote of Billie Jean King. “She had played better tennis matches before, from a purely technical standpoint, but she had never shown more gumption under such trying circumstances.”

“My greatest high,” Goolagong would say years later to Flink, “was to hit a ball well, to try to do it perfectly, to try different things with my shots whether they came off or not. I can think back to matches I lost where I played one or two points perfectly, and that gave me a thrill. The most exciting match I ever played was the 1974 U.S. Open final against Billie Jean, and I lost it. What I recall most about that match was standing there in the Forest Hills stadium. Billie Jean and I had just had a great point. I looked down at my arms and there were goosebumps.”

US OPEN #3, ALL-TIME #19 – JIMMY CONNORS d. BJORN BORG 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-4, final, U.S. Open, 1976

In 1974, Jimmy Connors dominated tennis, winning all three major tournaments he played (he was not allowed to play the French Open, due to his participating in World Team Tennis). However, Connors was shutout of major titles until beating Bjorn Borg is this riveting and important final at the U.S. Open, capped with perhaps the most exciting tiebreaker played in the history of the event under the lights on clay at the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills.

Said Connors after the victory, “If the sun rose and set only on Wimbledon and Forest Hills,” he reflected, “there would be a lot of guys without tans.” Wrote Flink, “That was a fair comment, but Connors fully realized that he could not settle for minor triumphs. He had built his reputation on getting the job done when the stakes were high and this triumph over Borg on a landmark occasion was one of the shining moments of Connors’s career.”

US OPEN #2, ALL-TIME #17 – JUSTINE HENIN d. JENNIFER CAPRIATI 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4), semifinal, U.S. Open, 2003

In my “On This Day In Tennis History” book, ebook, audio book and mobile app, I list two of Justine Henin historic wins on the same date, September 6, 2003, because her epic semifinal win over Jennifer Capriati ended at 12:27 am, so technically the same date as her final-round win over Kim Clijsters the next evening.

Wrote Flink, “Henin had recorded a singularly impressive triumph over a keynote rival, somehow eclipsing Capriati 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) in three hours, gaining the win under adverse circumstances in front of a partisan crowd heavily favoring her opponent. Henin had overcome one Jennifer Capriati, the frenzied nighttime crowd, two bouts of cramps, and whatever demons were surely invading her mindset, to reach her first U.S. Open final. That was no mean feat. For Capriati, the defeat was devastating in many ways, deeply wounding, even bewildering. She had been on the edge of winning the match so many times that to come out second best in such a scuffle was almost more than she could bear.”

Said Capriati after the match, “You have to give her [Henin] credit for the way she was feeling, to stay out there and win. But I definitely feel I had the match in my hands, and it was my match to win….When I came off the court, I just felt the whole world was coming down on me. My heart was being ripped out. It was a great match and I gave it all I had. She did, too…Some losses that stay with you forever, the same as the wins.”

Said Henin, “In the first set I think it was a very high level of tennis. I was leading 4-1 but Jennifer was playing very well. I was playing unbelievable. And then the crowd gave her a lot of support. It wasn’t easy for myself in the first set, but I stayed very calm…Then she was leading me 5-3 in the second set. That was the key of the tournament, 30-30, I come to the net. It’s a big save I did at this point. In the third set I was cramping. I wasn’t able to think at all because I thought the match was over many times. It was an amazing feeling [to win]. Unbelievable.”

US OPEN #1, ALL-TIME #9 – PETE SAMPRAS d. ANDRE AGASSI 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), quarterfinal, U.S. Open, 2001

It is interesting that Flink places a quarterfinal match and not a final as his greatest U.S. Open match, according to the rankings in this book. However, there is no denying the brilliance exhibited between all-time greats Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in this night-time spectacle. Wrote Flink of Sampras and Agassi, “They had never played simultaneously at a loftier level against each other. They had produced what many considered the best match ever at the U.S. Open. They had joyously shared in a masterpiece of a match, and it was a contest that would linger forever in the minds of all who were there to witness it.”

Said Sampras to Flink in 2012 of his triumph, “It is rare in tennis when two guys are playing great at the same time. I was doing what I do really well that night, and Andre was solid as a rock and wasn’t making any errors. So we just got into this dogfight. Physically I felt like I was doing more of the work because of the stopping and starting with my serve-and-volley, so I was feeling it in my legs a little bit at the end of the match. Andre was mentally very strong that night. It was two great players playing really well and it resulted in one of the best and most dramatic matches that I was ever a part of. People to this day still ask me about that match. It was ironic that it was a quarterfinal but people were ready for this match and I felt both of us lived up to it.”

“THE GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME,” a hard-cover book that retails for $28.95, can be purchased via this link http://m1e.net/c?136411417-LVOB7oNCoIRGc%407612075-eWVmYMp7oSMI2 at www.NewChapterMedia.com and where ever books are sold.

Flink, one of the most respected writers and observers in the game, is currently a columnist for TennisChannel.com. A resident of Katonah, N.Y., he is the former editor of World Tennis magazine and a former senior columnist at Tennis Week.

The book has received high praise from some of the most respected names in the sport, including Chris Evert, a winner of 18 major singles titles, who wrote the foreword to the book.

Said seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras, “Steve Flink was there reporting on almost every big match I played in my career. He has seen all of the great players for the last 45 years. I encourage you to read this book because Steve is one of the most insightful writers on the game that I have known and he really knows his tennis.”

Said former U.S. Davis Cup captain and player Patrick McEnroe, “As a writer and a fan, Steve Flink’s knowledge of tennis history and his love of the sport are second to none, which is why you should read his new book.”

Said ESPN’s Cliff Drysdale, “To see tennis through the eyes of Steve Flink is to wander through a wonderland. These are not fantasies because Steve captures the essence of tennis matches in graphic detail. There is no one more passionate or caring about his subject. In this absorbing book, I can relive matches that I have called on television.”

Said CBS, NBC and Tennis Channel commentator Mary Carillo, “The GREATEST TENNIS MATCHES OF ALL TIME is a masterful tennis epic. Its pages are brimming with insight, hindsight. And as always with Steve Flink, the 20/20 vision of the subtleties and complexities of a match. From Budge to Nadal and “Little Mo” to Serena Williams, Steve will guide you through the greatest matches you ever saw, or never saw. The game’s finest players and brightest moments will come alive and play again, right before your eyes. This book is a tennis treasure.”

Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” by Rene Stauffer, “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “The Wimbledon Final That Never Was” by Sidney Wood, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker, “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “The Lennon Prophecy” by Joe Niezgoda (www.TheLennonProphecy.com), “Bone Appetit, Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Susan Anson, “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According To Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin, “People’s Choice Guide Cancun” by Eric Rabinowitz, “Lessons from the Wild” by Shayamal Vallabhjee among others.

1974 US Open Final Billie Jean King and Evonne Goolagong
1974 US Open Final Billie Jean King and Evonne Goolagong

A Look Back To Michael Fishbach And The US Open’s Infamous Spaghetti Racket

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The 1977 U.S. Open was one of the most memorable and unique of all the editions of America’s national tennis championship, besides the fact that it was the final one to be held at the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills. One of the most unusual episodes involved American player Michael Fishbach, who played in the tournament with what was described as a “spaghetti” racket.

Long-time tennis journalist Sandra Harwitt profiles Fishbach and his infamous tennis racquet in her book “The Greatest Jewish Tennis Players of All Time” available for sale here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/193755936X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_2wwQzbXHCAWZ0

 

It’s not that Michael Fishbach was a major force to be reckoned with during his tenure on the men’s pro tour. But in the late days of summer in 1977, this 22-year-old Long Islander courted international headlines. And even more than 30 years later, Fishbach’s 15 minutes of fame still garners occasional attention.

So what did Fishbach do to create his long-lasting legacy? He delivered a one-two punch to Billy Martin and Stan Smith, respectively, as a qualifier at the 1977 U.S. Open. In the regular world of tennis, those two upsets would’ve been soon forgotten instead of recorded in tennis history. But those were matches that Fishbach won using a homemade spaghetti racket.

Fishbach grew up in tiny Great Neck, the town where F. Scott Fitzgerald spent some time living and for which he modeled West Egg, the fictionalized setting of The Great Gatsby. As soon as Fishbach arrived on the pro circuit after attending UC-Irvine, he quickly became known as a free spirit around the tour. One day when Fishbach was playing on the European swing, he saw 40-year-old Barry Phillips-Moore playing his matches with a curiosity of a racket, the original double-strung racket designed by Werner Fischer, a German horticulturist by trade and tennis junkie by hobby. Phillips-Moore, an Australian long beyond his heyday, was not swinging this odd racket, but he was knocking down wins he no longer should be posting.

The racket was just the kind of edgy tool of the trade that would captivate Fishbach’s attention — it looked different, almost like something a novice weaver might produce and hope a veteran craftsman would approve. One thing it definitely accomplished was to cause opponents to want to pull the hair out of their head in frustration. The spaghetti racket made tennis balls do crazy things although it in no way enhanced a player’s power. As Fishbach said in an August 2012 New York Times Magazine article, “Queens Was Burning Too,” written by Michael Steinberger, “I had a lot of wrist and racket control. If players were ranked on the basis of ability to produce severe angles and drop shots, I would have been among the top players in the world.”

Unfortunately, Fishbach’s interest in getting a look at the odd racket was thwarted as Phillips-Moore guarded his secret weapon as if he was James Bond 007, on a grand mission. One day, however, while Fishbach was browsing in a camera store in Gstaad, Switzerland, he encountered a racket that very similarly resembled Phillips-Moore contraption. Fishbach’s attempt to purchase the racket fell short — the camera store owner would not part with his possession. But he let Fishbach examine it closely enough to get a feel for how the stringing worked.

When he returned home to New York, Fishbach told his older brother, Peter, a former player and coach before joining the business world to eventually become a Senior Vice President at Philadelphia-based Advanta, all about the spaghetti racket. The brothers immediately set to work at stringing their own spaghetti racket. It took 30 hours or so to do — there’s no sending out a racket for a quick stringing job when it came to the

double-strung hammer — but in the end they combined various materials including nylon strings, plastic tubing and adhesive tape to fashion their version of the racket. Ranked 200th in the world, Fishbach showed up with the racket to play the U.S. Open qualifying. Three matches won and he was into the 1977 U.S. Open main draw where the men’s matches were best two-out-of-three sets until the quarterfinals. After taking care of Billy Martin 6-1, 7-5 in the first round, Fishbach moved on to face the incomparable Stan Smith, a former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, in the second round. He didn’t just beat Smith; he pummeled him 6-0, 6-2, before going out to John Feaver in the third round.

A few weeks later, Ilie Nastase, who had lost to a spaghetti racket-wielding Frenchman Georges Goven at Paris in September 1977, showed up with a spaghetti racket of his own to play Guillermo Vilas. The Argentine, cruising on a 53-match winning streak, was so outraged at the unnatural shot making the racket produced that after playing two sets he forfeited the match as well as the winning streak. Prior to the appearance of the spaghetti racket, the ITF had no rules set for what is a legal or illegal tennis racket. That all changed with this controversial new stick that took away any of the judgment an opponent normally could make on what type of shot was about to come back at them. It wasn’t long after Fishbach and Nastase’s use of the spaghetti racket that the ITF placed a temporary ban on the use of this newfangled racket in October 1977. By June 1978, the spaghetti racket was forever outlawed in the game and nowadays there are rules and regulations as to what constitutes a legal racket design.

In today’s world of tennis, while layered strings remains a violation, many players prefer synthetic strings that enhance the spin on a ball and help disguise ball bounces better than old-fashioned gut strings of the past. As Fishbach said to Steinberger in that New York Times article, “They banned the spaghetti racket, but they’ve been chasing it ever since.”

After a decade playing pro tennis and reaching a career high of No. 47 in January 1978, Fishbach hung up his regulation rackets and retired from the game. Fishbach has gone on to have a successful career as a conservationist and is very involved in the preservation of whales.

Michael Fishbach
Michael Fishbach

125th-Anniversary Celebration For West Side Tennis Club At Forest Hills This Friday

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The West Side Tennis Club, the venerable tennis club located in Forest Hills, Queens, N.Y. and the long-time former home of the U.S. Open, will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding with special ceremonies, pro tennis matches and a Gala dinner all available for tennis fans on Friday, August 25.

Former top tennis professionals James Blake, Luke Jensen, Vince Spadea and Jan-Michael Gambill will compete in a one-day abbreviated tennis-tournament in the famous Forest Hills Stadium court at 4 pm that will precede official anniversary ceremonies featuring USTA President Katrina Adams and International Tennis Hall of Fame CEO Todd Martin and the Gala dinner.

