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Jennifer Capriati

Let Rafael Nadal's tennis do the talking; US Open prize money increase — The Friday Five

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By Maud Watson

Rafael Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open

Cut the Bull

Rafael Nadal’s fans had plenty to celebrate last weekend (and rightfully so) as their man won the prestigious Indian Wells title. But count me among the number of fans that were left feeling a little frustrated at how things unfolded. It wasn’t that Nadal won. He thoroughly deserved it. He played phenomenal tennis, chasing down balls that would have been winners against most players, and he moved around that backhand beautifully to bully his opponents with his legendary forehand. The problem is, we were constantly told he couldn’t do that yet. Leading up to and throughout Indian Wells, Nadal and his camp harped on the knee and his layoff, insisting that he wasn’t capable of producing such a high level of tennis even as match after match proved quite the opposite. It was particularly annoying to hear him essentially use the knee as a preemptive excuse should he lose to Federer in their quarterfinal clash, even though it was obvious Federer was the more hobbled of the two. This brings us to Toni Nadal’s most recent controversial comments. Nadal’s uncle and coach felt the need to insist that his nephew has been in more pain in losses he’s suffered to Federer than Federer was in his loss to Nadal last week. (How would Toni know?) Then there was his ludicrous notion that Ferrer was not only more of a favorite to win Roland Garros than Federer, but a favorite at all. (Ferrer himself doesn’t believe he can win a major.) One can only assume Toni’s comments are meant to make Rafa’s most recent victories over these opponents seem bigger than they were, but none of this is necessary. Nadal is one of the greatest to have played the game. Deflecting the pressure by bringing up injuries is nothing but a copout. It’s a disservice to the fans that can clearly see how he’s playing, and judging by the comments of some of his fellow peers, they’re also getting a little tired of the injury talk. That’s why just once, it would be nice if Nadal and his team would cut the bull and let Nadal’s tennis do the talking. They’d find it more than sufficient.

Knocking at the Door

Lost in the hullabaloo of Nadal’s title run was the respectable tournament that Juan Martin del Potro put together at the year’s first Masters. The Argentine defeated Murray and Djokovic back-to-back to reach the final and very nearly did the same to Nadal in the championship match. Del Potro showed signs of returning to his 2009 form at the end of last season, but it’s looking more and more like he’s ready to make another move with his play at Indian Wells. He still isn’t able to go after the backhand as much as he’d like thanks to a suspect wrist, but it’s getting better. He’s also using more variety, as he recognizes that it will take more than just brute force if he’s to break up the Big 4. If Del Potro can continue is upward trend, men’s tennis is about to get even more interesting with the Argentine’s game a tough matchup for any of the guys ranked ahead of him.

Progress at Last

It’s taken a lot of grumbling, patience, and “spirited discussions”, but it seems that the USTA is ready to listen to the demands of the players. The USTA has finally come to accept that the “Super Saturday” format is no longer compatible with the modern game, and beginning in 2015, the US Open’s scheduling will fall more in line with that of the other three majors. In order to make this possible, the USTA has also agreed to stage the opening rounds of the men’s event over the course of just two days, instead of three. Equally important to the scheduling is the welcomed news that the USTA plans to increase their prize money to $50 million by 2017. This should go a long way towards appeasing the players’ complaints that they don’t currently receive a satisfactory share of the profits. Now, if only we could get a roof over Ashe Stadium – something unlikely to happen any time soon due to cost, but something the USTA is starting to realize may be a possibility down the road. One can dream!

Following Suit

Shortly after the announcement pertaining to the US Open’s prize money increase, Roland Garros also came out with the welcomed news that they, too, intend to increase their prize purse. Though not as much as the $50 million put forth by the USTA, Roland Garros Tournament Director Gilbert Ysern assured everyone that they will increase prize money “spectacularly” between 2013 and 2016. It’s unclear if players are happy with the extent of the change. Justin Gimelstob, an ATP Board Member, stated the players would review the increase along with the French Open’s expansion plans, as they may feel that some of the money being directed towards expansion should instead be going into players’ pockets. Of course, money may not need to be directed towards expansion any time soon, with a Paris judge putting the current plans on hold over concerns that they don’t meet environmental regulations. So, this isn’t over, but at least as far as the prize money is concerned, it’s a step in the right direction.

History Repeating

It’s no secret that Jennifer Capriati had a troubled childhood, and now it seems those problems have carried well into adulthood. On Wednesday in Florida, the 2012 Hall of Fame Inductee was charged with stalking and battery. She allegedly punched her ex-boyfriend, Ivan Brannan, on Valentine’s Day while he was working out at a gym. In addition to punching him, Brannan is claiming that she has stalked him since they broke up in 2012. If the charges prove to be true, they will mark another sad chapter in the American’s life. Depending on how it all shakes out, it may also be interesting to chart whether or not there are calls to revoke her place in the Tennis Hall of Fame.

Kim Clijsters to focus on Olympics; John Isner new number one American — The Friday Five

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By Maud Watson

London or Bust

To the dismay of her legion of fans and the WTA in general, Kim Clijsters announced that she will be unable to make one last run at Roland Garros. The Belgian is suffering from ankle and hip injuries and is healing much slower than anticipated. She is wisely opting to focus all of her efforts on the upcoming grass court season, which she hopes will include a victory at Wimbledon, the Olympics, or both. In reality, such a scenario is looking less and less likely. The competition near the uppermost echelons of the game has made it harder to be a part-time competitor, and given Clijsters’ slow recovery and seemingly continual string of injuries, it’s difficult to imagine her being at the top of her game when she needs it most. She’s a great person, and I’d love to see a fairytale ending to her career, but count me among those who will be sincerely shocked if she not only wins one of the biggest grass court titles of 2012, but actually finishes the season.

Joining the Club and a Snub

The lineup for the 2012 Hall of Fame class has been set, and not surprisingly, it includes Jennifer Capriati. The American’s career follows a very similar arc to that of 2011 Inductee Andre Agassi. She was a standout teen prodigy who crumbled under the pressure in a very public fall from grace, only to pick herself up and ultimately realize her Grand Slam potential more than a decade after turning pro. Her career also impacted the sport as a whole, with her early burnout cited as one of the main reasons the WTA put restrictions on its youngest competitors, while the controversial overrule in her match with Serena Williams at the 2004 US Open is considered the catalyst for introducing Hawk-Eye to the game. With three singles majors, an Olympic gold medal, and the No. 1 ranking, she’s a deserving candidate. Also a deserving candidate but who was instead snubbed for induction is Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The Russian won two singles majors, four in doubles, reached the apex of the men’s rankings, won Olympic gold, and was a member of a winning Davis Cup team. His record is equally, if not arguably more impressive, than Capriati’s, and he’s certainly a more accomplished player than some previous inductees. Some have suggested he failed to make the grade in spite of his Hall of Fame résumé because of his often sour disposition. In an ideal world, induction would be based on pure merit and not popularity, but that’s politics. And while it doesn’t’ make it right, I guess bottom line, Capriati, not Kafelnikov, puts butts in seats.

Touching Tribute

Novak Djokovic has proven his mental toughness on multiple occasions the last 12-18 months, but perhaps one of the more stunning displays of his resolve occurred in his victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the quarters in Monte-Carlo. On the morning he was to play that match, he learned that his grandfather, Vladimir, had passed away at the age of 83. Vladimir was a hero to his grandson and the man Djokovic credited with teaching him to always fight. With that in mind, he couldn’t have put together a more fitting tribute to his grandfather on the day of his passing, overcoming the Ukranian in a topsy-turvy three-set tussle. In the first set, Djokovic was clearly suffering mentally, as he swung without any real purpose and Dolgopolov’s talent was on full display. But the No. 1 roared back in the second to force a tightly contested third set that ended when Djokovic broke his opponent in the ninth game before serving it out for the win. He raised his arms and eyes to the heavens in recognition of his hero before wiping away a few tears and undoubtedly causing more than a few spectators to grow misty-eyed themselves. He’s never won Monte-Carlo, so you can bet he was plenty motivated coming into his adopted hometown event. But now there’s extra motivation, because this one is for grandpa.

