Sports Then and Now

Always keeping her eye on the prize, Chris Evert won at least one major for 13 straight years.

As half of one of the greatest sports rivalries of all time, Chris Evert is probably the “half” less appreciated today.

Her battles with Martina Navratilova grew to legendary status as they met so often in the finals of majors. The fact that Navratilova’s career extended years beyond Evert’s is the reason the Czech-American is better known today.

Evert was a powerful baseline player and Navratilova had the ultimate serve and volley game. They battled during an era when these two playing styles clashed on tennis courts around the world.

But there was something else different between these two champions—their on court demeanor and individual personalities were as opposite as night and day.

The one thing they did share in common was an ultimate drive and a fervent determination to be the No. 1 tennis player in the world.

Knowing her, you have to believe that when Christine “Chris” Marie Evert was born on Dec. 21, 1954, she must have come into the world with a tennis racket clutched in her tiny little hand. Thank goodness her mother never had to endure such a handicap. Mom simply had to contend with family members whose lives revolved around the sport. Read the rest of this entry →

Women's Tennis history is filled with great competitors.

In your face. Pushy. Mentally strong. Competitive. These are not your usual adjectives for describing ‘Ladies.’

Gracious and elegant; cute, classy, and tenacious. These are more common ways Lady competitors are described.

And yet, one of the reasons that we love to watch tennis is that very basic, visceral psychological aspects of life, play themselves out in 1-2 hours on the tennis court.

This article is meant to be complementary to Rob York’s presentation of the top five male competitors click here.

In his piece, York suggested that great competitors brought something of mental strength, focus, or force of will over and above their physical abilities to achieve the victory.

This article is a presentation of the top five Ladies’ Competitors. I mean those who, like their male counterparts, show you their will to win, their audacity, their indomitable spirit; something about the Human Condition.

As a theme song for this feature, I’ve selected “Take This Job and Shove It (I Ain’t Workin’ Here no More).” This is a humorous song that underscores a core, basic, fighting spirit, that is part of what a true competitor brings to the contest.

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Maria Bueno won seven Grand Slam singles titles.

You are ice and fire with a touch that burns my hands like snow—Amy Lowell

Maria Esther Andion Bueno rose to the top of women’s tennis in the ’50s and ’60s, employing her natural ability to carve a unique mark on the women’s game.

Bueno grew up during an era prior to the movement known as women’s liberation.  Back then she was a novelty—a woman born with natural athletic gifts who lived to find and fulfill her destiny.  Such a feat was rare in those days because even superlative women often remained wedged in their seats at the back of the bus.

Remarkably, Bueno won seven grand slam singles championships, three Wimbledons, and four U.S. Open titles, 11 doubles championships with six different partners, and one mixed doubles title with partner Bob Howe at the French Championships in 1960—for a total of 19 grand slam crowns.

She was ranked in the top 10 in the world from 1958 through 1960 and then again from 1962 through 1968.  She held the No. 1 ranking in 1959, 1960, and in 1964.

Bueno, born on Oct. 11, 1939, resided in Sau Paulo, Brazil.  Her father and mother both loved and played tennis socially.  The family lived modestly in comfortable middle class society in a home directly across the street from a tennis club facility.

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Women's Professional Tennis is what it is today thanks to Billie Jean King

A tribute to a personal heroine who celebrates her 66th birthday on 22nd November.

A first impression

What was it about one particular woman, wielding her wooden racket in the black and white world of 1960s television, that imprinted itself in this fan’s memory? She came from another country, and she played a game I had barely learned to understand, let alone master.

To me, she looked middle-aged even though still in her early 20s. She was ordinary in appearance but unusual in demeanor.

I knew nothing of her background nor of her achievements in tennis—other than she had just beaten the homely, and British, Ann Jones. But once I heard her name, I never forgot it.

Billie Jean King.

Her story has been simmering in the bloodstream ever since, because her name takes me back to my very first monochrome memories of tennis and of Wimbledon—for it was only Wimbledon that made its way into British living rooms back then.

These were impressionable years for a girl heading towards adolescence. It was the uncomfortable realisation that my mother seemed quite embarrassingly enamoured of the Santanas and Newcombes. It was also the uncomfortable realisation that King was being undermined by that mother’s slights about her appearance, her manner, and her attitudes.

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Evonne Goolagong claimed seven Grand Slam titles during her career.

Evonne Goolagong can be described in mathematical terms.

Parallels and angles. Circles and singularities (a situation that is completely unique). Chaos versus The Metronome.

She will be forever remembered as a seven-time Grand Slam winner: four Australian Open, two Wimbledon, and one French Open title(s).

She was a contemporary of Jimmy Connors. (Jimbo was born Sept. 2, 1952, Evonne on July 31, 1951), and her career paralleled his in its dramatic jump-start.

In 1970, at age 18, Connors recorded his first significant victory in the first round of the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, defeating Australian tennis legend Roy Emerson.

Goolagong came out of nowhere to win the 1971 French Open at the age of 19 and then shocked the world again a month later when she routed her idol, fellow Australian Margaret Court, 6-4, 6-1, to win her first Wimbledon title.

1971 was the year that Love Story was No. 1 at the box office (in the US at least) and “Joy to the World,” by Three Dog Night was the No. 1 song. It was also the year that the Pentagon Papers were leaked to the New York Times and Apollo 14 landed on the moon.

1968, three years before, was a seminal year in the annals of tennis. It was the moment (March 30) that saw the birth of the “open” era, where professionals were allowed to compete in the majors—the beginning of modern tennis.

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It only makes sense that Serena Williams, who finally reclaimed the No. 1 WTA ranking, should also regain the No. 1 Power Ranking and end 2009 as the reigning top player.

She won the year-end tournament in Doha, which turned out to be an endurance contest rather than a tennis tournament. There was as much tape wrapped on legs, knees, feet, elbows, wrists, and fingers as there are miles of road leading to Doha.

It gives the debate about scheduling more teeth as the tour heads into 2010. Week after week in 2009, the top pros were pulling out of tournaments or trying to play hurt because of the impossible schedule imposed upon them.

This is a monumental problem for both the women and the men. It is hard to deliver when you have no legs to stand on. But some did. Regardless, the final 10 for 2009…

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