Tennis Prose




Oct/16

22

Have you heard of the classic tennis book “World Class”?

I received a copy of WORLD CLASS from a friend. It’s “A Novel About The People And The World Of Professional Tennis” by Jane and Burt Boyar, published in the 1970’s by Random House and again in 2012 by Marbella House.

The Boyars spent a couple of years on the professional tennis tour learning about the top players and their very long, unique journeys to become champions. They learned the stories of top players who were discovered early and then developed to be world class champion players. Each story is different but true, based on reality. The kid whose parents sacrificed everything for tennis. The poor British street rascal who impressed an elite with his desire and drive and then was taken in to live on his estate and devote to tennis and training. The life lessons the kids learn to become successful adults. Four hundred pages or excellent reading.

Excerpts: “Dad, I like that guy. And I didn’t need to hate him. I played better tennis than he did. That’s why I won. I’m the better player. I always accepted what you said, but it’s meaningless to hate a guy you’re playing. On the court I don’t even see him. You know what I see? I see a big serve, or a weak serve, or a backhand I can fool around with. That’s all I see.”

“I further my tennis. I face the important questions in my life and look for the answers. Or I use the time for pleasure.”

“Never lie. It’s cowardly and pointless. We’re not responsible for where we start in life, only where we ultimately bring ourselves.”

“I’m interested in building a tennis champion. I offer you the opportunity of unlimited money spent on coaching. Hard work, but with a goal. Have you the courage to take it?”

***

I did an email interview with the author Burt Boyar who also wrote “Yes, I Can” the story of Sammy Davis Jr.:

First Memory Of Tennis? My first memory of tennis was rallying with my wife on a public court on Long Island.

Why Do You Love Tennis? I love tennis because other than Doubles, it is a one on one challenge. You are out there alone and you win or lose by your own guts and mentality. And it is great fun.

What inspired you to write WORLD CLASS? My wife and I were inspired to write World Class, when, after Yes I Can was so successful we were visiting Sammy Davis, Jr. in Puerto Rico where he was performing at the Hotel El San Juan. My dear wife, Jane, and I were looking for heroic characters for a novel we wanted to write and there was a tennis tournament taking place across the street. As we were the only people awake early at that gambling resort hotel we wandered over there one morning and watched the players practicing: Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Dennis Ralston, Butch Buchholz, Mike Davies, Pierre Barthes and Andres Gimeno. They were magnificent: good looking, fit, wholesome, playing as hard as they would if it were the Wimbledon finals. They embodied everything we wanted for our book. We’d found our heroes. It was a fantastic two years being up that close and friends with the best in the world.

Favorite Players To Watch? I had no favorite player to watch. I loved parts of many players’ games: Mike Davies had the most beautiful toss. Lew Hoad’s half-volley return of serve, Pancho Gonzales’ big serve, Ken Rosewall’s “unimpressive” serve – but try to return it. Laver’s amazing topspin backhand. Those were the players we travelled with for two years so I am familiar with their games as we watched them every day.

Did being around all these players help your game? It MADE my game. Just watching those gorgeous strokes day in and day out was like going to tennis camp, but better. Especially when Butch and Dennis Ralston came onto the court to physically fix my serve, and playing mixed with Rod and Mary Laver. Unreal.

***

I’d call WORLD CLASS a masterpiece, and in the league of A HANDFUL OF SUMMERS and LEVELS OF THE GAME and HARD COURTS by John Feinstein. Simply superb.

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116 comments

  • Hartt · October 31, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    Catherine, you make a good point about Kerber being older and more mature. So I hope Simona can reach that point. Cahill has said he wants to do less OCC so maybe your solution to just cut the cord is the way to go.

    I hadn’t thought about tennis players not having outside interests. (Outside of video games – they seem to be big). Milos likes to find smaller art galleries to visit when he is in different cities so this does seem like a serious interest.

    He set up his foundation when he was just 21. His parents thought he was too young to do it, but he was determined. When he had his hip surgery in his breakout year he spent a lot of time in hospitals, etc. and apparently seeing the kids there made a big impact on him. So the foundation is important to him. (Although I think his parents ended up doing a lot of the work!)

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 31, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    It looks like Halep doesn’t really love playing – she needs to feel and cherish the joy of playing tennis – other top players can overwhelm her with their intensity – she could be too introverted to win a GS title –

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 31, 2016 at 8:08 pm

    Kerber was just an average player at 24 – it took her a long long time to put it all together –

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 31, 2016 at 8:12 pm

    Raonic just needs a little bit of variety and surprise to his game – right now I think he’s too predictable – just a couple of trick shots and surprise shots – develop a sneaky dropper – study Richard Krajicek tapes – serve and volley – and of course get comfortable with expressing fiery emotions and fury – study young Hewitt and Nadal for that –

  • Andrew Miller · October 31, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    Milos works too hard. He needs to enjoy crowd more, let off steam a la sock .