New No. 1

No, nobody has knocked Djokovic from his perch atop the world rankings, but John Isner did displace Mardy Fish as the top American, becoming the 12th man to hold the coveted spot in the process. It would have been nice to have seen him punctuate the achievement with the title in Houston, but you have to give credit to his vanquisher Juan Monaco, who before having to retire in his match with Haase in Monte-Carlo was playing some very stellar tennis. Isner has coped relatively well with the expectations that were suddenly heaped on his shoulders following his surprise defeat of Federer in Davis Cup, so it will be interesting to see if he continues the trend now that he’s the U.S. No. 1. It will also be interesting to track if the flip-flop in rankings takes some of the pressure off of Fish and allows him to relax and return to playing top-notch tennis instead of continuing his downward spiral. Either way, it could make for an intriguing spring and summer.

Ultimate Professional

It’s wasn’t a long swan song for Ivan Ljubicic as he entered the final tournament of his professional career in Monte-Carlo earlier this week. Perhaps fittingly, he went out to a fellow Croat, Ivan Dodig, in a straight sets defeat where he admitted he was surprised by the well emotions swirling inside of him. His story of an escape from war-torn Croatia and eventual rise to top tennis star is an inspiring one to be sure, and his dedication to his off-court endeavors is admirable. Always ready with an endearing smile, it was touching to hear his fellow competitors gave him a standing-o when he entered the locker room after that last defeat. He has and continues to be a class act, and I for one can’t wait to see what else he’s going to be able to do for the game.

On This Day In Tennis History Is Latest Book Release From New Chapter Press

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – New Chapter Press has announced the publication of its latest book – On This Day In Tennis History -a calendar-like compilation of historical and unique anniversaries, events and happenings from the world of tennis through the years – written by Randy Walker, the sports marketing and media specialist, tennis historian and former U.S. Tennis Association press officer.
On This Day In Tennis History ($19.95, 528 pages), is a fun and fact-filled, this compilation offers anniversaries, summaries, and anecdotes of events from the world of tennis for every day in the calendar year. Presented in a day-by-day format, the entries into this mini-encyclopedia include major tournament victory dates, summaries of the greatest matches ever played, trivia, and statistics as well as little-known and quirky happenings. Easy-to-use and packed with fascinating details, the book is the perfect companion for tennis and general sports fans alike and is an excellent gift idea for the holiday season. The book features fascinating and unique stories of players such as John McEnroe, Don Budge, Bill Tilden, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova among many others. On This Day In Tennis History is available for purchase via on-line book retailers and in bookstores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. More information on the book can be found at www.tennishistorybook.com
Said Hall of Famer Jim Courier of the book, “On This Day In Tennis History is a fun read that chronicles some of the most important-and unusual-moments in the annals of tennis. Randy Walker is an excellent narrator of tennis history and has done an incredible job of researching and compiling this entertaining volume.” Said tennis historian Joel Drucker, author of Jimmy Connors Saved My Life, “An addictive feast that you can enjoy every possible way-dipping in for various morsels, devouring it day-by-day, or selectively finding essential ingredients. As a tennis writer, I will always keep this book at the head of my table.” Said Bill Mountford, former Director of Tennis of the USTA National Tennis Center, “On This Day In Tennis History is an easy and unique way to absorb the greatest-and most quirky-moments in tennis history. It’s best read a page a day!”
Walker is a writer, tennis historian and freelance publicist and sports marketer. A 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s Marketing and Communications Division, he served as the press officer for the U.S. Davis Cup team from 1997 to 2005 and for the U.S. Olympic tennis teams in 1996, 2000 and 2004. He also served as the long-time editor of the U.S. Open Record Book during his tenure at the USTA from 1993 to 2005.
More information on the book can be found at www.tennistomes.com as well as on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1627089030&ref=name and on myspace at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=428100548
People mentioned in the book include, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Goran Ivanisevic, Andre Agassi, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo, Anna Kounikova, Jennifer Capriati, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Martina Hingis, Gustavo Kuerten, Svetlana Kuznetsova, James Blake, Wilmer Allison, Mal Anderson, Arthur Ashe, Juliette Atkinson, Henry “Bunny” Austin, Tracy Austin, Boris Becker, Kark Behr, Pauline Betz, Bjorn Borg, Jean Borotra, John Bromwich, Norman Brookes, Louise Brough, Jacques Brugnon, Butch Buchholz, Don Budge, Maria Bueno, Rosie Casals, Michael Chang, Philippe Chatrier, Dodo Cheney, Henri Cochet, Maureen Connolly, Jimmy Connors, Jim Courier, Ashley Cooper, Margaret Court, Jack Crawford, Allison Danzig, Dwight Davis, Lottie Dod, John Doeg, Laurence Doherty, Reggie Doherty, Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers, Jaroslav Drobny, Margaret duPont, Francoise Durr, James Dwight, Stefan Edberg, Roy Emerson, Chis Evert, Bob Falkenburg, Neale Fraser, Shirley Fry, Althea Gibson, Pancho Gonzalez, Evonne Goolagong, Arthur Gore, Steffi Graf, Bitsy Grant, Darlene Hard, Doris Hart, Anne Jones, Gladys Heldman, Slew Hester, Bob Hewitt, Lew Hoad, Harry Hopman, Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, Joe Hunt, Frank Hunter, Helen Jacobs, Bill Johnston, Perry Jones, Bob Kelleher, Billie Jean King, Jan Kodes, Karel Kozeluh, Jack Kramer, Rene Lacoste, Bill Larned, Art Larsen, Rod Laver, Ivan Lendl, Suzanne Lenglen, George Lott, Gene Mako, Molla Mallory, Hana Mandlikova, Alice Marble, Dan Maskell, Simone Mathieu, Mark McCormack, John McEnroe, Ken McGregor, Kitty Godfree, Chuck McKinley, Maurice McLoughlin, Frew McMillian, Don McNeill, Elisabeth Moore, Angela Mortimer, Gardnar Mulloy, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, John Newcombe, Yannick Noah, Jana Novotna, Betty Nuthall, Alex Olmedo, Rafael Osuna, Frank Parker, Gerald Patterson, Budge Patty, Fred Perry, Nicola Pietrangeli, Adrian Quist, Patrick Rafter, Dennis Ralson, Vinnie Richards, Nancy Richey, Cliff Richey, Bobby Riggs, Tony Roche, Mervyn Rose, Ken Rosewall, Elizbeth Ryan, Gabriela Sabatini, Pete Sampras, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Manuel Santana, Dick Savitt, Ted Schroeder, Gene Scott, Richard Sears, Frank Sedgman, Pancho Segura, Vic Seixas, Frank Shields, Pam Shriver, Stan Smith, Fred Stolle, Bill Talbert, Bill Tilden, Tony Trabert, Lesley Turner, Jimmy Van Alen, John Van Ryn, Guillermo Vilas, Ellsworth Vines, Brian Gottfried, Virginia Wade, Holcombe Ward, Watson Washburn, Mal Whitman, Mats Wilander, Tony Wilding, Helen Wills Moody, Sidney Wood, Robert Wrenn, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Todd Woodbridge, Marat Safin, Leslie Allen, Sue Barker, Jonas Bjorkman, Mahesh Bhupathi, Donald Dell, Albert Costa, Mark Cox, Owen Davidson, Pat Cash, Mary Carillo, John Isner, Roscoe Tanner, Vijay Amritraj, Mark Woodforde, Tim Henman, Richard Krajicek, Conchita Martinez, Mary Joe Fernandez, Cliff Drysdale, Mark Edmondson, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Zina Garrson, Roland Garros, Wojtek Fibak, Tom Gullikson, Andres Gimeno, Vitas Gerulaitis, Fernando Gonzalez, Tim Henman, Goran Ivanisevic, Andrea Jaeger, Ivo Karlovic, Richard Krajicek, Petr Korda, Luke Jensen, Murphy Jensen, Rick Leach, Iva Majoil, Barry MacKay, Ivan Ljubicic, Cecil Mamiit, David Caldwell, Alex Metreveli, Nicolas Massu, Todd Martin, Gene Mayer, Thomas Muster, Tom Okker, Charlie Pasarell, Mary Pierce, Whitney Reed, Leander Paes, Renee Richards, Helen Sukova, Michael Stich, Betty Stove, Ion Tiriac, Brian Teacher, Wendy Turnbull,  Richards, Fabrice Santoro, Ai Sugiyama, Patrick McEnroe, Camille Pin, Phil Dent, Jelena Dokic, Mark Edmondson, Gael Monfils, Xavier Malisse, Dinara Safina, Barry Lorge, Stefano Pescosolido, Fabrice Santoro, Roscoe Tanner, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Roger Smith, Erik van Dillen, Gene Mayer, Tamara Pasek, Stefan Koubek, Jie Zheng, Gisela Dulko, Kristian Pless, Chuck McKinley, Marty Riessen, Brad Gilbert, Tim Mayotte, Andrea Petkovic, Klara Koukalova, Bobby Reynolds, Dominik Hrbaty, Andreas Seppi, Christopher Clarey, Casey Dellacqua, Anders Jarryd, Janko Tipsarevic, Nadia Petrova, Christian Bergstrom, Ramesh Krishnan, Emily Sanchez, Marcos Baghdatis, Mark Philippousssis, Wally Masur, Paul McNamee, Daniela Hantuchova, Gerry Armstrong, Younes El Aynaoui, Thomas Johansson, Pat Cash, Lisa Raymond, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Chanda Rubin, Tony Roche, Alex O’Brien, Petr Korda, Karol Kucera, Amelie Mauresmo, Juan Gisbert, Pablo Cuevas, Jim Pugh, Rick Leach, Julien Boutter, Larry Stefanki, Chris Woodruff, Jill Craybas, Sania Mirza, Mike Leach, Maggie Maleeva, Guillermo Canas, Guillermo Coria, Donald Young, Dick Stockton, Johan Kriek, Milan Srejber, Zina Garrison, Slyvia Hanika, Karin Knapp, Laura Granville, Kei Nishikori, Scott Davis, Paul Goldstein, Alberto Martin, Nicolas Kiefer, Joachim Johansson, Jonathan Stark, Jakob Hlasek, Jeff Tarango, Amanda Coetzer, Andres Gomez, Richey Reneberg, Francisco Clavet, Radek Stepanek, Miloslav Mecir, Jose-Luis Clerc, Colin Dibley, Mikael Pernfors, Martin Mulligan,  Robbie Weiss,  Hugo Chapacu, Victor Pecci, Charlie Bricker, Greg Rusedski, Robin Finn, Kimiko Date, David Nalbandian, Goran Ivanisevic, Mikhail Youzhny, Nicole Pratt, Bryanne Stewart, Novak Djokovic, Rennae Stubbs, Corina Morariu, Marc Rosset, Kenneth Carlsen, Kimiko Date, Ryan Harrison, Richard Gasquet, Jimmy Arias, Jim Leohr, Felix Mantilla, Cedric Pioline, Annabel Croft, Brooke Shields, Jaime Yzaga, Slobodan Zivojinovic, Alberto Mancini, Peter McNamara, Andrei Chesnokov, Fabrice Santoro, Bud Collins, Mardy Fish, Sebastien Grosjean, Donald Dell, Petr Kuczak, Magnus Norman, Hicham Arazi, Nduka Odizor, Lori McNeil, Horst Skoff, Karolina Sprem, Ros Fairbank, Linda Siegel, Chris Lewis, Kevin Curren, Thierry Tulasne, Guy Forget, Fred Tupper, Jaime Fillol, Belus Prajoux, Ricardo Cano, Georges Goven, Ray Moore, Charlie Pasarell, Paul Annacone, Tomas Smid, Dmitry Tursunov, Elena Dementieva, Arnaud DiPasquale, Carl Uwe Steeb, Bill Scanlon, Jose Higueras, Jay Berger, Jana Novotna, Bill Dwyre, Lisa Dillman, Sean Sorensen, Paul McNamee, Jiri Novak, Benjamin Becker, Ion Tiriac, Neil Amdur, Tim Gullikson, Jan-Michael Gambill, Taylor Dent, Bryan Shelton, Vijay Amritraj, Martin Verkerk, Brian Gottfried, Carlos Moya, Jacco Eltingh, Adriano Panatta, John Feinstein, Aaron Krickstein, Wilhelm Bungert, Derrick Rostagno, Torben Ulrich, Daniel Nestor, Ray Ruffels, Cliff Drysdale, James Reilly, Andy Murray, Leander Paes, Alicia Molik, Barry MacKay among others.
New Chapter Press is also the publisher of The Bud Colins History of Tennis by Bud Collins, The Roger Federer Story, Quest for Perfection by Rene Stauffer and Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli and the soon to be released title The Lennon Prophecy by Joe Niezgoda. Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press is an independent publisher of books and part of the Independent Publishers Group. More information can be found at www.newchapterpressmedia.com