Blake, the former world No. 4 and member of the 2007 championship winning U.S. Davis Cup team, will play Gambill, the former world No. 14 and also a former member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, in the first semifinal match at 4 pm. It will be followed by Spadea, the two-time U.S. Olympic team member and former world No. 18, taking on Jensen, the charismatic winner of the 1994 French Open doubles title, in the second semifinal. The winners of each semifinal will then compete in a championship match. Each match will  consist of one FAST-4 set, first to four games, no-ad scoring and a tie-breaker at three games all.

Following the tennis, fans will also be able to stay for the special 125-year anniversary ceremony featuring Adams and Martin. The legacies of Jack Kramer, a two-time U.S. singles champion, and Maureen Connolly, the second player to win the “Grand Slam” of tennis in 1953, will also be honored with a banner raising ceremony at the famed Forest Hills Stadium, the site of their greatest triumphs, with each family being represented.

Tickets for the tennis tournament and the anniversary ceremony – that includes an Open Bar – are $100, with $50 being a tax-deductible contribution to the West Side Tennis Club Foundation, the non-profit organization that helps introduce tennis to children and the physically challenged while also preserving the history of the West Side Tennis Club. A $250 ticket ($125 tax deductible) includes play on the grass tennis courts starting at 2 pm, including the tennis and ceremony viewing, and the Gala dinner starting at 7:30. Tickets can be purchased at www.WSTCFoundation.org or by calling the West Side Tennis Club front desk at 718 268 2300.

The West Side Tennis Club was founded in 1892, then located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The private club moved to its current location in Forest Hills in 1913, where it hosted the U.S. National Tennis Championships (known as the modern-day U.S. Open since 1968) from 1915 until 1977. In addition, the club has hosted a total of 16 U.S. Davis Cup ties, more than any other facility. The club features 38 tennis courts featuring four different court surfaces – grass, hard, red clay and Har-Tru – including the 13,000-seat Forest Hills Stadium that is now a popular concert venue. The club also features a junior Olympic-size pool, paddle tennis courts and its famous Tudor-style clubhouse. For more information on the club, including membership information, go to www.ForestHillsTennis.com

Forest Hills Tennis Stadium
Forest Hills Tennis Stadium

World TeamTennis Brings “Forest Hills” Back To Pro Tennis Vocabulary

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

Most people these days know the tennis stadium at West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills only through old black and white photographs or film from when the U.S. Championships and U.S. Open was played there from 1923 to 1977.

Now the stadium is alight in full color with the Technicolor court of Mylan World TeamTennis covering its ground as professional tennis has returned to the site that was once the epicenter for tennis in the United States, saved from being turned into condos after decades of neglect.

The New York Empire is the new tenant at Forest Hills, the newest team franchise of World Team Tennis, the co-ed professional team tennis league created by Billie Jean King in the 1970s. Monday night, the team, coached by New York’s own Patrick McEnroe, took on Caroline Wozniacki and the Philadelphia Freedom (yes, Elton John wrote and sang the song about this team, when King was a player for them in 1975). The stadium will host six New York Empire matches in all this summer and also the World Team Tennis Finals on Friday, August 26 (go to www.NYEmpireTennis.com for more information.)

Looking onto the court, now painted with red alleys, purple backcourts, and green and blue service boxes that is synonymous with World TeamTennis, anyone who has followed anything about this sport’s history can feel the ghosts of the great players who once performed on this sacred stage of tennis. The first images that came to my mind was seeing the video of Rod Laver jumping over the net after beating Tony Roche to win the 1969 U.S. Open and his second “Grand Slam” or King and Evonne Goolagong playing one the greatest points one may ever see in the final of the 1974 U.S. Open. There are numerous news reels you can find on YouTube of Jack Kramer and Ken Rosewall and Maureen Connolly and Arthur Ashe and many others, making their mark in tennis history at this stadium.

In 1923, the stadium was christened with the playing of the first-ever Wightman Cup matches between the top women players from Great Britain and the United States. The Wightman Cup was named for tennis visionary, player and creator, Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, one of the first leaders in women’s tennis, a predecessor to Billie Jean King.  A young Helen Wills, who would go on to win 19 major singles titles in her career (three shy of the current haul of Serena Williams and one more than Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova) played the first official match in the 14,000-seat stadium on August 11, 1923. In that first match, Wills won by a 6-2, 7-5 scoreline over Britain’s Kitty McKane, a name who Venus and Serena Williams will have on their mind at the Rio Olympics as both sisters are one Olympic medal shy of equaling her tennis record of five Olympic medals won in a career.

The name “Forest Hills” used to be synonymous with tennis. In fact, that is what players called the tournament in its heyday. You didn’t win “the U.S. Open,” you won “Forest Hills” – kind of like today’s French Open being referred to, and branded more as, “Roland Garros.” However, after the U.S. Open left the storied club in 1977, moving to a grandeur pasture of Flushing Meadows to keep up with the escalating growth and popularity of the game, the stadium endured a slow decline. The club did host the men’s WCT “Tournament of Champions” following the exit of the U.S. Open up until it was booted off the new ATP Tour calendar after 1989. The last ever WCT (World Championship Tennis) tournament, founded by tennis, soccer and football Hall of Famer Lamar Hunt, was held at Forest Hills in 1990 as a non-sanctioned “exhibition” tournament.

Ironically, it was not tennis that brought the West Side Tennis Club tennis stadium back to life, but music as concert promoter Mike Luba of Madison House Presents stepped in to refurbish the decaying stadium as a site for concerts, just days after the club’s membership narrowly voted against demolishing the stadium and turning the property into condos. On August 28, 2013, Mumford and Sons was the first act to play in the new refurbished stadium, that also once hosted such acts as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra among many others back in the day.

After three summers of music, the stadium’s originally intended tenant – tennis – has now rightfully returned with this first season of World TeamTennis.

 

Mylan World TeamTennis at Forest Hills
Mylan World TeamTennis at Forest Hills

 

Sponsors Shuffle Amidst Sharapova’s Failed Drug Test – This Week In Tennis Business with Kevin Craig

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by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

 

Sponsors Shuffle Amidst Sharpova’s Failed Drug Test

Just days after Maria Sharapova’s announcement of her failed drug test, her sponsors have begun making their voices heard in regards to the event. Long-time clothing sponsor Nike has suspended its partnership with the Russian tennis star, while Tag Heuer has decided to not renew its contract with Sharapova and Porsche will be suspending future activities with her as well. On the other end of the spectrum, racquet manufacturer Head has decided to extend their contract with Sharapova, stating that she “made an honest mistake, it was with no intent,” according to BBC. In a press release, Head praised Sharapova for the “honesty and courage she displayed in announcing and acknowledging her mistake,” while also describing her as “a role model and woman of integrity who has inspired millions of fans around the world to play and watch tennis.” The failed drug test has attracted attention from many players who decided to let their opinions on the matter known. Andy Murray, another player who is sponsored by Head, claims that Sharapova deserved the potential ban that is coming while also criticizing Head for making their decision without more information being released that could help make a better decision, according to The Guardian. “I personally wouldn’t have responded like that,” stated Murray in a press conference at the BNP Paribas Open.

