On This Day In Tennis History

The following are events that happened this week in the history of tennis. Look for the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY, A DAY BY DAY ANTHOLOGY OF HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS (New Chapter Press, 19.95, www.newchapterpressmedia.com ) by Randy Walker due out in bookstores later this year.
January 29
1891 – U.S. Davis Cup player Richard Williams, who survived the sinking of The Titantic and went on to win two U.S. singles titles in 1914 and 1916, is born in Geneva, Switzerland.
1989 – Ivan Lendl wins his first Australian Open singles title and his seventh career Grand Slam singles title, defeating fellow Czech Miloslav Mecir 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in the men’s singles final. The win guarantees that Lendl will overtake Mats Wilander as the No. 1 player in the world. In women’s doubles, the top-seeded team of Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver win their seventh Australian Open women’s doubles title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Patty Fendick and Jill Hetherington. Shriver and Navratilova’s victory was their 20th Grand Slam doubles title.
1994 – Steffi Graf easily defeats Aranxta Sanchez Vicario 6-0, 6-2 in 57 minutes in the women’s singles final at the Australian Open.
1995 – Andre Agassi wins his first Australian Open title, defeating and dethroning top-ranked Pete Sampras 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the men’s singles final. The win is the second straight Grand Slam singles title for Agassi after his US Open triumph in 1994. ”I came here believing in myself, believing that I could win,” said Agassi. “”It was the first time I ever came into a Grand Slam believing like that. And now, I’m not worried about winning all of them, I worry about winning each one.” “I don’t know how much room there is for improvement,” Sampras said of Agassi. “If he stays fit, he’s a threat to win every single major title of the year.”
2003 – Former world number one Marat Safin of Russia ends Andre Agassi’s five-year winning streak at the Australian Open with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 5-7, 1-6, 6-3 win the men’s semifinals. “I don’t have the words to describe what I’m feeling right now,” said Safin. “To be on the same court as Andre Agassi and to win in five sets after he came back from 2-0 down, it’s great.” “I came here to try and win it and I’m almost there. I have one match left to go. Everything is going my way.” In the women’s semifinals, Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium defeated Colombia’s 32nd seed Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2, 6-2, while Kim Clijsters of Belgium, defeated Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6 (2).
2005 – Serena Williams wins her seventh Grand Slam singles title, defeating Lindsay Davenport 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the women’s singles final at the Australian Open. Williams win is her first grand slam since victory in the 2003 Wimbledon final. Said Williams of the suggestion that her career was in decline, “It is a very fashionable way to decline…It’s that much sweeter because people are always wondering about what’s happening to us. “It’s been a long way coming back. But I’m almost to my goal, and it feels great. “
2006 – Federer gets emotional, cries and hugs all-time great Rod Laver during the post-match ceremony following his 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 win over upstart Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the final of the Australian Open. Federer has difficulty putting to words the emotions he feels during the post-match ceremony and sobs after receiving the trophy from Laver. “I hope you know how much this means to me,” he said as he wiped away tears. Federer becomes the first player to win three consecutive Grand Slam tournaments since Pete Sampras won at the 1994 Australian Open. The title is his seventh career Grand Slam title, tying him with John McEnroe, John Newcombe and Mats Wilander.
January 30
1980 – Saying, “I don’t enjoy winning, and I don’t enjoy losing. I just don’t enjoy playing any more.” 25-year-old Chris Evert announces her retirement from professional tennis. However the retirement of “Chrissie” does not last as she returns to professional tennis after only three months. Evert goes on to win nine more Grand Slam titles and officially retires for a final time in 1989.
2000 – The U.S. Davis Cup team arrives in Zimbabwe for its first-ever tie on the African continent. First-year Davis Cup captain John McEnroe spends his first full-day on the ground as U.S. captain by visiting Zimbabwe’s No. 1 tourist attraction Victoria Falls for publicity photos.
2001 – Eighteen-year-old Andy Roddick is named to the U.S. Davis Cup team or the first time in his career as rookie captain Patrick McEnroe chooses the future world No. 1, along with Todd Martin, Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob to the U.S. team to face Switzerland, led by 19-year-old Roger Federer, another future world No. 1
1993 – Nineteen-year-old Monica Seles edges Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to the women’s singles title at the Australian Open, her eighth Grand Slam singles victory. “I knew I had to run down every ball and never give up,” said Seles.”It was a close match all the way. We both hit the ball so hard you have to concentrate all the time. “I never thought I’d be doing so well in Grand Slams. It’s incredible,” Said Graf, “She really deserved to win today. She just has incredible willpower and confidence. Once she gets in the groove, she just plays every point as hard as she can. That is very difficult because you do not get any easy points or easy games. That is definitely her strength.”
1994 – Pete Sampras wins his third consecutive Grand Slam singles title, slamming 13 aces with speeds as fast as 126 mph in defeating first-time Grand Slam finalist Todd Martin 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4 at the Australian Open. The top-seeded Sampras became the first man in nearly 30 years to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open consecutively. The only others were Roy Emerson in 1964-65 and Don Budge in 1937-38. “He’s just too good and he really deserves what he’s succeeding at, because he’s really working his butt off,” Martin said of Sampras.
2005 – Five years after winning his first Grand Slam title, Marat Safin wins his elusive second Grand Slam title, defeating native son Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Australian Open. Safin, the 2000 US Open champion, was finally able to break through and win “Down Under” after having lost in the Australian Open final two times in the last three years. Hewitt was attempting to become the first Australian to win his country’s national championship since Mark Edmonson in 1976. Said Safin, “Today it was a relief for me. Two Grand Slams, it’s already something. One Grand Slam, you can win by mistake, like I did in 2000 US Open, but this one, I’ve worked really hard for that.”