“Mom” Bammer Makes Tennis History; Seeks More

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Sybille Bammer of Austria became a part of tennis history Sunday when she defeated Marion Bartoli of France 7-6 (3), 0-6, 6-4 to advance into the quarterfinals of the US Open. According to The Bud Collins History of Tennis, An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.tennistomes.com), the 3-hour, 5-minute match is the longest women’s singles match in the history of the US Open – two minutes longer than the 2003 US Open semifinal between Jennifer Capriati and Justine Henin-Hardenne, won by Henin-Hardenne 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Bammer, the mother of a seven-year-old daughter Tina, will next play No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic. While a long-shot to win the title, the No. 30-ranked Bammer is looking to join a very exclusive club of five moms to win a major singles title. Moms to win a major singles title are as follows;
Dorothea Douglass Chambers – The British great won two of her Wimbledon titles after the birth of her first child (1910, 1911) and two more after the birth of her second child (1913, 1914).
Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman – She was challenged by her father to win the U.S. Championship after she became a mom. In her first return appearance, she lost in the 1915 singles final to Molla Mallory, but she did turn the trick until 1919, when at 32 years old, she beat Marion Zinderstein Jessup 6-1, 6-2 to win her fourth U.S. title.
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Sarah Palfrey Cooke – This American star did not defend her 1941 U.S. title due to pregnancy (she was married to standout American player Elwood Cooke), but she won the 1945 U.S. title, beating Pauline Betz as a 33-year-old mother.
Margaret Court – The Australian who was the most prolific winner of majors championships ever (62 titles in singles, doubles and mixed) actually played the 1971 Wimbledon women’s singles final while pregnant with her first child, son Daniel, losing to Evonne Goolagong. Court, however, returned to win the Australian, French and U.S. Opens in 1973.
Evonne Goolagong – The most recent of moms to win a major, Goolagong beat Chris Evert Lloyd in the 1980 Wimbledon final.

Mark Keil – My Times in New Haven

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Tennis coach Mark Keil takes at look the ATP event held in New Haven, Conn., each year.  After losing early in Washington DC, I would head back to Tampa to train for a few days before heading up to the event held at Yale University.
I sometimes would hit with Jennifer Capriati in Florida, and she would hit the ball so deep.  Since I was accustomed to mostly playing doubles, I would play her baseline games to eleven and she would give me a run for my money.  She was a goofy girl, in a good way, and really didn’t like to practice, but we all didn’t really.  She was always talking about her boyfriend at the time, Xavier Malisse, and how crazy he was.
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The campus at Yale where the tourney is played (then known as the Volvo International, now the Pilot Penn) is like an oasis in the middle of east Los Angeles.  This is where Sidney Wood, the 1931 Wimbledon champion would hone his game.  You might still be able to catch him cruising the grounds.
One year I played with Adam Malik, the All-American out of Kentucky who was from Malaysia. We played Marius Barnard and Brent Haygarth from South Africa. Marius liked to bounce the ball a lot before he served. Adam would blink constantly when talking to you. Brent was a stellar player out of Texas A&M, who dates former tour player Tara Snyder.  We played a tight match and came up short 7-6, 4-6, 4-6.
In 1998, I played with T.J. Middleton, a team member of the NCAA champion Georgia Bulldog’s in 1987. We would always have a good time, and hung out together that week at Toad’s Place. Unfortunately, we went down to the tough German doubles team of Marc-Kevin Goellner and David Prinosil.  They would get to the finals of the French Open together, losing to the wild Jensen brothers. Marc patented wearing a baseball cap turned backwards, inspiring the craze you see now in tennis.  The summer tennis season was coming to a close, and the last big dance was upon us.
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Olympic Withdrawals – From Tilden and Lenglen – Agassi and Sharapova

