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Great Players You Never Heard Of: Dave Marcinko
8 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles
New feature alert. There are so many great players out there who never made it big in pro tennis and this new series will showcase some interesting court masters who never made it to the big show
Dave Marcinko played college tennis at South Florida in the 80s and was still a high level hitting partner in the 90s at Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Good enough to play sets with some top five ATP players and give them a run for their money.
When Marcelo Rios was no. 2 in the world in the late 90s, he needed someone to hit with and so NBTA’s Steve Shulla connected Rios with Marcinko to play on clay at the academy. Rios barely won 76 64. “He wasn’t too happy about it.”
Another time Petr Korda needed someone to play sets and Marcinko got the call. Korda was top five in the world at the time and Marcinko never had an ATP point. Korda barely won the set 64 and after the challenging set a frustrated Korda told Marcinko that he would beat him 6-love the next day. However, the next day’s set had the same score result, 64 for Korda.
There was one top ATP player who figured out how to dominate Marcinko and his heavyweight forehand. Magnus Norman ran Marcinko all over the court and beat him rather easily.
But the point of the story is that even elite ATP players can struggle with no name unknown players with no pro ranking points, which illustrates the fine line of what separates the top players from the rest. They all have all the shots and there really is not that much difference from the players you see on TV and the many more who just never managed to earn enough points and match wins to advance to the TV tournaments.
Dave Marcinko · Magnus Norman · Marcelo Rios · Petr Korda
Sam · February 15, 2025 at 10:36 pm
While you’re dusting off your archives, Scoop, maybe you can dig up your file on that former college player in New York also named Serena Williams—you know, the one’s who’s actually a biological female. 😏
Scoop Malinowski · February 16, 2025 at 7:25 am
Sam, that’s right, I met a college player at US Open on a team trip from a small school upstate NY and she told me one of her teammates was named Serena Williams and we kept in touch and I ended up doing a Tennis Magazine story about Serena 2. You have a good memory! I will dig that story up for sure. Yes I have my doubts about Serena and Michael Robinson Michelle Obama, Marcon’s husband, and many others.
Sam · February 23, 2025 at 10:42 pm
Well, Scoop, I could never forget your mentioning that there’s another Serena Williams in the tennis world. Yes, would love to see the story. And even if she wasn’t that impressive as a player, there’s little doubt that she came by all her victories honestly. 😇
Scoop Malinowski · February 24, 2025 at 7:44 am
Sam, from what I remember, Serena Williams 2 was a sub mediocre player, she didn’t come by many wins )
Sam · March 2, 2025 at 10:30 pm
Scoop, well, better to lose honestly than to make a career out of defrauding biological female athletes. 🦹
Losing matches doesn’t make you a loser, but actively cheating? That’s another story. 🤮
Scoop Malinowski · March 3, 2025 at 9:26 am
Yes indeed Sam, the cloud of suspicion will forever hang over Serena, Big Mike Michelle Obama, some LPGA golfers from Asia like Iwai of Japan, and plenty of others.
Sam · March 10, 2025 at 4:05 am
Scoop, I had never heard of Iwai, but in this picture, it definitely looks like a dude! 👨🏻
https://www.essentiallysports.com/who-is-akie-iwai-lpga-tour-four-pro-s-lifestyle-career-more-explored-honda-lpga-thailand/
Scoop Malinowski · March 10, 2025 at 8:56 am
Sam, Dude looks like a dude that’s for sure. And there’s a few other suspects in LPGA too. But HE is the most alarmingly obvious.