Jack Sock Signs with Nike, Helps Debut New Shoe

American tennis star Jack Sock has switched clothing sponsorships from Adidas to Nike and will be helping debut the NikeCourt Air Zoom Ultrafly at the BNP Paribas Open. Sock, along with Eugenie Bouchard, will be debuting the shoe that was designed by Nike with the insight of professional athletes over the course of the last three years, according to Sports Illustrated. Michael Hui, Nike’s tennis footwear senior designer, claims the shoe is a combination of a tennis shoe and a track shoe, made with the intention to increase on court speed for the players who wear the shoe. Sock claims that when he “got in the shoe, [he] felt like [his] quickness improved, which was a big confidence booster for” him, in an interview with Sports Illustrated. The show has an asymmetrical design that allows players to easily move quickly from side to side as it provides “maximum contact when you’re on the corners” of the shoe. Sock, who states that he likes to be a trendsetter, enjoys wearing the Ultrafly as it is a new look for tennis shoes. “It’s definitely something we’ve never seen before in tennis…People are definitely going to look at it and be doing double takes,” says the American in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

McEnroe Challenge Fundraises $80K

The first event of this year’s BNP Paribas Open, the McEnroe Challenge for Charity, raised $80,000. The event has become an annual fixture for the tournament in Indian Wells, attracting stars of the tennis world to play in front of packed crowds on Stadium 2. This year’s event saw Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Tracy Austin, Pat Cash, and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario joined by current players Madison Keys and Coco Vandeweghe. The players were assigned to teams and played four sets, with each player and doubles team representing a local charity, according to The Desert Sun. The winners of each set earned $15,000 for their charity while the losers earned $5,000. This was the first time that Sampras had played an exhibition event at Indian Wells since 2010 when he played in the “Hit for Haiti” that helped raise over $1 million for the relief efforts in Haiti.

Great Britain Gives Leon Smith Extension as Davis Cup Captain

Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has been rewarded with a contract extension after his recent success in the international competition. According to Telegraph, the contract will extend through the 2018 season. Smith’s impressive record of 13-2 in his first 15 ties has secured his position in charge of the current Davis Cup holders. Andy and Jamie Murray, the two stars of British tennis, have been working with Smith since they were children and have been a vital part to Smith’s success. In a press release, Smith claimed “it is a huge honor and privilege to continue captaining our Davis Cup team” and acknowledged the Davis Cup title as the highlight of his career. Smith and Great Britain are set to face Serbia in the quarterfinals of the World Group in July, with the Murray brothers already committed to play. They will be eagerly awaiting Novak Djokovic’s decision of whether or not he will participate in the tie.

Chris Kermode Appointed for Second Term

ATP President and Executive Chairman Chris Kermode has been appointed to a second term by the ATP Board of Directors that will see him in the position until 2019, according to the ATP. Kermode took the job in January of 2014 and has seen significant progress made by the ATP, including an all-time record of attendance at ATP events and having over one billion television viewers in 2015. Other successes for Kermode in his first term include his capturing long-term prize money agreements, stabilizing the ATP schedule, and commercial sponsorship. Prize money on the ATP will reach a record of $135 million by 2018, while the ATP was able to garner $160 million in sponsorship revenue over the course of the next five years. Kermode hopes to see similar success on the ATP Challenger Tour, as he sets to increase prize money on that level and improve investments, tournament scheduling, player services, and marketing, according to the ATP. Roger Federer and Justin Gimelstob have praised Kermode for the work that he has been able to do over the span of his first term, both citing the current great state that the tour is in. In a press release, Kermode stated “I’ve taken great pleasure in leading the ATP since 2014, and I’m delighted to continue in my role as Executive Chairman and President.”

Tiriac to Sell Tournament

Ion Tiriac has announced that he will be selling his ATP event in Bucharest. According to local media in Romania, Tiriac claimed he “can’t make a fool out of [his] name.” Tiriac has been struggling with the Romanian government while he has been searching for either a new stadium to host his tournament or funding to help renovate the current stadium. The main court at the complex in which the tournament has been held in the past is not allowed to host matches anymore “because it doesn’t have a permit from the Emergency Situations Inspectorate,” according to Romania Insider. Because of this, all of the matches will be played in front of limited crowds on the side courts of the complex.

Citi to be Presenting Sponsor for New York Empire

The newest team in World Team Tennis, the New York Empire, announced that Citi will be the presenting sponsor for the Empire’s home matches, which will be taking place at the historic West Side Tennis Club. In a press release, Empire General Manager Colleen Hopkins stated “we are proud to have the power of Citi join us to bring back professional tennis for our inaugural season in Forest Hills.” Hopkins went on to praise Citi as one of the most influential brands in New York and having “their participation speaks volumes about where we all think the Empire will be going.” Jennifer Breithaupt, Managing Director of Media and Advertising for Citi, claims Citi will be “able to provide additional opportunities for fans to get closer to their favorite athletes.”

Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova

Historic Forest Hills To Host World TeamTennis Featuring Andy Roddick, Coach Patrick McEnroe

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Mylan World TeamTennis today announced that the league will return to the New York area, with the New York Empire playing their 2016 home matches at venerable Forest Hills Stadium at The West Side Tennis Club, the home of the US Open for over 60 years. The restored facility will be configured to seat 2,500 for six home matches from July 31 through August 13. The team has also named Patrick McEnroe as head coach, and will have former US Open champion Andy Roddick as a marquee player.

“There are few more beautiful places to play tennis than Forest Hills, and it’s great to help bring professional tennis back to the facility for the 2016 Mylan WTT season,” said McEnroe. “This is a perfect way to link the past of the game with the new thinking that Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss have infused into the sport through World TeamTennis. Fans will love the exciting, competitive team play so we hope they will come out and support the Empire. New Yorkers love their championship teams and our goal in year one is to win it all.”