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Pull-outs from the Olympic tennis competition has become almost as much of a tradition as the Olympics Games itself.
Maria Sharapova is the most recent example with the reigning Australian Open champion pulling out of the Beijing Games – and the U.S. Open – with a shoulder injury. Other recent pullouts include Marcos Baghdatis, Mario Ancic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Some other examples of high profile pullouts from past Games include Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf before the 1996 Games in Atlanta, (strained Achilles tendon and left knee injury, respectively) Andre Agassi before the 2000 Games in Sydney (cancer diagnosis to his mother and sister), Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati before the Athens Games (left knee and hamstring, respectively).
The other high-profile player not in the Beijing field is of course 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish. While a super-patriot when representing the United States in Davis Cup – and at the 2004 Games – Roddick made the tough decision to focus on getting a leg up on his rivals at the U.S. Open by not traveling to the other side of the globe just two weeks before the fourth and final major tournament of the year. Roddick’s reasoning for skipping the Games is to put the Open as a high priority this time around. Fish, another Davis Cup stalwart, made the tough decision as well having already achieved Olympic glory on his resume.
Another great American tennis champion, Bill Tilden, took perhaps the same reasoning when skipping the Olympic tennis competition at the 1924 Games in Paris, although his public excuse for missing out on the Games was due to his journalistic contracts. On March 11, 1924 – as documented in the my new book On This Day In Tennis History (New Chapter Press, $19.95) – Tilden announced that he will not represent the United States in the Paris Games. Tilden’s reasoning is that even if he wanted to play for the United States, the U.S. Olympic rule that forbids athletes from writing for newspapers prevents him from competing since he is contracted to write two articles per week for various outlets. Wrote the New York Times on the day “The tennis champion had never definitely announced that he would go abroad this year if picked for the Olympic team. Two months ago, Tilden said he did not think he would go because of the sharp competition expected in the national singles and in the Davis Cup matches. He said he regarded the Davis Cup competition more important than the Olympics and that he felt he could husband his strength for those matches in the event he is to be one of the contestants.” The USLTA also had enacted a similar rule for amateur tennis, but it is not scheduled to take affect until Jan. 1, 1925.
Also in 1924, French superstar Suzanne Lenglen withdrew from the competition in the capital city of her home country due to illness. She does, however, attend select sessions of the competition. Reported the Associated Press on the first day of the 1924 competition, “Suzanne Lenglen, the world’s champion, watched some of the matches until the sun became too uncomfortably warm for her. She looked thinner than usual. Mlle. Lenglen said she still felt ill and her appearance bore out her statement.”
The benefactors of Tilden and Lenglen’s withdrawals in 1924? Vincent Richards, Tilden’s Davis Cup teammate who won singles gold over France’s Henri Cochet, and Helen Wills, who won the singles competition over France’s Didi Vlasto.

The Origins Of Olympic Tennis

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Some say that tennis is relatively new sport in the Olympic Games. However, tennis was one of the nine sports on the original Olympic program at the first Modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The first Olympic tennis champion was John Boland, an Irishmen vacationing in Greece at the time of the first Modern Games. He entered into the tennis competition upon the urging of a Greek classmate from Oxford. Boland, who would later found the University of Ireland and serve Britain as a member of Parliament, won the singles competition in an eight-man field and paired with a German, Fritz Traun, to sweep the doubles title.
Tennis was a fixture on the Olympic program through the 1924 Games in Paris. The International Tennis Federation – the international governing body for tennis – and the International Olympic Committee saw differences on the definition of amateurism, and on whether Wimbledon should be played in Olympic years. What resulted was the exclusion of tennis from the Olympic Games as an official medal sport until 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.
Tennis triumphantly returned to the Olympic Games in 1988 in Seoul, becoming the first Olympic sport to allow professionals to compete (Basketball followed suit in 1992). Steffi Graf of West Germany completed the rarest feat in the sport by capping a “Golden Slam” at the Seoul Games, having won all four major titles in professional tennis heading into the 1988 Games.
A compilation of Olympic tennis results and medalists are compiled below…
1896 – ATHENS, GREECE

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — John Boland (Great Britain)
SILVER — Demis Kastaglis (Greece)
BRONZE — Momcsillo Topavicza (Hungary)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — John Boland (Great Britain) and Fritz Traun (Germany)
SILVER — Demis Kasdaglis and Demetrious Petrokokkinos (Greece)
BRONZE — Edwin Hack (Australia) and George Robertson (Great Britain)
RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match— John Boland (Great Britain) def. Demis Kastaglis (Greece), 7-5, 6-4, 6-1.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match— John Boland (Great Britain) and Fritz Traun (Germany) d. Demis Kasdaglis and Demetrios Petrokokkinos (Greece), 6-2, 6-4.

1900 – PARIS, FRANCE

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Laurie Doherty (Great Britain)
SILVER — Harold Mahony (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Reggie Doherty (Great Britain)
A.B.J. Norris (Great Britain)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Reggie Doherty and Laurie Doherty (Great Britain)
SILVER — Spalding de Garmendia (United States) and Max Decugis (France)
BRONZE — G. de la Chapelle and Andre Prevost (France)
Harold Mahony and A.B.J. Norris (Great Britain)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Charlotte Cooper (Great Britain)
SILVER — Helene Prevost (France)
BRONZE — Marion Jones (United States)
Hedwig Rosenbaum (Bohemia)
Mixed Doubles
GOLD — Charlotte Cooper and Reggie Doherty (Great Britain)
SILVER — Helene Prevost (France) and Harold Mahony (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Hedwig Rosenbaum (Bohemia) and Archibald Walden (Great Britain)
Laurie Doherty (Great Britain) and Marion Jones (United States)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Laurie Doherty (Great Britain) def. Harold Mahony (Great Britain), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match— Reggie Doherty-Laurie Doherty (Great Britain) def. Spalding de Garmendia (United States) and Max Decugis (France), 6-3, 6-3, 7-5
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Charlotte Cooper (Great Britain) def. Helene Prevost (France), 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Match — Charlotte Cooper and Reggie Doherty (Great Britain) def. Helene Prevost (France) and Harold Mahony (Great Britain), 6-2, 6-4.
1904 – ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, UNITED STATES

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Beals Wright (United States)
SILVER — Robert LeRoy (United States)
BRONZE — Alphonso Bell (United States) and Edgar Leonard (United States)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Edgar Leonard and Beals Wright (United States)
SILVER — Alphonso Bell and Robert LeRoy (United States)
BRONZE — Joseph Wear and Allen West (United States)
Clarence Gamble and Arthur Wear (United States)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Beals Wright (United States) def. Robert LeRoy (United States) 6-4, 6-4.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Edgar Leonard and Beals Wright (United States) def. Alphonso Bell and Robert LeRoy (United States), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
1908 – LONDON, ENGLAND (Outdoor)

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD – Josiah Ritchie(Great Britain)
SILVER – Otto Froitzheim (Germany)
BRONZE – Wilberforce Eaves (Great Britain)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — George Hillyard and Reggie Doherty (Great Britain)
SILVER — Josiah Richie and James Parke (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Charles Cazalet and Charles Dixon (Great Britain)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Dorothea Chambers (Great Britain)
SILVER — Penelope Boothby (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Joan Winch (Great Britain)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match – Josiah Ritchie (Great Britain) def. Otto Froitzheim (Germany), 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Wilberforce Eaves (Great Britain) def. Ivie John Richardson (South Africa), 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — George Hillyard and Reggie Doherty (Great Britain) def. Josiah Richie and James Parke (Great Britain) 9-7, 7-5, 9-7.
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Dorothea Chambers (Great Britain) def. Penelope Boothby (Great Britain), 6-1, 7-5.
1908 – LONDON, ENGLAND — (Indoor)

