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Court Hustler: Bobby Riggs

On By Teresa Merklin

Bobby Riggs published two autobiographies over the course of his life. His first effort, Tennis is My Racket, presents the story of Riggs as an irascible – but quite serious – tennis player. His second autobiography is Court Hustler. Before I go on, I should note that this post is chock full of obvious spoilers. For example, with a title like Court Hustler, it will probably not surprise anyone that the promotional antics of Riggs are still on full display.

Wheelchair Tennis: Foot Propulsion

On By Teresa Merklin

This is the penultimate post on the rules of wheelchair tennis. Today we are discussing the fact that if a player is unable to propel the wheelchair via the pushrrim, then it is permissible to use one foot to move the chair around the court. This cannot possibly be more efficient than pushrim propulsion. That is probably why it is generally allowed.

The Best of Bag Check: Marat Safin’s Laundry Bag

On By Teresa Merklin

If you can fight through the obvious product placement promotional schtick, some genuinely useful items regularly emerge from the racquet bags of the pros appearing on the Tennis Channel Bag Check series. One of the oldest Bag Check videos featured Marat Safin. In related news, Safin is the answer to the trivia question “Who was the last man to win a Grand Slam Title before Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal started their joint reign of terror?” in professional men’s tennis. You can probably win a bar bet armed with that knowledge.

Golf vs Tennis: How One Country Club Sport Defeated the Other

On By Teresa Merklin

I recently came across an intriguing editorial from Slate originally published in 2005 that focused on the complicated relationship between golf and tennis. It turned up in search results as I fruitlessly looked for comparative participation data between the two sports. I shamelessly reused the headline of that editorial for this post simply for the value as click-bait. While I don’t agree with many of the assertions raised by the author, it is an interesting backdrop for considering the state of tennis today.

Tennis is My Racket: Bobby Riggs

On By Teresa Merklin

The overarching theme for the books this site is covering in April are two men who arguably did more in the advancement of Women’s tennis above all others. It might surprise people to see the name of Bobby Riggs thrown out in that context. I can almost hear the “Wait… what?” In order for the epic “Battle of the Sexes” match to occur, a male opponent was required. A lot of men would not have placed themselves into that position. Riggs was willing to take the risk. Additionally, he worked tirelessly on promoting the match before it occurred. Whether he intended to do so or not, Bobby Riggs and the “Battle of the Sexes Match” put women’s tennis into the spotlight. The result was a massive boost in the public interest in women’s professional tennis.

Wheelchair Tennis: Fasten Your Seatbelt

On By Teresa Merklin

Since early January of this year, the Fiend at Court has covered the wheelchair section of ITF Rules of Tennis in a segment that runs each Wednesday. That march through the Rules of Wheelchair Tennis has been mostly sequential, though there has been a little jumping around to group related topics for a single post. Today I am covering a couple of topics that are loosely related only in the sense that we have largely already touched on both topics.