“We are excited that Mylan World TeamTennis is back in New York,” said Mylan WTT CEO/Commissioner Ilana Kloss. “An iconic venue like The West Side Tennis Club will be a great showcase for the best in professional team tennis competition.”

The tennis setup at Forest Hills Stadium will create an intimate viewing experience for fans with individual tip-up reserved seats, boxes, and VIP hospitality packages, including courtside tables that will include full food and beverage service. Individual match tickets will go on sale later this spring. To purchase season tickets or to get more information, please email info@nyempiretennis.com, visit www.nyempiretennis.com or call the New York Empire office at (844) 5-EMPIRE (844-536-7473).

McEnroe, who won the 1989 French Open doubles title, also had a successful run as U.S. Davis Cup captain as he guided his squad to the 2007 title. After leaving his Davis Cup role in 2010, McEnroe focused on his television commentary work as well as leading the player development charge for the USTA until 2014. He is very familiar with Mylan World TeamTennis having played six seasons. McEnroe is a life-long New York City resident where he lives with his wife, Broadway star and actress Melissa Errico, and their three daughters.

“As both a player and an owner I have always enjoyed all that encompasses Mylan WTT,” added Roddick. “To be able to play on the legendary courts at Forest Hills and be involved with a team in a city that I love, New York, will make this even more special.”
Roddick will play his ninth season of Mylan World TeamTennis in 2016 and first with the inaugural New York Empire. He most recently played in 2014. In May 2013, Roddick joined the WTT Ownership Group along with Venus Williams. He won the 2003 US Open and reached the final of a Grand Slam four different times and captured 32 tour-level singles titles, including five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns. Roddick also founded the Andy Roddick Foundation which has raised more than $14 million for charity since 2001 and works to expand opportunities for young people to learn, thrive and succeed.

Colleen Hopkins will serve as team general manager. Hopkins is the founder of Hopkins Events, a special event agency with a focus on event management and operations, sponsor activation and client hospitality.

The 2016 season marks a return to professional tennis at one of the sport’s most historic facilities. The West Side Tennis Club hosted the US Nationals/Open Tennis Championships a total of 62 times, first from 1915 to 1922 on the grounds, and from 1923 to 1977 in the stadium. Built in 1923, the stadium was America’s first tennis stadium.  In addition, the finals of the Davis Cup were held at the club 10 times, more than any other venue. Following the US Open, the WCT Forest Hills Invitational was held at the venue two times, and the WCT Forest Hills Tournament of Champions, was held at the venue 11 times, the last time in 1990 before the facility was renovated to its current grandeur.

The Nationals/Open saw some of its biggest moments and changes while at West Side, including the introduction of seedings in 1927, tiebreakers in 1970, equal prize money for men and women in 1973, and night play and the conversion of the courts from grass to clay in 1975. Currently, the stadium is also used as a music venue for concerts. One of the highlights of the 2016 Forest Hills Stadium summer concert series will be Mumford & Sons on June 16.

The Empire schedule, promotions and full roster of players will be announced in the coming few weeks with the 2016 Mylan WTT Player Draft taking place in Miami on March 25.  For all other details on the Empire go to www.NYEmpireTennis.com or follow on Twitter (@nyempiretennis) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/NYEmpireTennis).

Forest Hills Stadium
Forest Hills Stadium

A Tennis Tale From The Horse Racing Mecca of Saratoga Springs

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. is known as the Mecca for horse racing but it was also the site of an interesting moment in the history of tennis.

With a Facebook post – as well as a fortunate discovery during a haphazard morning drive – I was able to discover the locale of a unique piece of American tennis trivia. While on my annual summer trip to the Saratoga National Race Course to take in some of the famed horse racing meet, I posted some photos from the trip on my Facebook page. Nancy Richey, former French and Australian women’s singles champion and winner of 73 career singles titles, is one of my Facebook friends. She and her younger brother Cliff are the most successful American brother-sister combination in tennis history and I published Cliff’s book called “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” in 2010 (order or download it here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0942257669/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_wCtVvb0NVR08D)

In the context of my Facebook post stating how much I love Saratoga, Nancy commented, “Cliff loves it too…had his first big win there — me!”

Cliff won 45 titles in his career, ranked No. 1 in the United States in 1970, helped the United States to two Davis Cup titles and beat all the top players of his era – Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Ilie Nastase and others. In 1970 in the semifinals of the event at the Berkeley Tennis Club in Berkeley, Calif., Cliff beat Smith in a fifth-set tie-breaker in a sudden-death point – in the old nine-point tiebreakers the 4-4 point was a sudden-death with the winner of the next point winning the tie-breaker 5-4. The match determined the No. 1 ranking for the year, which Cliff won in dramatic fashion. However, Cliff beating his hot-shot, future Hall of Famer sister for the first time is, without question, one of his most memorable wins, if not the most important win.

Cliff was 13 years old at the time, while Nancy was 18 and training to play at Forest Hills at the U.S. Championships (the modern day U.S. Open). Their father, George, was the head pro at the Schuyler Meadows Country Club in nearby Albany, N.Y. for the summer of 1960, so the whole family was along for a summer tennis adventure in upstate New York. Needing to gain some practice time on grass courts to gear up for the grass at Forest Hills, Nancy found her way with her brother to one of the few grass courts in the area in nearby Saratoga.

Cliff and Nancy Richey

Cliff and Nancy Richey

While the pressures of playing on the top levels of tennis are indeed high but, as many players can appreciate, the anxiety of playing against competitive family members and friends can sometimes bear a greater burden than many opponents at other events. This is pressure that is best exemplified when Serena and Venus Williams competed against each other. Wayne Bryan, the father of identical twin doubles legends Bob and Mike Bryan, alternated the brothers defaulting to each other in junior tournaments to keep family harmony in check. Cliff, known as one of the hardest competitors in his era of men’s tennis, no doubt learned his grittiness from his determined efforts to beat his older sister and Nancy benefited from constantly fighting off the challenge of baby brother, sharpening her skills when the best of women’s tennis were looking to take her down a notch. Cliff admitted as much as making some questionable line calls in his matches with Nancy, one such time resulting in his father taking him inside the tennis pro shop and spanking him for attempting to cheat on line calls.

“Where was that infamous match,” I asked Nancy on the Facebook comment line on my page of the exact location in Saratoga of their match. “Maybe we will stop by there tomorrow and see if there is a plaque,” I joked.