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Arthur Gore (Great Britain)
SILVER — George Caridia (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Josiah Ritchie (Great Britain)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Arthur Gore and Herbert Barrett (Great Britain)
SILVER — George Simond and George Caridia (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Wollmar Bostrom and Gunnar Setterwall (Sweden)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Gwendoline Smith (Great Britain)
SILVER — Angela Greene (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Martha Adlerstraille (Sweden)
RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Arthur Gore (Great Britain) def. George Caridia (Great Britain), 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Arthur Gore and Herbert Barrett (Great Britain) def. George Simond and George Caridia (Great Britain), 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Gwendoline Smith (Great Britain) def. Angela Greene (Great Britain), 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
1912 – STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (Outdoor)

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Charles Winslow (South Africa)
SILVER — Harold Kitson (South Africa)
BRONZE — Oskar Kreuzer (Germany)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Charles Winslow and Harold Kitson (South Africa)
SILVER — Felix Pipes and Arthur Zborzil (Austria)
BRONZE — A. Canet and M. Meny (France)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Marguerite Broquedis (France)
SILVER — Dora Koring (Germany)
BRONZE — Molla Bjurstedt (Norway)
Mixed Doubles
GOLD — Heinrich Schomburgk and Dora Koring (Germany)
SILVER — Gunnar Setterwall and Sigrid Fick (Sweden)
BRONZE — A. Canet and Marguerite Broquedis (France)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Charles Winslow (South Africa) def. Harold Kitson (South Africa), 7-5, 4-6, 10-8, 8-6.
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Oskar Kreuzer (Germany) def. Ladislav Zemla (BOH), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Charles Winslow and Harold Kitson (South Africa) def. Felix Pipes and Arthur Zborzil (Austria), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Marguerite Broquedis (France) def. Dora Koring (Germany), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Match — Dora Koring and Heinrich Schomburgk (Germany) def. Sigrid Fick and Gunnar Setterwall (Sweden), 6-4, 6-0.
1912 – STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (Indoor)

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Andre Gobert (France)
SILVER — Charles Dixon (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Anthony Wilding (Australia)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Andre Gobert and Maurice Germot (France)
SILVER — Gunnar Setterwall and Carl Kempe (Sweden)
BRONZE — Arthur Beamish and Charles Dixon (Great Britain)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Edith Hannam (Great Britain)
SILVER — Thora Gerda Sophy Castenschiold (Denmark)
BRONZE — Mabel Parton (Great Britain)
RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Andre Gobert (France) def. Charles Dixon (Great Britain), 8-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Anthony Wilding (Australia) def. Gordon Lowe (Great Britain), 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-0
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match— Andre Gobert and Maurice Germot (France) def. Gunnar Setterwall and Carl Kempe (Sweden), 6-4, 12-14, 6-2, 6-4.
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Edith Hannam (Great Britain) def. Thora Gerda Sophy Castenschiold (Denmark), 6-4, 6-3.
Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Match — Edith Hannam and Charles Dixon (Great Britain) def. Helen Aitchison and Roper Barrett (Great Britain), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

1920 – ANTWERP, BELGIUM

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Louis Raymond (South Africa)
SILVER — Ichiya Kumagae (Japan)
BRONZE — Charles Winslow (South Africa)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Noel Turnbull (South Africa) and Max Woosnam (Great Britain)
SILVER — Seiichiro Kashio and Ichiya Kumagae (Japan)
BRONZE — Pierre Albarran and Max Decugis (France)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Suzanne Lenglen (France)
SILVER — Dorothy Holman (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Kitty McKane (Great Britain)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD — Kitty McKane and Winifred McNair (Great Britain)
SILVER — Geraldine Beamish and Dorothy Holman (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Elizabeth D’Ayen and Suzanne Lenglen (France)
Mixed Doubles
GOLD — Suzanne Lenglen and Max Decugis (France)
SILVER — Kitty McKane and Max Woosnam (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Milade Skrbkova and Razny Zemie (Czechoslovakia)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match— Louis Raymond (South Africa) def. Ichiya Kumagae (Japan), 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Noel Turnbull (South Africa) and Max Woosnam (Great Britain), def. Seiichiro Kashio and Ichiya Kumagae (Japan), 6-2, 7-5, 7-5.
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Suzanne Lenglen (France) def. Dorothy Holman (Great Britain), 6-3, 6-0.
Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Kitty McKane and Winifred McNair (Great Britain) def. Geraldine Beamish and Dorothy Holman (Great Britain), 8-6, 6-4.
Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Match — Suzanne Lenglen and Max Decugis (France) def. Kitty McKane and Max Woosnam (Great Britain), 6-4, 6-2.
1924 – PARIS, FRANCE

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD –Vincent Richards (United States)
SILVER — Henri Cochet (France)
BRONZE — Umberto Luigi de Morpurgo (Italy)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Vincent Richards and Frank Hunter (United States)
SILVER — Jacques Brugnon and Henri Cochet (France)
BRONZE — Jean Borotra and Rene Lacoste (France)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Helen Wills (United States)
SILVER — Didi Vlastro (France)
BRONZE — Kitty McKane (Great Britain)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD — Helen Wills and Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman (United States)
SILVER — Kitty McKane and Dorothy Covell (Great Britain)
BRONZE — Evelyn Colyer and Dorothy Shepherd Barron (Great Britain)
Mixed Doubles
GOLD — Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman and R. Norris Williams (United States)
SILVER — Marion Jessup and Vincent Richards (United States)
BRONZE — Hendrik Timmer and Cornelia Bouman (Netherlands)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Vincent Richards (United States) def. Henri Cochet (France), 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 5-7, 6-2.
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Umberto Luigi de Morpurgo (Italy) def. Jean Borotra (France), 1-6, 6-1, 8-6, 4-6, 7-5
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Vincent Richards and Frank Hunter (United States) def. Jacques Brugnon and Henri Cochet (France), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match— Helen Wills (United States) def. Didi Vlastro (France), 6-2, 6-2.
Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Helen Wills and Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman (United States) def. Kitty McKane and Dorothy Covell (Great Britain), 7-5, 8-6.
Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Match — Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman and R. Norris Williams (United States) def. Marion Jessup and Vincent Richards (United States), 6-2, 6-3.
1988 – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Miloslav Mecir (Czechoslovakia)
SILVER — Tim Mayotte (United States)
BRONZE — Stefan Edberg (Sweden)
Brad Gilbert (United States)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Ken Flach and Robert Seguso (United States)
SILVER –Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez (Spain)
BRONZE — Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd (Sweden)
Miloslav Mecir and Milan Srejber (Czechoslovakia)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Steffi Graf (West Germany)
SILVER — Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina)
BRONZE — Zina Garrison (United States)
Manuela Maleeva (Bulgaria)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD — Zina Garrison and Pam Shriver (United States)
SILVER — Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova (Czechoslovakia)
BRONZE — Liz Smylie and Wendy Turnbull (Australia)
Steffi Graf and Claudia Kohde Kilsch (Germany)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Miloslav Mecir (Czechoslovakia) def. Tim Mayotte (United States), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Ken Flach and Robert Seguso (United States) def. Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez (Spain), 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (1-7), 9-7.
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Steffi Graf (West Germany) def. Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina), 6-3, 6-3.
Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Zina Garrison and Pam Shriver (United States) def. Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova (Czechoslovakia), 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.
1992 – BARCELONA, SPAIN

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Marc Rosset (Switzerland)
SILVER — Jordi Arrese (Spain)
BRONZE — Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia)
Andrei Cherkasov (CIS)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD — Boris Becker and Michael Stich (Germany)
SILVER — Wayne Ferreira and Piet Norval (South Africa)
BRONZE — Goran Ivanisevic and Goran Prpic (Croatia)
Javier Frana and Christian Miniussi (Argentina)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Jennifer Capriati (United States)
SILVER — Steffi Graf (Germany)
BRONZE — Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain)
Mary Joe Fernandez (United States)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD — Mary Joe Fernandez and Gigi Fernandez (United States)
SILVER — Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain)
BRONZE — Natasha Zvereva and Leila Meshki (CIS)
Rachael McQuillan and Nicole Provis (Australia)

RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Marc Rosset (Switzerland) def. Jordi Arrese (Spain), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 8-6.
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Boris Becker and Michael Stich (Germany) def. Wayne Ferreira and Piet Norval (South Africa), 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match — Jennifer Capriati (United States) def. Steffi Graf (Germany),  3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Mary Joe Fernandez and Gigi Fernandez (United States) def. Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain), 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
1996 – ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD — Andre Agassi (United States)
SILVER – Sergi Bruguera (Spain)
BRONZE – Leander Paes (India)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD – Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (Australia)
SILVER – Tim Henman and Neil Broad (Great Britain)
BRONZE – Marc-Kevin Goellner and David Prinosil (Germany)
Women’s Singles
GOLD — Lindsay Davenport (United States)
SILVER – Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain)
BRONZE – Jana Novotna (Czech Republic)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD — Mary Joe Fernandez and Gigi Fernandez (United States)
SILVER – Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova (Czech Republic)
BRONZE – Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez (Spain)
RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match – Andre Agassi (United States) def. Sergi Bruguera (Spain), 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Leander Paes (India) def. Fernando Meligeni (Brazil), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match – Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (Australia) def. Tim Henman and Neil Broad (Great Britain) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Men’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match – Marc-Kevin Goellner and David Prinosil (Germany) def. Paul Haarhuis and Jacco Eltingh (Netherlands), 6-2, 7-5
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match – Lindsay Davenport (United States) def. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain), 7-6 (6), 6-2.
Women’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Jana Novotna (Czech Republic) def. Mary Joe Fernandez (United States), 7-6 (8), 6-4
Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match — Mary Joe Fernandez and Gigi Fernandez (United States) def. Jana Novona and Helena Sukova (Czech Republic), 7-6 (6), 6-4.
Women’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match – Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain) def. Manon Bollegraf and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (Netherlands), 6-1, 6-3
2000 – SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD – Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia)
SILVER – Tommy Haas (Germany)
BRONZE – Arnaud DiPasquale (France)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD – Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor (Canada)
SILVER – Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (Australia)
BRONZE – Alex Corretja and Albert Costa (Spain)

Women’s Singles
GOLD — Venus Williams (United States)
SILVER – Elena Dementieva (Russia)
BRONZE – Monica Seles (United States)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD – Venus Williams and Serena Williams (United States)
SILVER – Miriam Oremans and Kristie Boogert (Netherlands)
BRONZE – Els Callens and Dominique Van Roost (Belgium)
RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match – Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) def. Tommy Haas (Germany), 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Arnaud DiPasquale (France) def. Roger Federer (Switzerland), 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 6-3
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match – Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau (Canada) def. Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (Australia) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
Men’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match – Alex Corretja and Albert Costa (Spain), def. David Adams and John-Laffnie de Jager (South Africa), 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match – Venus Williams (United States) def. Elena Dementieva (Russia), 6-2, 6-4
Women’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Monica Seles (United States) def. Jelena Dokic (Australia), 6-1, 6-4
Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match – Venus Williams and Serena Williams (United States) def. Miriam Oremans and Kristie Boogert (Netherlands) 6-1, 6-1.
Women’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match – Els Callens and Dominique van Roost (Belgium)def. Natalia Zvereva and Olga Barabanschikova (Belarus), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
2004 – ATHENS, GREECE

MEDALISTS
Men’s Singles
GOLD – Nicolas Massu (Chile)
SILVER – Mardy Fish (United States)
BRONZE – Fernando Gonzalez (Chile)
Men’s Doubles
GOLD – Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez (Chile)
SILVER – Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler (Germany)
BRONZE – Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic (Croatia)

Women’s Singles
GOLD – Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium)
SILVER – Amelie Mauresmo (France)
BRONZE – Alicia Molik (Australia)
Women’s Doubles
GOLD – Li Ting and Sun Tiantian (China)
SILVER – Virginia Ruano Pascual and Conchita Martinez (Spain)
BRONZE – Paola Suarez and Patricia Tarabini (Argentina)
RESULTS
Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match – Nicolas Massu (Chile) def. Mardy Fish (United States) 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) def. Taylor Dent (United States), 6-4, 2-6, 16-14
Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match – Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) def. Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler (Germany), 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4
Men’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match – Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic (Croatia) def. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (India), 7-6 (5), 4-6, 16-14
Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match – Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) def. Amelie Mauresmo (France), 6-3, 6-3
Women’s Singles Bronze Medal Match – Alicia Molik (Australia) def. Anastasia Myskina (Russia), 6-3, 6-4
Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match – Li Ting and Sun Tiantian (China) def. Virginia Ruano Pascual and Conchita Martinez (Spain), 6-3, 6-3
Women’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match – Paola Suarez and Patricia Tarabini (Argentina) def. Ai Sugiyama and Shinobu Asagoe (Japan), 6-3, 6-3

Lived up to the hype!

