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Reality TV Pitch: Billie Jean King coaches Nick Kyrgios

On By Teresa Merklin

This weekend the Fiend at Court is even more unplugged that usual for the weekend series. Stick with me. I have been brainstorming potential solutions to the most pressing problems in tennis. First, there is an urgent need to expand public spectator interest in the sport. Second, Nick Kyrgios needs a coach. For me, it is a short trip from the juxtaposition of those two problems and a genuinely inspired (and, well… crazy) idea.

Bill Tilden: Match Play and the Spin of the Ball

On By Teresa Merklin

Bill Tilden was arguably the first superstar of tennis. He was a dominant force in the early 1920s and his list of tennis accomplishments is littered with records and all-time firsts. Tilden was also an accomplished writer with editorials and columns on tennis popular in the print media. Until I came across a reference to Match Play and the Spin of the Ball in Ted Tinling’s book last week, I had no idea that he also authored a book on how to play tennis. I was delighted to discover that Tilden’s book has recently been digitized. Naturally I purchased a copy.

Rene Lacoste’s Ball Machine

On By Teresa Merklin

Rene Lacoste is best known for the premium brand of sporting apparel that bears his name. He won seven Grand Slam Championships and was one of the “Four Musketeers” of the formidable French Davis Cup team that dominated tennis in the late 20s and early 30s. He also invented the ball machine, a fact that I was reminded of during my recent reading of “Ted Tinling: Sixty Years in Tennis.”

Who in the Heck was Perry T Jones?

On By Teresa Merklin

Perry T. Jones was known as the czar of tennis in Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. He is widely credited for the Southern California tennis factory that produced the likes of Ellsworth Vines, Don Budge, Jack Kramer, Pancho Gonzales, and Tony Trabert. He is enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame for his contributions to tennis. His early encounters with both Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs presents an unlikely common linkage between the two players who went on to meet in the “Battle of the Sexes” match. In fact, Jones discouraged both players in the early stages of their playing careers.

First Racquets: Bobby Riggs

On By Teresa Merklin

The moment a tennis racquet is placed into a player’s hand is a potential inflection point. It could be that moment that sparks a lifetime love of the sport. I have a reverential curiosity about how dedicated and accomplished tennis players came into their first racquets. Bobby Riggs relayed the story of how he obtained his first racquets in both of his autobiographies. The story of just how Riggs did that is… not exactly reverential. However, it does reflect the quintessential hustle of Bobby Riggs.

Renee Richards and Bobby Riggs

On By Teresa Merklin

Renee Richards was an American tennis player who participated on the women’s professional tour from 1997 until 1981. She is most commonly remembered as the only transgender person to compete successfully in professional tennis. Shortly after her gender reassignment surgery, and subsequent relocation to California to start a new life, Richards crossed paths with Bobby Riggs. Naturally Riggs roped her into his escapades. It is one of my favorite stories about the character that was Bobby Riggs.

Ted Tinling: Sixty Years in Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

Ted Tinling is best known as the designer of tennis apparel for some of the early stars of women’s tennis. When Gladys Heldman launched the Women’s Professional Tour, she enlisted Tinling to design the tennis clothes worn by the players. Tinling transformed tennis clothes out of the dowdy ankle-length dresses into something that was glamorous and sexy. He was instrumental in advancing women’s tennis into the modern era.

Closing Out Wheelchair Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

Where a wheelchair tennis player is playing with or against an able-bodied person in singles or doubles, the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis shall apply for the wheelchair player while the Rules of Tennis for able-bodied tennis shall apply for the able-bodied player. In this instance, the wheelchair player is allowed two bounces while the able-bodied player is allowed only one bounce.