  • Scoop Malinowski · October 31, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    Agree – Raonic should learn how to breakdance and incorporate that into his presentation – like Stepanek had The Worm and Bjorkman had the foot in the hand step thing – Raonic should do The Robot dance move thing after he wins every set and walks back to his chair – just imagine the sensation that will cause to the tennis world – and it will loosen up Raonic and it will help him to play better tennis instead of being too serious – The ROBOT man dance move – learn it this off season Raonic!

  • catherine bell · November 1, 2016 at 4:48 am

    So difficult to change your personality at will and incorporating dance steps etc can just be a distraction – perhaps Milos and Simona both naturally introverted people who need to find their outlets for fun off court which will cross over to their expressiveness on court.

    Of course one key to pure enjoyment is winning things 🙂

    You know – quite a few players who have success when they are young play through joy and love of the game and then when the pro tour grind begins that pleasure and intensity just leaves them. Can be a hard and sometimes lonely life, hence entourages and family travelling. But you have to stand on your own in the end.
    Maybe a bit easier for boys than girls ? Don’t know.

    Eg I never thought G Sabatini, in the time I saw her play, really loved the game and certainly never liked the life.

  • Jg · November 1, 2016 at 7:27 am

    How about UVA freshman beating Groth in Charlotttsville challenger

  • Hartt · November 1, 2016 at 8:28 am

    Catherine, love “one key to pure enjoyment is winning things.”

    It must be especially difficult for an introvert to deal with all the attention. I’ve read that Simona is a HUGE deal in Romania with so much attention and pressure. Although perhaps not as extreme, Milos gets a lot of attention in Canada, a country that recently started to have success in tennis. Outside of Bouchard, he is the face of Canadian tennis and he’s said how difficult it is for him to play in Canada, especially Toronto, with all the expectations, including his own.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 1, 2016 at 8:46 am

    No doubt about it pro tennis is a very very difficult job to not only achieve but to excel at and to sustain even an average/good career – most aspirants don’t even come close to “making it” –

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 1, 2016 at 8:48 am

    Groth sure has plummeted this year – his ranking could be outside the top 200 now – not long ago he was hanging close with Federer on Grand Slam stadium courts – now he’s crashing out of Challengers in first rounds to nondescript college players – Tough life is pro tennis –

  • catherine bell · November 1, 2016 at 9:07 am

    Hartt –

    Several players in the past from small countries have solved the problem of publicity by moving away. Not easy to do, for obvious reasons (family, loyalty etc) and maybe not a solution for Simona at present but I can imagine the pressure on her must be hard to deal with. Maybe join Petra, Milos etc in Monaco, the world’s most powerful tennis country ? Apart from Switzerland of course.

    Boris Becker left Germany after his first marriage I think and Steffi, before marrying Andre, led an almost reclusive life there.

  • Andrew Miller · November 1, 2016 at 9:57 am

    Monaco is definitely the most powerful tennis country.

    Not advocating for Milos to “change his personality”. Just to express himself on court in matches large and small. Can only help him. He looks like a kettle on the stove and from his interviews, talks like one too. Pressure without an outlet bursts people and kettles alike.

    McEnroe said after parting ways he wanted Milos to show more emotion on the court. And McEnroe also LIT into Milos during Wimbledon to inspire his run to the finals. Sometimes I think McEnroe talks out of his sounds like crass rhymes with bass & class. But when it comes to what works on the court – can’t imagine it wouldn’t do anything but help poor Milos.

    Poor milos ha. The guy’s had a career year. Just that the Harrison loss rocked his world and he messed up in not playing the Olympics as Canada’s top player whereas Bouchard endeared herself to folks, even when losing early. To me that was two mistakes in a row that set up his MINI slump. Just a little less sure and confident out there.

  • Hartt · November 1, 2016 at 11:23 am

    Andrew, I agree with you that Milos should have played the Olympics. As a Canadian I was annoyed that our best player was not taking part, but I also thought it was not good for Milos himself. The loss to Harrison, especially with the extreme cramping, definitely rattled Raonic. He did not play Davis Cup a week or two later, saying he needed to deal with what caused the cramping. But I thought at the time that was strange reasoning. He needed match play and that lack continues to hurt him.

    Given how well Carreno Busta has been playing it will be very interesting to see how that match goes; it is later today. I am holding my breath!

  • Hartt · November 1, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    Milos won his match against Carreno Busta in SS, 7-6, 6-4. Given how rusty Raonic is and how well PCB has played lately, this was a decent result. Milos served very well, with a first serve % of over 70% and 17 aces. His return game was terrible at the beginning of the match but he gradually improved. So I hope this means he finally gets that much-needed match play. According to the commies the ankle injury he got in Beijing has been a problem for him lately, but today he looked fine.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 1, 2016 at 7:55 pm

    Good win for Raonic as Carreno Busta was on fire lately – he crushed Fognini 6361 and won a final recently also over Fognini in three sets –

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