“I’m trying to block it out of my memory,” Nancy joked in response. “All I remember is a club that had grass courts and he got me”

The following morning, prior to heading to the track and while touring around the downtown area of Saratoga Springs, we drove by a golf course in town and noticed a stretch of grass tennis courts. Perhaps this is where this famous battle between Nancy and Cliff took place? I pulled over and peered through the fence at the courts. The ladies group on the courts noticed me being a Peeping Tom and I asked them through the fence if they knew the Richey family. They did not, but not threatened by my inviting voice and personality, they asked me onto the courts to talk to them further. Walking onto the courts, I noticed the sign on the gate identifying the club as the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club.

I explained the story in detail to the interested audience of tennis enthusiasts and told them that the grass courts they were playing on could be where this hallmark match between tennis siblings took place. I pulled out my Iphone and proceeded to take photos and videos of the courts in the hope that Nancy or Cliff would be able to recognize the environment from 55 years earlier, although there were condos in the middle of construction just across the street that could spoil their recollections.

I soon texted the photo to Cliff asking him “Have you played any big matches on these courts?”

“Yep,” he quickly responded as I knew he would. “The venue of my biggest win! Bigger than Berkeley Tennis Club! HA!”

To view a video of the grass courts at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veksikj684k

To learn more about the charm and beauty of horse racing at Saratoga – the equine Disneyland – view this YouTube conversation featuring Randy Walker here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEVWIwxHAY0

To read an excerpt from Cliff’s “Acing Depression” book, click here: http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6769

Randy Walker at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club
Randy Walker at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club

100 Years Ago Today – Titanic Survivors As U.S. Davis Cup Teammates

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It was 100 years ago on August 13, 1914 that the Davis Cup Challenge Round between the United States and Australasia began in New York. The series is one of the most famous in the history of tennis for many reasons. It was staged as World War I raged in Europe for a second week. The venue was in the brand new West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills, N.Y. – the future site of the U.S. Open for 62 years. Stands were erected to seat 13,000 fans – the most to ever watch a tennis match at the time. On the final day of play, American tennis fans became so involved in the match, they become the first-ever example of a “rowdy” crowd in Davis Cup competition – an attribute which now gives the competition its unique character.

The players for each team were also among the titans of sport at the time. For Australasia (a combined team of Australia and New Zealand), the team was led by Norman Brookes, the Australian who was fresh off winning his second Wimbledon title (not unlike Novak Djokovic of today). Brookes was so highly regarded at the time and in the future that the Australians named the men’s singles trophy for the Australian Open in his honor – The Norman Brookes Challenge Trophy. The teammate of Brookes was a Kiwi Anthony Wilding, one of the most dashing and charismatic tennis players ever – a man who rode his motorcycle across Europe – many times along train tracks – with his tennis racquets on his back going from city to city and tournament to tournament. Wilding just had his four-year run as Wimbledon champion ended by Brookes earlier in the summer and would unfortunately be the most high-profile casualty in World War I, being killed in action on May 9, 1915 at Neuve-Chapelle, France.

Leading the U.S. team was “the California Comet” Maurice McLoughlin, who was the two-time reigning U.S. singles champion and, along with Brookes and Wilding, regarded as being one of the top players in the world. Brookes, Wilding and McLoughlin were, you can say, the Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic of their era.

Add in as the second U.S. singles player, Dick Williams who incredibly survived the sinking of the Titanic two years earlier. Even more incredible than having one survivor of the Titanic tragedy be part of this series is having two, which was the case as American Karl Behr was also part of the U.S. team for the series.

The story of Williams and Behr and their survival from the Titanic and subsequent triumphs in tennis, including being part of the same Davis Cup team and their subsequent meeting at the modern-day U.S. Open, are put into prose in the historical novel “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs.

The following is an excerpt / scene from the book TITANIC: THE TENNIS STORY by Lindsay Gibbs ($12,95, New Chapter Press, NewChapterMedia.com, available here:http://www.amazon.com/Titanic-Tennis-Story-Lindsay-Gibbs/dp/1937559041/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348247347&sr=8-1&keywords=Titanic+Tennis+Story) that narrates this famous 1914 Davis Cup championship match at Forest Hills. Gibbs constructed the novel based on extensive historical research in newspapers, magazines and other periodicals and from historical first-person writings from the era and of survivors. She took creative license with dialogue and personalities and created certain situations in the novel, classified as a work of historical fiction

 

The summer of 1914 was full of tension. In late June, the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s murder set off a chain reaction of hostility in Europe between Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Russia, Germany and France that ignited a world war. When Britain became involved in the conflict on August 4, formally declaring war on Germany, it seemed improbable that the United States would be able to maintain its declaration of neutrality. As young men in Europe were thrown into battle, American men were still going about their daily lives, unsure if and when they might be called into action.

With one eye on the war, and despite his continued responsibilities at work and at home with Helen and their new baby, Karl, Jr., Karl Behr was managing to fulfill his promise to himself and was in the midst of one of the best tennis years of his life at the age of twenty-nine. He started out the season beating Alexander Pell and Gustave Touchard, two of the top players in the country, in the final and challenge round at the Middle States Championships to win his first title in six years. He was also feeling a lot of support from his peers as he successfully led a petition to get the U.S. Nationals moved from the coastal enclave of Newport, Rhode Island to a larger metropolitan venue at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, a move he felt was important for the future growth of the sport.

The popularity of tennis was at an all-time high – players from all across the country were traveling for months on end competing in tournaments. Fan attendance swelled, indicating the increased popularity of the sport. There were exponentially more tournaments in 1914 than when Karl was starting out. The U.S. Nationals were growing in prestige as more top players from overseas began to come over more frequently. Even within the United States, there were many more players from California and other parts of the country competing in events, further threatening the east coast domination of the sport. Universities were putting more emphasis and focus on tennis programs and Karl knew enough about business and fundraising to know that a small Rhode Island town could no longer keep up with the growing demands of the sport.

The 1914 U.S. Nationals was the final year the event was going to be staged at the Newport Casino. To top it all off, Karl had enough good wins over the summer to secure a spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team for the first time since 1907. This represented the achievement of an enormous goal for him; he had always wanted an opportunity to redeem himself for his country. And nothing made his father prouder than when he played on the Davis Cup team.

The United States was the defending Cup champion, thanks to the efforts of Dick, as well as Maurice McLoughlin in Britain the previous year, and therefore they would be hosting the Challenge Round. The West Side Tennis Club was selected as the site for the matches, to be played in early August, just prior to the U.S. Nationals. The Australasian team, led by four-time defending Wimbledon champion Tony Wilding of New Zealand and Australian legend Norman Brookes, emerged as the challengers to the United States.

