I came across this piece from Peter Bodo regarding the late, great, Pancho Segura. This quote from Segura stood out to me as a great outlook for anyone playing tennis at any level: “It doesn’t take more than a racket and a heart to play this game,” he told ESPN in 2009. “It’s a great…
Tag: Tennis History
A Lifetime of Bad Tennis Computer/Video Games
Pong had a tennis quality to it. Pong was simple yet fun. Sadly, my experience with tennis based computer and video games generally topped out with Pong. It has been a hard balance for programmers to come up with a tennis game with the right level of difficulty that also actually resembles the sport of…
Another Becker Classic – Sampras v Becker ATP World Championship 1996
I will get my WTA awards out before New Year’s Eve, but I thought posting anything not Dick Enberg related would have been poor form. Life has gotten busier since then. This match was an example that huge serving and power tennis could be wildly entertaining. Becker was coming back from a wrist injury earlier in…
Forgotten Classic – Becker v Leconte 1993
I loved seeing the sort of shots they could generate given that the strings were not nearly as advanced as they are today. Also, the serve and volley positioning is nice to see.
Europe Wins the Laver Cup in a Successful Debut for the Event
Inaugural #LaverCup Champions#TeamEurope 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/IWrwtMy6KG — Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) September 24, 2017 The inaugural Laver Cup succeeded in its most important task – creating a competitive environment. The tennis was not a hit and giggle spectacle. Players were invested in the matches and supported one another from the bench. There were certain nice touches: The…
The Battle of the Sexes Part 3 – Social and Cultural Relevance
Tennis has had a number of figures involved in key social issues in the 20th and 21st century. Arthur Ashe’s stance on both Civil Rights and the HIV/AIDS crisis come to mind along with Billie Jean King’s pursuit of equal prize money for women. Venus Williams has been lauded as the successor to King’s drive…
The Battle of the Sexes: Part 1 – The International Tennis Hall of Fame
In 1999 I visited the International Tennis Hall of Fame twice due to living in Providence, Rhose Island. Getting to Newport was fairly easy despite not having a car as Rhode Island has a good public transportation system that serves the whole state (being small has its advantages). I visited again in 2008 after a…
Davis Cup 2017: France and Belgium Reach the Championship Round
What. A. Win! @David__Goffin completes a stunning 67(4) 64 64 64 win over Nick Kyrgios to force a live 5th! #DavisCup pic.twitter.com/DUHWunvHLw — Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 17, 2017 The match-up between France and Belgium in November should be fun because I think both countries are invested in the outcome of this tie. Of course,…
US Open 1992: The 25th Anniversary of an Epic Men’s Event (Part 2)
Part 1 Investigated the 1st through 4th rounds The Final 8: Edberg’s Marathon Run to the Title The Quarterfinal Round: 2 of the 4 Matches Went 5 sets The Highlight Match did not go 5 sets, but the 1992 Australian and French Open champion Jim Courier took on the 1992 Wimbledon champion and boyhood rival…
US Open 1992: The 25th Anniversary of an Epic Men’s Event (Part 1)
The 1992 Men’s US Open was notable due to a large number of clashes between major winners. While Stefan Edberg won the title by beating Pete Sampras in 4 sets, he needed three consecutive 5 set wins in order to reach that final. More unbelievably, Edberg had to come back from a service break down…
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 