January 31

1992 – Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi register singles victories over Martin Jaite and Alberto Mancini, respectively, as the United States takes a commanding 2-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Mauna Lani, Hawaii.

1993 – For the second consecutive year, Jim Courier defeats Stefan Edberg in the men’s singles final at the Australian Open. Courier won his fourth – and eventually what would be his last – Grand Slam singles title, with a 6-2, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 victory.
1998 – Seventeen-year-old Martina Hingis won her fourth major championship, defeating Conchita Martinez 6-3, 6-3 in the women’s singles final at the Australian Open. Hingis would become the young player in 100 years to defend a Grand Slam titles. “To defend the title is much harder than coming here for the first time (when) nobody expected me to win,” said Hingis. “There was so much pressure. . . . This is the hardest Grand Slam I’ve won. There were so many different expectations on me, especially the pressure I put on myself. Everybody told me this year is going to be very hard. I’m proud of myself for what I did the last two weeks.” No player, male or female, had defended a Grand Slam title at a younger age since 16-year-old Charlotte “Lottie” Dod won her second straight Wimbledon in 1888. In the 30-year Open era, Monica Seles was two months older than Hingis when she won her second straight French Open championship in 1991.

2004 – Justine Henin-Hardenne wins her third Grand Slam title defeating fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the women’s singles final at the Australian Open.
1982 – Ivan Lendl defeats Australian Peter McNamara 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to win the $100,000 prize in the WCT Gold Coast Cup tennis tournament in a grueling match that lasted three hours and seven minutes in high winds.
1982 – Martina Navratilova defeats Wendy Turnbull 6-4, 6-1 in 53 minutes to win the Chicago women’s tennis championship. “Once I got rolling, things went my way, although it was never easy,” said Navratilova. “Wendy doesn’t threaten me that much. She doesn’t have that strong of a serve.”

1982 – John McEnroe defeats Jimmy Connors 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the U.S. Pro Indoor Championships in Philadelphia.

February 1

1992 – John McEnroe and Rick Leach defeat Javier Frana and Christian Miniussi 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 to give the United States an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Mauna Lani, Hawaii.
1998 – At the age of 30, Petr Korda wins his first Grand Slam singles championship, defeating 22-year-old Marcelo Rios of Chile 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in 85 minutes in the men’s singles final of the Australian Open. Korda knocked 32 winners passed Rios in becoming the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title since Andres Gomez, a few months older, won the 1990 French Open. “The Korda Kick” became the fad in tennis as Korda’s victories and winning shots were celebrated with scissor-kick type leaps. “I was waiting for this a long, long time,” Korda told the crowd. “”It’s been such a long ride,” he said. “It’s fantastic. I got to the last stop. I feel I’m on top of the world at the moment … I just put all the pieces together for this tournament. It was really a very enjoyable ride for me.”
2004 – Roger Federer won his first Australian Open crown, his second career Grand Slam singles title and clinched the world’s No. 1 ranking with a 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-2 win over Marat Safin in the men’s singles final at the Australian Open. “What a great start to the year for me, to win the Australian Open and become No. 1 in the world,” Federer said. “To fulfill my dreams, it really means very much to me.”