Karl was realistic enough to know that he wouldn’t be picked for singles, as Dick and Mac clearly had those spots locked up, but he hoped he might get to play the doubles. He won quite a few doubles titles in his career, was the doubles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1907, and had the experience of beating Brookes and Wilding before in doubles. Now, play­ing the tennis of his life, he was hopeful for his chances. With his child being born and his father down to his final years, he wanted to seize any opportunity he had to make them proud.

But the Davis Cup, which promised to be the crowning moment in Karl’s career, turned into bitter disappointment. To begin with, it marked the first time since the Carpathia that he and Dick spent any significant amount of time together. They had great team camaraderie and experienced good times, but there was still an awkwardness the pervaded. They were not able to talk like they had on the Carpathia -– the team envi­ronment not conducive for long, one-on-one in-depth talks. Karl was also surprised at how uncomfortable he felt as the U.S. team clearly belonged to Dick and Mac. They won the trophy the year before in dominant fashion, were the best two players in the country for two straight years, and more than that, the two had formed a good friendship that made Karl feel even more like an outsider.

Karl seemed poised to be selected to play the doubles with McLoughlin as his consistency seemed to mix well with the brilliant but sometimes reckless shot-making abilities of “the California Comet.” McLoughlin was the reigning U.S. doubles champion with another Californian, Tom Bundy, but Bundy was not in top form and was not as fast on the court as in previous years.

Karl made a strong statement for selection to the team when he and a fellow American standout Ted Pell actually beat McLoughlin and Bundy 6-2, 6-3 in a practice match to help determine the team. “It would be a crime to leave Behr off the doubles team in the Davis Cup matches,” one top player even anonymously told the papers. But then Karl played a bad match — one bad match! — in the doubles semifinals of a tournament in Chicago, when he and Pell lost to a relatively unheralded team of G.M. Church and Dean Mathey from Princeton University and suddenly everyone was whispering that they’d better keep Mac with his old partner Bundy.

And that’s what happened. Karl was relegated to cheer­leader status on the team. The U.S. Davis Cup Committee waited until the last minute to announce the doubles team, so late that Karl’s father, in his fragile health, went all the way out to Forest Hills only to watch his son sit on the bench.

For his part, Dick didn’t seem to be having a good week at Forest Hills. He seemed different to Karl. While he had transformed from a shy and inexperienced kid on the Carpathia into a confident and established tennis star, comfortable charming the crowds and being in the spotlight, he now seemed a bit more volatile. He put on a good show and continued to be as social as he had been, but it looked to Karl like the pressure was finally getting to him. It must be tough to win so much, Karl would think to himself sarcastically, unable to sympathize with the man who had so instantly jumped to heights of success that was not able to reach.

Karl would love to have had the pressure of playing Davis Cup matches, but against Australasia it seemed like Dick was out of sorts, seemingly unable to handle the hype, pressure and spectacle that the Davis Cup Challenge Round created. He would play a beautiful shot followed by some of the most silly and aggressive shots, and seemed to be walking around in a bit of a fog. He lacked consistency, making many errors and served with reckless abandon, hitting first and second serves with the same pace, causing many double faults.

Dick did not lose a singles match that counted in the en­tire Davis Cup competition in 1913, but against Australasia at Forest Hills, he lost to both Brookes and Wilding, unable to carry his weight and succumbing to the pressure and the fine play of his adversaries. In the opening match of the series, which was witnessed by a crowd of 13,000, the largest crowd to ever watch a tennis match, Dick was man-handled by Wilding 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. His four-set loss to Brookes on the third day of play clinched the Cup for the Australasians. Dick was not able to ascend to the heights of playing for his country as he did the previous year against the British team at Wimbledon.

As much as Karl was hoping for his country to retain the Cup, he couldn’t help but feel a modicum of vindication when McLoughlin and Bundy played one of the poorest exhibitions of Davis Cup doubles that reporters remembered, losing to Brookes and Wilding in three straight sets. That, combined with Dick’s lusterless performances, was what allowed the Cup to slip from the Americans grasp. And with war now raging in Europe – Brookes and Wilding set sail immediately after the matches for Britain to join their regiments as part of the British Commonwealth – one had to even wonder when there would next be a Davis Cup competition.

McLoughlin, however, did provide one great highlight dur­ing the series. On the first day, after Dick lost meekly to Wilding, McLoughlin and Brookes played the most sensational set of tennis that he, or anyone for that matter, had ever seen. The set was an entire match in itself featuring more games than any set in the history of the sport. McLoughlin was able to win it 17-15 on the strength of his famous cannonball serve and trademark grit and determination.

It was truly a time when Karl felt lucky just to be there on the team, just to be witnessing such a feat of physical endur­ance. He sat on the U.S. team bench, a sea of straw hats undu­lating right and left all around him, experiencing the greatest occasion yet in his sport’s history. It made Karl want to be a better player and a better man. Sometimes matches could do that to you. It was the marvelous thing about sports. Though the United States lost the Cup and he did not get a chance to play, Karl came away from the experience inspired to finish the season strong at Newport. He wanted to dig deep, make up for the slight at not being selected to play and show the kind of fight that Mac had, to be able to last to 17-15, or even longer, to win a set, if that was truly what it took.

Dick Williams and Karl Behr
Dick Williams and Karl Behr

Could hurricane Irene delay the start of the US Open by a week?

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Hurricane Irene is lurking up the East Coast of the United States and threatening to disrupt Monday’s start of the 2011 US Open. Could the damage from the hurricane delay the tournament for a week like it did when Hurricane Donna struck in 1960? Or for six days like in 1938? Read about those unusual circumstances below in excerpts from my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com).