by

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim previewed the Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer Wimbledon final by suggesting that it was the most anticipated championship final in the history of our sport.  High praise indeed, but when does the competition outdistance the hype in this day and age?  Practically never is when.
Sunday’s match was simply astonishing.  Two absolute giants of our great game did battle for nearly five hours on the world’s most important court.  As John McEnroe of NBC Sports likened it to his 1980 final against Bjorn Borg, he acknowledged that there were, truly, no losers in this match.  No less an authority than Bud Collins called it the “best Wimbledon final ever.”
When McEnroe interviewed Roger Federer as he walked off the court, it was incredibly poignant.  They now share a bond, as both lost epic “Greatest Match of All Time” encounters on Wimbledon’s centre court.  Federer started to lose his composure and McEnroe offered a hug.  It would have been appropriate for Mac to have consoled Federer by telling him that more people have patted him on the back for his efforts in losing the 1980 final then for his three wins at the Big W.
A few weeks ago, Bill Simmons, a writer for ESPN Magazine, took some snarky shots at the sport of tennis.  In fact, his article- which was, by the way, abruptly removed from ESPN.com- was based on the premise that if he was offered the promise of the greatest match ever in the Wimbledon final, then he would still not choose to watch it.  I admire Simmons, and as a die-hard Boston sports fan, I always appreciate his (warped) perspective.  After reading his article, I actually felt defensive for a little while.  I thought: What the hell is he talking about!?!?  Thankfully, I am confident that if Simmons tuned into “Breakfast at Wimbledon” for Rafa and Roger, then his perspective would be considerably different.
Simmons offered some idiotic “solutions” to what ails our sport.  I presume that these were written in jest, because they were pretty lazy ideas.  In giving “The Sports Guy” more benefit of doubt, he has purposely written reverse jinx pieces before (such as, the Celtics cannot win this year) that have proved to be good luck for his hometown teams.  Maybe that was his true intention.  If so, then we all owe him a big Thank You.
Venus Williams did not lose a set in singles or doubles during the 2008 Championships.
Serena did not look happy (big surprise!) after losing in the final.  Expect her to dominate at Flushing Meadows in a few weeks.
Congratulations to Canada’s Daniel Nestor for re-gaining the world’s #1 ranking in doubles and completing the career grand slam in doubles.  Not bad for a 35 year old!
Farewell to Jonas Bjorkman.  Saturday marked his final Wimbledon appearance in The Championships.  Of course, guys are already “queuing up” to play in the senior invitational doubles with him next year.
The Bryan Brothers faced off against one another in the mixed doubles final.  Reportedly, they evenly split all of their prize money and endorsements.  I am guessing that would have been a pretty relaxed final round encounter.  Bob and Sammy Stosur straight-setted Mike and Katarina Srebotnik over on Court One while Federer and Nadal were playing their fifth set on Centre Court.
A few final thoughts on The Championships…
Thank heavens that there will be a retractable roof on the Centre Court beginning next year.  The delayed start to the gentlemen’s singles final, and the two subsequent rain delays, would have been avoidable.  This adversely affects several million world-wide fans.  In the end, the sport loses when viewers tune out.  I wish that Wimbledon had made- and then acted on- this decision thirty years ago, but it is a sign of progress.
One example of where there has been NO PROGRESS is the middle Sunday of The Championships, the tournament’s traditional “day of rest.”  Like millions of tennis fanatics all over the world, an ideal Sunday for me is a good breakfast, hit some balls and maybe even play a few sets, and then watch tennis for the rest of the day.  The AELTC sacrifices tens of millions of pounds (double that figure in US dollars!) in sponsorship revenue and international TV licensing fees by refusing play on that prime weekend slot.  By 2008 standards, it is outrageous, arrogant, and archaic.  It is also hypocritical, because the men’s final has been played on a Sunday for a quarter century.  They were lucky that the weather was uncharacteristically pleasant during the first week of the tournament.  Relying on luck each year is foolish though.
The Russian women made another huge splash, with 6 of the final 16 players hailing from Russia.  There were 17 Russian ladies in main draw of the singles.  That is impressive.  It is not unprecedented, however, and- in fact- pales in comparison to some years where the Americans reigned supreme.  In 1984, 64(!!!!) of the 128 singles players were American men.  The Yanks had the champion, the runner-up, two semi-finalists, four quarterfinalists, and 11 who reached the round of 16.  As American Frank Sinatra used to sing… it was a very good year.
Does everybody still think that Roger Federer will annihilate Pete Sampras’ all-time records?  It says here that he might get to 14 majors, but this is not a mortal lock.  The sport has changed before his very eyes.  He will need some luck (a Nadal injury, or a Novak Djokovic disappearance in the autumn) to finish as the year-end #1.  The expectation that this would be Federer’s fifth straight year at the top is fading, and he would still be one year shy of what Pete Sampras accomplished.
In Pete Sampras’ new book A Champion’s Mind, he lists (in no particular order) himself, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, and Ivan Lendl as the top-five players of the Open era.  After his Wimbledon victory, I would place Rafael Nadal among John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and (probably) Mats Wilander in the next tier (with apologies to Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, John Newcombe, Gustavo Kuerten, and Jim Courier).
Speaking of Pistol Pete, it took him a little while to “solve” grass court tennis.  In fact, a surprising number (17) of different players registered wins over the once-and-still GOAT.  Our Editor in Chief, Manfred Wenas, has a little swag for the first reader to submit the complete list of players that owned a piece of Sampras’ scalp on grass.
World Team Tennis began its 33rd professional season in the US over the weekend.  Go to www.wtt.com for information about players, upcoming matches, standings, etc.  It is a great opportunity to watch past, present, and future Wimbledon champions.  It is also the only competition in tennis that prioritizes doubles and team-play over singles.
Venus and Serena Williams are shattering the myth that good doubles teams would beat great singles players who pair up together.  They won their 7th major doubles title together, and it would be safe to assume that they do not practice the nuances of doubles too frequently.
At the beginning of Rafael Nadal’s ascent up the rankings, I asked Wayne Bryan (whose sons Bob and Mike were ranked #1 in the world at the time) who would win a match between his boys and Federer-Nadal.  He hedged his bets, but thought that his boys would pull through.  He did suggest, however, that if Federer were to play with Lleyton Hewitt, who had more doubles success at that stage, then he thinks the result would be reversed.  So, I will pose these questions to our readers, who would win the follow mythical doubles matches?
1)      Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer vs. Bob and Mike Bryan
2)      Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi vs. Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde
3)      Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg vs. Ken Flach and Robert Seguso
4)      John McEnroe and Peter Fleming vs. John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl (yes, you read that correctly)
5)      Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors vs. Bob Lutz and Stan Smith
Tennis Week in Newport is always one of my favorite times of the year.  This year’s class of inductees is highlighted by Michael Chang, and supported by contributors Mark McCormack and Eugene Scott.  Visit www.TennisFame.com for a wealth of information about these new- and, in fact, all- hall of famers.
When Gene Scott died suddenly in 2006, it was an awful loss for our sport.  It also, naturally, affected hundreds (more like thousands, actually) of people personally.  I had developed a great fondness for Gene Scott and treasured the time I got to spend with him.  I believed that- for some unknown reason- he had taken a liking to me, and wished to help me along in my career.  During the outpouring of grief, his dear friends at Tennis Week created a Web site (www.EugeneLScott.com) where people were urged to offer their tributes to the great man.  Reading some of these tributes, a few years after his passing, left me feeling as sad as the day he died.  Back then I wrote:
Gene Scott was like the North Star. Speaking with him or reading his column… he’d always bring you to your senses. Nobody else had his vantage point, and he knew it. That never kept him from sharing though, and his generosity was unparalleled. His departure has already left a terrible void. Goddamn that he is gone. Lucky that he touched so many while he was around.
I wish that Gene Scott had been enshrined into the International Tennis Hall of Fame a decade ago.  His induction speech would have been brilliant.  Hall of Famer John McEnroe will offer his testimonial and introduce Gene’s wife, Polly, who will accept on his behalf this weekend.
Who else should be inducted into the Hall of Fame?  I offer a dozen candidates who I believe ought to be bronzed:
1)      Donald Dell.
2)      Monica Seles.
3)      Andre Agassi.
4)      Gustavo Kuerten.
5)      Jennifer Capriati.
6)      Martina Hingis.
7)      Nick Bollettieri.
8)      Dennis Van Der Meer.
9)      Michael Stich.
10)  Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
11)  Justine Henin.
12)  Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde.
Of course I will be in America’s Resort City (Newport, Rhode Island) this week to watch the best little tournament in the world and then enjoying the induction ceremony of the latest inductees into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.  If you are a fan of this great sport, you MUST make a pilgrimage to Newport.
While at the Newport Casino, I will spend a lot of time rehashing points and moments and drama from the “greatest tennis match ever played” with old and new tennis friends.  Congratulations Rafa!  Congratulations Roger!
Note by the Editor-in-Chief: The little swag for the first reader to submit the complete list of players that owned a piece of Sampras’ scalp on grass only goes for those who use the comment system down below on TennisGrandstand.com. Other submissions will not count.