2005 – The comeback attempt by former world No. 1 Martina Hingis stalls in Pattaya, Thailand as she is defeated by Germany’s Marlene Weingartner 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the Volvo Women’s Open. Hingis, who won five Grand Slam singles titles, was competing in her first WTA Tour event since October of 2002.

February 2
1889 – The United States Lawn Tennis Association officially accepts “lady” lawn tennis players as members.
1992 – Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi defeat Alberto Mancini and Martin Jaite, respectively, to complete a 5-0 shutout of Argentina in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Mauna Lani, Hawaii.
1945 – American Davis Cupper and 1943 U.S. Champion Joseph Hunt dies as his Navy fighter plane crashes in the ocean off Florida. Hunt, 26, the highest regarded American player to die in the war, had been expected to shine in the peacetime game.
1982– Still distraught over the shooting death of friend and fellow tennis player Andrea Buchanan, tennis legend Billie Jean King walks off the court in the third set of her first round match against Ann Kiyomura at the Avon Championships of Detroit. “Emotionally, I was not up to my game and I could not concentrate on hitting the ball,” said King after the 3-6, 6-3, 1-0, retire loss. “I apologize for my behaviour. It was not professional.”

1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, 1989 semifinalist at the French Open and Russian Davis Cup hero, is born in Moscow.

2004 – Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 player in the world for the first time in his career, replacing Andy Roddick in the top ranking on the ATP computer. Federer has held the ranking ever since!
2007 – Chilean Nicolas Massu comes back from a 0-6, 2-5 deficit and saves eight match points in defeating Sergio Roitman of Argentina in the quarterfinals of the Movistar Open in Vina del Mar, Chile. Massu benefits when Roitman finally retires with a left thigh injury after Massu wins the second-set tie-break 7-3.

February 3
1947 – President Harry Truman conducts the Davis Cup draw at the White House, joining U.S. President Calvin Coolidge as the only U.S Presidents to conduct the Davis Cup draw. Says Truman during the proceedings, “I hope the time will come when we can settle our international differences in courts, just as we settle our tennis differences on a court.”
1990 – Rick Leach and Jim Pugh make their Davis Cup debuts and defeat Leonardo Lavalle and Jorge Lozano 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 to clinch the 4-0 victory over Mexico in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Carlsbad, Calif.
1989 – Sixteen-year-old Michael Chang makes his Davis Cup by NEC debut defeating Victor Pecci 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 helping the United States to a 2-0 lead over Paraguay in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Ft. Myers, Fla. Chang also becomes the first American to play a Davis Cup tie-break in the first set of his match with Pecci. The tie-break is formally introduced to Davis Cup play (except in the fifth set) beginning in the 1989 Davis Cup season. Chang is also the second youngest player to play Davis Cup for the United States at this tie at the age of sixteen years, 11 months and 12 days.
2000 – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe presides over the draw ceremony for the USA vs. Zimbabwe Davis Cup first round tie in Harare, Zimbabwe.
February 4
1990 – Brad Gilbert defeats Jorge Lozano 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to complete a 4-0 sweep of Mexico in the Davis Cup by NEC first round at Carlsbad, Calif.
1989 – Ken Flach and Robert Seguso give the United States an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Paraguay, defeating Victor Pecci and Francisco Gonzalez 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Ft. Myers, Fla.
2000 – John McEnroe makes his debut as U.S. Davis Cup captain in Harare, Zimbabwe as the United States and Zimbabwe split the first matches in their first round tie. Andre Agassi defeats Wayne Black 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 and Chris Woodruff, in his Davis Cup debut, loses to Byron Black 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.
2001 – Lindsay Davenport of Newport Beach, Calif., wins her 31st career singles title when she defeats world No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Davenport improved to 13-10 overall against Hingis, including a 10-6 head-to-head advantage in tournament finals.

2006 – Martina Hingis upsets Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1 to reach the first WTA Tour final of her comeback at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
1979 – In his first tournament of the year, Bjorn Borg breaks the serve of Guillermo Vilas seven out of eight times, and wins the WCT tournament title in Richmond, Va., with a 6-3, 6-1 victory of the Argentine in the men’s singles final.
2001 – Federer, at age 19, wins the first ATP title of his career, defeating Julien Boutter of France 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in Milan, Italy. “What a relief,” he said after the match. “I’m really happy to have won my first title here in Milan. As a kid you always dream of winning your first title.”