An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
During one of my daughter’s junior tournaments another parent treated me to a diatribe on how the opponent’s parents were using hand signals to provide coaching during her daughter’s match. Watching the events unfold on the adjacent court, I was unconvinced that hand signals were in play. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there.
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Brad Gilbert was once ejected from a junior tournament during one of his son’s matches. Zack’s opponent that day was one of those unusual players with a relatively weak forehand. Somehow his son failed to notice that tactical opportunity. Gilbert couldn’t control his impulse to signal his son to hit more balls to that side of the court. Failing to convey the message, Gilbert resorted to an increasingly intense series of gestures. He was busted by the roving umpire and ejected from the match.
Brad Gilbert is arguably of one of the best tour level coaches ever to work in professional tennis. Under his leadership, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick rose to #1 on the ATP rankings list. Their success was in large part to Gilbert’s philosophy on winning. As it turns out, those ideas on performance are also applicable in a corporate setting. In 2005, Gilbert distilled his coaching wisdom into a very good book targeted at business leaders.
The idea to eliminate service lets in tennis is gaining momentum. There are currently two high profile places where the no let rule can be observed in action. The first of these is World Team Tennis where the no-let rule was implemented to speed up play and create drama. It was also implemented in NCAA men’s tennis where the motivation was to eliminate cheating.
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I… couldn’t have picked Edina Gallovits out of a lineup before recently reviewing her Tennis Channel “Bag Check” video from 2010. I knew even less about her. She is a former WTA professional player who achieved a career high ranking #54 in 2008. She represented both Romania and the United States in international play. Her most important distinction is that she was the first player to whip out a jump rope on a “Bag Check” video.
Tennis News You Can Use Andy Murray was prominent in the news this week, first by playing “lost and found” with his wedding ring andRead More
In 2018, former professional tennis player John-Laffnie de Jager challenged every sportsman and sportswomen around the world to shake their opponent’s hand both before and after every competition. His theory is that the physical act conveys a sense of mutual respect. That, in turn, should bring out the best of the athletes from both a performance and sportsmanship perspective. I love the idea.
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The USTA uses the US Open as an opportunity to wine and dine VIPs. It makes sense because a registered non-profit, the USTA needs donations from generous benefactors in order to operate. The USTA brass enforces a strict dress code in the Presidential Suite at the US Open which hosts the upper echelons of benefactors for their own and related causes. The list of prohibited attire includes denim jeans and shorts. Perhaps most shocking of all, tennis shoes are not allowed.
Katrina Adams, the trailblazing former president of the USTA brazenly violated the all-white dress code at Wimbledon when completing there as a player in 1994. She had the audacity to wear a pair of distinctly non-white tennis panties during a singles match at the Championships that year.
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Katrina Adams has a long list of firsts. She was the first African American President of the USTA. She was also the youngest, the first former professional player, and the first person to serve two consecutive terms in that role. To say that she is a trailblazer is an understatement.