25 Years Ago Today: Noah Triumphs!

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It was 25 years ago today on June 5, 1983 when Yannick Noah set off the perhaps the biggest celebration in French tennis since the Four Musketeers won the Davis Cup for France for the first time in 1927, by becoming the first man from his nation to win the French Open singles title, defeating Mats Wilander in the final. June 5 is a day of big occurrences in tennis history, as seen below in this exclusive early excerpt from my upcoming book On This Day in Tennis History. To pre-order this book (due out Sept. 1) you can click here for a 39 percent discount.
June 5
1983 – Yannick Noah creates a frenzy of French patriotism at Stade Roland Garros becoming the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the men’s singles titles at the French Open, defeating Mats Wilander 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 in two hours and 24 minutes in a passion-filled final. Noah serves and volleys and chips and charges on the slow red clay court to become the first Frenchman since Marcel Bernard in 1946 to win the French men’s singles title. Noah was discovered at age 10 in the African nation of Cameroon, the birthplace of his father, when Arthur Ashe informs French Tennis Federation President Philippe Chatrier of Noah’s talent after seeing him play – with a tennis racquet carved out of wood – during a U.S. State Department visit to Cameroon. Wilander was attempting to defend the title he won the year before as an unknown 17-year-old, but is unable to hit enough passing shots to fend off the constant net attacks by the dread-locked 23-year-old Noah. Wrote Bud Collins in the Boston Globe, “Perhaps the French will rename that huge monument at Place de l’Etoile and call it Noah’s Arc de Triomphe. The original outlasted a flood, but the current one opened the floodgates of emotion at Stade Roland Garros and washed away not only the Swedish Reign of Terror in the French Open, but also a seemingly impenetrable barrier that has separated French male players from their own title for 37 years.”
1953 – With his bag packed ready for a trip to Cleveland to play in the U.S. Pro Championships, Bill Tilden, regarded by many as the greatest player in the history of the sport, is found dead in his hotel room in Los Angeles at the age of 60. The cause of death for the seven-time U.S. men’s singles champion is a heart attack.
1973 – A in rare major final played on a Tuesday due to bad weather in Paris, Ilie Nastase beats Nikki Pilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in 90 minutes to win the French Open for the first time. Said Nastase, “It meant much more to me to win Forest Hills last September because I thought I could never win a major grass tournament. Still, this is an important one.” Less than one hour after the match, Pilic is notified that he is suspended from competing on the circuit for 25 days for refusing to play for Yugoslavia in Davis Cup play, a decision that results in a player boycott of Wimbledon in defense of Pilic. Nastase, however, is one of the few ATP union players who does not honor the boycott.
1977 – Guillermo Vilas routs Brian Gottfried 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 to win his first major singles title in the most decisive French Open men’s singles final in the event’s history.
1982 – Martina Navratilova wins the French Open for the first time in her career, defeating future nun Andrea Jaeger 7-6, 6-1. Following the match, Jaeger accuses Navratilova of illegally receiving coaching signals from her coach, Renee Richards. ”It sort of blew my concentration,” said Jaeger, the 17-year-old American who was in her first Grand Slam final. ”It’s difficult to be playing three people at once. ‘I was trying in the whole first set to deal with it, and I was doing fine. But it was annoying. They’ve done it in other matches. It’s not very good for tennis. ‘She played well and I lost. But it shouldn’t happen. I might win, 0-0, or lose, 0-0, but I want to win by myself or lose by myself.” Said Navratilova, ”This is a shock. All I can say is that I never looked at Renee except for encouragement. Here I have won the final of one of the biggest tournaments in the world. Thank you very much, Andrea. I didn’t have to look up at them. Before I played, I went over the match 20 times with Renee. I could have recited in my sleep what I had to do against her. I didn’t need to look at Renee.”
1988 – In a near flawless display of clay court tennis, Mats Wilander wins the French Open for a third time in his career, defeating French native son Henri Leconte 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 in the men’s singles final. Wilander misses only two of 74 first serves, committs only nine unforced errors and does not hit a volley during the one-hour and 52 minute match.
1990 – Fourteen-year-old Jennifer Capriati becomes the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist in tennis history, defeating Mary Joe Fernandez 6-2, 6-4 in the women’s quarterfinals at the French Open.
1993 – Steffi Graf wins her third French Open women’s singles title and her 12th career Grand Slam singles title, defeating Mary Joe Fernandez 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the French Open women’s singles final.
1994 – Sergi Bruguera wins his second straight French Open men’s singles title, defeating unseeded countryman Alberto Berasategui 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 in the men’s singles final.
1999 – Twenty-nine-year-old Steffi Graf claims her 22nd – and final – major singles title, upending Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the women’s singles final at the French Open. Hingis served for the title leading 6-4, 5-4, but Graf, inspired by the French crowd chanting “STEF-FEE, STE-FEE” breaks Hingis and wins eight of the next 10 games. “It was my greatest victory,” said Graf. “I came here without belief – but the crowd lifted me. At 1-0 in the third I knew the momentum was with me. She got tight. Then at 3-0 I got tight and she almost caught me. It was the craziest match. ‘Quit worrying,’ I told myself. ‘Go for your shots.’ I did.”
2003 – Serena Williams is defeated by Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in front of a raucously pro-Henin Hardenne crowd in the semifinals of the French Open, ending Williams’ 33-match Grand Slam winning streak. The match is highlighted by an incident in the third-set that would prove contentious and acrimonious between the two rivals for years to come. With Williams serving at 4-2, 30-0 in the final set, Henin-Hardenne raises her hand indicating she is not ready to return serve. Williams serves in the net, then protests, to no avail, to the chair umpire and tournament referee that she should be given a first serve, while Henin-Hardenne says nothing of her gesture. Williams then loses the next four points to lose her service-break advantage and eventually the match. Said Henin-Hardenne, “I wasn’t ready to play the point. The chair umpire is there to deal with these kind of situations. I just tried to stay focused on myself and tried to forget all the other things…It’s her point of view but that’s mine now and I feel comfortable with it….I didn’t have any discussion with the chair umpire. He didn’t ask me anything. I was just trying to focus on playing the returns. She saw me and she served. It was her decision to serve. I just tried to stay focused on the second serve. One point in the match doesn’t change the outcome.”
2005 – Nineteen-year-old Rafael Nadal of Spain fends off a charge from unseeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina to win his first major singles title at the French Open. Nadal wins the title and his 24th consecutive match with a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1 7-5 decision over Puerta to become the fourth youngest men’s singles champion at Roland Garros. Nadal joins 1982 champion Mats Wilander as the only player to win Roland Garros in his debut.

Ask Bill: Remembering Justine

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Justine Henin was our sport’s Maggie Fitzgerald. Recall the academy award winning film “Million Dollar Baby” Well, Maggie Fitzgerald was the undersized, high-achieving, hard luck protagonist. She was tougher than nails, both inside and outside of the boxing ring. Justine Henin was similarly tough, although she was not a fictitious character made in Hollywood.
There are two stories that I will always remember about the diminutive Belgian. The 2003 US Open was marred by rainy weather. It played havoc with the scheduling, and the tournament was barely able to end on schedule. On Friday night, under the lights of Ashe Stadium, Henin battled the popular Jennifer Capriati for a US Open women’s record three hours and three minutes. The match was fraught with tension, twists, and turns. Capriati desperately wanted to win her national championship and fought like a champion. She came within two points of winning the match an astonishing 11 times. Henin battled from one set down, through cramps, a biased crowd, and her own nerves to prevail in a third set tiebreaker around midnight.

After the match, Jennifer Capriati wailed to the long-time locker room attendant Gloria Beckford: “Why!?!?!?” Even lovely Gloria could not console Capriati. Nearby, Henin was slumped on a table in the trainer’s room, receiving fluids intravenously to treat her severe dehydration.
In the City That Never Sleeps, Henin did not emerge from the locker room until the wee hours of the morning. The buzz around the grounds the next day was that she would not be able to answer the bell for the final against countrywoman Kim Clijsters, who was ranked number 1 at the time. This was a problem on many levels, including the fact that CBS Sports had gambled (and invested heavily) by having the women’s final televised during the evening’s prime time for the second consecutive year. A final round withdrawal would have ruined this goodwill, to say the least. Refunding tickets for a default would have also been financially catastrophic to the tournament.
The next afternoon when Henin arrived at Flushing Meadows with coach Carlos Rodriguez and physical trainer Pat Etcheberry, she went through some “warm up” exercises. She spent time doing plyometrics, strength and balance work on the swiss ball, catching and throwing medicine balls, and some running. Her “warm up” session would rival an offseason workout for most players. She would play!
The match was an anticlimax, and the favored Clijsters never really had a chance. Winning with guile and grit, Henin beat her rival in straight sets. Within 24 hours, she went from a doubtful starter to the US Open champion.
This spring, my wife and our baby boy took a trip to the south of France. I needed to go on a pilgrimage to the Monte Carlo Country Club, to see first-hand where Bjorn Borg used to practice. I knew it would be good karma for our baby, who is stuck with two tennis-mad parents.
When we arrived, I saw Justine, her coach Carlos Rodriguez, and a sparring partner drilling on an outside court. Henin was doing exhausting intervals and working on perfecting the forehand that had already delivered her four titles at Roland Garros. To my horror, my wife hopped out of the car with the baby and ran to courtside. “Bonjour Justine! Our baby loves you!” I hid in the car, dying of embarrassment and thinking the worst. Instead of reacting angrily (or being frightened!), Justine sweetly said “Bonjour baby. He is so cute…” I apologized quickly to Carlos (who pretended not to mind) and peeled away in our rental car.
In a few years time, when we visit the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island as a family, it will be a story that I can always share with our son. “Remember when you met Justine Henin when she was ranked No. 1 in the world…?” I can only hope that he hits his backhand as Henin did hers.
Like Maggie Fitzgerald, Justine Henin has chosen to leave on her own terms. Thankfully, her decision was a happier one than the wounded Hollywood boxer. I suspect that, like most boxers (and an increasing number of tennis players), she will embark on a “comeback.” Regardless, she is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and remains shoulder-to-shoulder with Serena Williams as the best player of her generation.
Adieu Justine!