Sports Then and Now

In 1968 Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open and became the first African American to hold the number one ranking in men's tennis.

(On the 41st anniversary of him becoming the first African American to hold the number one ranking in men’s tennis, we remember and recognize the legacy of Arthur Ashe)

It is really a shame that so many people remember Arthur Ashe as “the black tennis player that died from AIDS.”

To say that the man was so much more would simply be an understatement.

Early Life

Most biographies of famous players always seem to start out with where the person was born, who their parents were, etc. That is in large part due to the significance of those facts in shaping a person’s life.

This article is no different.

Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. was born to Arthur Sr. and Mattie Ashe in 1943. The family lived in Richmond, Va., and Ashe’s father’s job as “Superintendent” provided him with a Caretaker’s Cottage in Brook Park, a “blacks only” area that coincidentally included tennis courts. Read the rest of this entry →

Andy Murray struggled to live up to the hype and promise in 2009

(This is the first in a series of articles looking at how some of the top tennis players in the world fared in 2009)

Andy Murray ATP World Rank No. 4

There appears to be no middle ground for the surly Scotsman Andy Murray. He is either riding high buoyed by success and self-confidence or he is dog paddling in the inky depths of impatience.

This week the headlines screamed that his girlfriend dumped him because he became addicted to gaming on his PlayStation 3, preferring it to her. Murray, it seems, is in a real funk—“Stuck in Neutral.”

With Juan Martin del Potro nipping at his heels only 245 ATP points behind, Murray hangs onto his No. 4 ranking by a thread—while trailing Novak Djokovic, the third-ranked player by 1,280 points.

His name forever linked with expectation, Murray began 2009 with much hype and promise. The Scot had defeated his nemesis Roger Federer in Shanghai at the year-end ATP 2008 Masters Championships during a hard-fought round-robin contest—bumping the Swiss out of the semifinals.

Murray was so exhausted by his victory that he lost the next day to Nikolay Davydenko. Read the rest of this entry →

Will we see "Rafa-Lite" in 2010?

The fans are getting worried.

The media have begun to discuss it openly.

And last week, at London’s O2 arena, it was the first topic on the lips of almost every spectator—and not just between his fans.

The subject of all this attention is the diminishing musculature of Rafael Nadal since his extended break with tendonitis over the summer.

So in the light of Nadal’s poor results during the Round Robin phase of the World Tour Finals, is there real cause for concern? And is there any foundation for all this talk of weight loss?

There have been several “checkpoints” during the year from which to make a first-hand comparison of Nadal’s stature, thus removing from any debate the dictum that “television puts on 10lbs.”

The starting point was the clay season—the photograph on the left was taken at Rome. Here the standard edition Rafa was on show, all shoulder, bicep, pectorals and calves.

Read the rest of this entry →

Rafael Nadal's competitive fire has made him a champion

Talent is the beginning, not the end.

There are so many other traits that a tennis player must have to be a champion. Fitness is crucial, as is willingness to prioritize the game above other interests.

But nothing stretches talent and maximizes it quite like mental strength. When most modern tennis fans think of mental toughness and competitive fire, they think of either Jimmy Connors or Rafael Nadal (pictured). It probably comes as no surprise that both of them make my list of the top five.

The only question is where, and whether anyone tops them. Read the rest of this entry →

Nikolay Davydenko ended 2009 with a victory in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Nikolay Davydenko has certainly gained a new fan over the last couple of months. Not that a man with millions of dollars already safe in his bank account needed a new fan, but the way the tennis world has taken notice of the world No. 6 is a testimony of what he has achieved this season.

His path to success has been nicely documented everywhere. His ability to take the ball ridiculously early, almost as early as Andre Agassi used to do in the past, and certainly a bit better than Roger Federer does on occasions when he does not pull out those magical “Federer” shots. His short height allows him to create extremely acute angles on both sides of court, and it also enables him to move as fast as a cat laterally.

The recent addition of his much improved serve and a “belief” of belonging to the top group paid rich dividends as he was extremely satisfied after realizing that his name would forever be on the WTF trophy.

Read the rest of this entry →

Like a hardened tree, Pancho Gonzalez exhibited the posture of resistance.

Not far from my place, there stands an old windswept pine, so hardened by the elements that even on a calm day it exhibits the posture of resistance. It seems unrelenting in its refusal to bow.

More than once, the old tree has symbolized for me the human traits of stubbornness, perseverance, endurance and toughness. Its sinewy skin and tightly-clenched roots tell of a life filled with challenge and pain. Yet it still stands there in defiant victory.

That sun-bleached, aged pine has not merely survived…it has actually thrived. The perplexity of that thought has often brought to mind a particular person. As I set about to research this story, it became clear that my subject was one such person.

Ricardo Alonso Gonzalez, the son of Mexican immigrants, faced the winds of adversity from the onset of his tennis career.

As a young minority teen-ager in 1940s Los Angeles, he was shunned by the upper levels of society. Gonzales often spent time watching tennis enthusiasts unwind at neighborhood parks and public courts.

He was intrigued by the combination of power and finesse that tennis required and would emulate the moves he so diligently observed through the fence. Thus was laid the self-taught foundation of Pancho Gonzales’ fabulous career.

Tennis became his obsession and predictably, his studies and social skills suffered. Truancy and trouble with the law soon followed. Then, a year of juvenile detention.

Though his talent was by now undeniable, his rowdy reputation and cultural roots ensured his exclusion from LA’s upper-crust tennis clubs.

Read the rest of this entry →