From September 17, 1960 – In the most delayed conclusion to a major tournament in the sport’s history, Neale Fraser of Australia and Darlene Hard of the United States win the singles titles at the U.S. Championships – one week after winning semifinal matches to advance into the championship match. The U.S. Championships at Forest Hills are delayed a full seven days as Hurricane Donna slams New York and soggies up the grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club. Fraser finally defends his 1959 title, defeating fellow Aussie Rod Laver 6-4, 6-4, 10-8, becoming the first repeat men’s winner at Forest Hills since fellow Aussie Frank Sedgman in 1951 and 1952. Hard finally breaks through and wins her first U.S. singles title, upsetting defending champion Maria Bueno of Brazil 6-3, 10-8, 6-4. Fraser and Hard both win semifinal matches on September 10 – Fraser beating Dennis Ralston and Hard beating Donna Floyd – before the rains come. The Fraser-Laver final is a rubber match for the two Aussies, who split their two previous meetings in major finals on the year – Laver winning the Australian title in January for his first major singles title and Fraser turning the tide on “The Rocket” at Wimbledon. Fraser also ends Laver’s 29-match winning streak securing on the Eastern grass court circuit following his loss to Fraser at Wimbledon. Hard finally breaks through and wins her first U.S. title after five previous attempts to win the title. Says Hard, “I never thought I would do it, “ says Hard. “That girl (Bueno) never gives up. She hits winners when she least expects it. It’s been a long time coming. It’s great.”

From September 23, 1938 – After a delay of six days due to a hurricane hitting the New York area, play is resumed at the U.S. Championships at the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills as Don Budge keeps his dream of being the first player to win a Grand Slam alive by beating 1931 Wimbledon champion Sidney Wood 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the men’s semifinals. Advancing to play Budge in the final is his unseeded doubles partner, Gene Mako, who defeats Australia’s John Bromwich 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the other men’s semifinal. In women’s singles semifinals, Alice Marble beats Sarah Palfrey Fabyan 5-7, 7-5, 7-5, saving two match points at 2-5, 15-40 in the second set, while Nancye Wynne defeats Dorothy Bundy 5-7, 6-4, 8-6.

There Was Another Hurricane Earl at the US Open

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The 2010 US Open will feel the outer effects of Hurricane Earl on Friday, but it won’t be the first time the tournament was affected by a hurricane named Earl so to speak.

Back in 1951, as documented in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com) Earl Cochell created such a stir at the U.S. Championships that Allison Danzig of the New York Times described the events as “scenes almost unparalleled at Forest Hills,” the site of the U.S. Championships (the modern day US Open) at the time.

Cochell was a top 10 U.S. ranked player and standout player from the University of Southern California who was the runner-up to Tony Trabert at the 1951 NCAA Championships. Cochell was playing in a round of 16 match at the U.S. Championships at Forest Hills against Gardnar Mulloy and after splitting the first two sets, Mulloy jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set. Sensing that he was going to lose the third set, Cochell started to throw the set in order to save energy for the fourth and potential fifth set. In his book “As It Was,” Mulloy wrote, “It appeared then that Earl was throwing the set for being so far behind and saving his energy for the fourth set, a tactic players often employ. Usually when one dumps a set they take chances and run the opponent as much as possible without extending themselves. This Earl did not do.”

With Mulloy serving at 4-1, Cochell did not even attempt to make a return of serve allowing aces to fly passed him without any effort. The crowd began to boo. Serving at 1-5, Cochell hit serves underhand and did not move to make a play on Mulloy’s return of serve. As the crowd continued to heckle, berate and boo Cochell, the California began screaming back to the vocal fans. The chair umpire implored Cochell to “Play Tennis” Mulloy explained in his book and “With his admonishment, Earl ran over, climbed the umpire stand, attempted to grab the microphone, and in essence said angrily, “You bawl me out and it goes over the mike, which is unfair as my voice cannot be heard beyond the first row. And furthermore, I can play tennis any way I want to.””

Serving a 0-40, Cochell placed another first serve in and again did not make a play on Mulloy’s return of serve. Game and third set to Mulloy 6-1. As was customary at the time, players took a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets and Cochell left the court amid a barrage of catcalls. Wrote Mulloy, “Upon leaving the court for the locker room under the stadium, Earl turned to face the jeering crowd, stopped, and holding his racket handle up, gestured it at them like a road rage middle finger. The crowd loved it, and the boos of course intensified.”

After being threatened with disqualification by officials of the United States Tennis Association, Cochell returned to the court after the break and lost the fourth set 6-2 to lose the match without further incident outside of continued boos.

Following the tournament, the USTA ended up suspending Cochell for life from tournament play and never competed again!

Roger Federer: Forest Hills Stadium Destruction Would be a Pity

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By Bob Stockton

Roger Federer visited the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills Thursday and said it would be “a pity” if the club’s historic stadium was torn down and replaced by condos.

The membership of the West Side Tennis Club is set to vote on September 23 whether to sell the parcel of their property featuring the 87-year-old tennis stadium to real estate developer Cord Meyer, who plan to tear the stadium down and build condos.

Federer, a student of the history of the game and regarded as the most influential man in tennis, remarked that the stadium was full of history and was the site where his idol, Australian Rod Laver, won his two U.S. singles titles in 1962 and 1969 – both of which concluded historic “Grand Slam” sweeps of all four major singles titles in the same calendar year. Federer also pointed out that his former coach, Tony Roche, also played in two U.S. Open finals at Forest Hills, losing to Laver in 1969 and to Ken Rosewall in 1970.

The 16-time major tournament champion from Switzerland visited the historic club, which hosted the U.S. Championships from 1914 to 1977, for a corporate event in advance of the U.S. Open, a tournament where he has won five of the last six years. Federer said he first visited the club as a junior player when there were not enough courts for practice at the USTA National Tennis Center during the US Open.

The stadium and its future has been thrust back into the limelight with the upcoming club vote that has struck a nerve with conservationists, tennis fans and historians who feel the stadium should be preserved. U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner (Democrat, New York) has lobbied for the stadium to be saved and has asked for the U.S. Tennis Association to become more involved in preserving the stadium. Weiner has asked USTA President Lucy Garvin to have one U.S. Open match a year be played at the stadium. The horseshoe-shaped stadium was christened in 1923 with the playing of the Wightman Cup matches between Helen Wills and the United States team and Britain. The club has also hosted 14 U.S. Davis Cup matches, the most of any facility in the United States.

Reports indicate that Cord Meyer has offered between $8 million and $9 million dollars for the stadium property. Estimates indicate that fees of approximately $15 million would be needed to refurbish the stadium, which was last fully utilized with fans sitting in the bleachers for a tennis tournament in 1990. The stadium capacity is 14,000 and has also hosted many legendary music acts through the years including The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and Diana Ross. The club is also speaking with the New York Philharmonic about the stadium being its summer home. Other uses of the stadium structure discussed include a hospitality venue for corporate outings, weddings, high school graduations and other celebrations and community events as well as a potential tennis academy with a full-fledged gym and dorm facilities.