Rafter Inspired Renaissance

Tennis racquets and strings have made hitting the ball easier for me. As a junior, I was at times too weak to hit a topspin one-handed backhand terribly often during a match. Even with a reasonably good underspin backhand, players quickly zeroed in on my backhand to get a predictable reply. Movement and conditioning seem…

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Poll Inspired by The Last Dance

ESPN’s The Last Dance may have caused me to technically violate my NO GOAT POSTS Pledge, but this is across sports and I don’t think many currently view Pete Sampras as the Men’s Tennis GOAT. He did finish 6 Years at #1, win 12 majors, win the ATP World Championships 5 times, and was part…

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Memories of the 1988 Men’s US Open

A new emphasis on videos for Tennis Abides.  We all miss tennis, but maybe some memories will make tennis seem not as far away. This court and color scheme were not in existence in 1988,  but it is a US Open photo.

Wimbledon Shutting Down: Not Unexpected

I know tennis fans love Wimbledon.  Still, I think the event made the wisest decision it could make today.  This pandemic has changed many things.  It will continue to do so.  Some day, and hopefully that day is in 2021, Wimbledon will be back, but for now, Wimbledon and other non-essential public events need to…

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Martina Navratilova Abides!

I was not going to post this until I had a column to go with it.  With all of the talks about most this or greatest that, if doubles and mixed doubles are considered Martina Navratilova is the most decorated tennis player ever.*  Getting a tweet from her was a thrill. Not at all…and with…

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Yevgeny Kafelnikov Abides

Yevgeny Kafelnikov responded to a non-sensical, social distancing induced question I asked him on Twitter.  YK, the 1996 French Open, 1999 Australian Open, 2000 Olympic gold medalist in singles, and former world #1, has not seen the Soviet produced version of The Hobbit (1985). I didn’t 🤷‍♂️ — Kafelnikov Yevgeny (@KYevgeni) March 26, 2020  

Don’t Call it a Comeback or Time to Hang it Up?

Can these bones live? Wake up call … I got my brains beaten out in both singles and doubles when I played in during a high school tennis practice this past Saturday.  To add injury to insult, I lunged/dove for a ball when trailing and lost my balance falling on my left knee and hand. …

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