The Alliteration of Jack Kramer — The Racket and the Man
My very first tennis racket circa 1971 or so when I was about four years old was a Wilson Jack Kramer with the handle sawed off to make it short enough for me to use. I can vividly remember the delicious feel of the Kramer sweet spot when a shot hit right in the center and the wood [...]
“How I Met Your Mother” The Cause of a Rushed Ceremony
Dick Enberg tried to cut off Juan Martin Del Potro from speaking in Spanish so America could rush to watch one of two episodes of “How I Met Your Mother.” Way to go, CBS!
“Vamos, Del Po!”
“Vamos, Del Po!” says Bill Tilden’s ghost. “My record of six in a row will live for 100 years and more.”
What’s More Important to CBS: The U.S. Open or “How I Met Your Mother”?
It’s two episodes of “How I Met Your Mother,” of course, set for 8 p.m. ET The U.S. Open men’s final will be telecast at 4 p.m. ET today, at a time that many like me with a job, can’t see it.
The networks in this country should go ahead and cede the tennis coverage to [...]
Bill Tilden’s Record of Six Wins on the Shoulder of a Tall Argentine
Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams this summer, but today has the chance to tie a major American tennis landmark if he wins his sixth straight U.S. Open. William T. “Big Bill” Tilden II won the U.S. Championships six straight years, three times at Forest Hills in 1920, ‘24 and ‘25, [...]
U.S. Open Ratings Soar — Could John McEnroe Get Another Talk Show?
ESPN is touting excellent ratings, about 2.3 million viewers last night. That’s good for tennis, proving that the sport is strong enough to overcome Mary Carrillo’s idiocy and the constant babble of the McEnroe brothers.
John basically says two things about players during matches — they need to come to net more, and they need to show [...]
Another New Low for American Men’s Tennis at the U.S. Open
Last year’s failure of any U.S. player to reach the men’s semifinal marked the first time in the history of the tournament that no American reached the semis for two years in a row. This year makes it three. Even worse, no American has reached the quarterfinals for the first time in the long U.S. Open/Championships history, dating [...]
Bill Tilden: “Elements of True Greek Tragedy”
Few things I have written have evoked as many responses as my essay in the August 2008 Tennis magazine about searching for Bill Tilden’s almost invisible grave in his home city of Philadelphia.
Some wrote in praise on my blog and in old-fashioned letters to my home for my delving into the forgotten story of a [...]
Former College Standouts Isner and Devvarman Shine on Monday
Reigning NCAA champion from Ole Miss Devin Britton played the big match in the spotlight on Monday, losing in three to Roger Federer on the Ashe Court, but it was former two-time champ Somdev Devvarman and one-time runner up John Isner who came through with the big wins.
Isner, a former University of Georgia star ranked 55 [...]
The U.S. Open Draw is Up, and Devin Britton Plays a Dude Named Federer
If you need any proof that the USTA doesn’t fix the draw for promising Americans who get wild cards, 18-year-old Devin Britton of Mississippi, the youngest NCCA champ ever, ended up in line two of the draw. He plays that dude who was on the cover of this month’s Tennis magazine, poised like an angel in designer tennis clothes [...]
