Tennis Prose




Dec/22

19

Orange Bowl Injustice?

I have a friend who coached a 14s girl in the Orange Bowl. He just informed me about a shocking default of a girl after play was canceled due to rain…

“Just heard a good story – the girl Victoria beat in Eddie Herr second round 6-1 6-1 was in the fourth round of Orange Bowl yesterday, they told her in the morning play is canceled for the day due to rain. But at 10 am they changed their mind and she should play at 11 am. She was more than an hour away in Boynton where she lives so she could not make it and got defaulted.”

“The father is a lawyer so if this story is completely true, they should sue the Orange Bowl.”

“$152 entry fee and then this.”

“It says in the draw ‘defaulted’ but normally that means that means that you did something bad and got defaulted.”

In case you’re wondering, it was the American girl who was defaulted and the girl from Argentina who advanced with the free pass to the quarterfinal.

· ·

6 comments

  • catherine · December 20, 2022 at 9:49 am

    The situation cited above is definitely unfair. If play is ‘cancelled for the day’ it can’t be uncancelled. Normally if the weather seems unsettled players are advised to come to the courts if it is early in the day.

    Talking of fairness/unfairness here’s an exclusive from BILD on Becker’s release and return to Germany:

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/dec/20/i-was-a-nobody-boris-becker-gives-first-interview-since-leaving-uk-prison

    Seems Wandsworth was a little harsh (it’s a dispersal prison for a range of inmates) but otherwise the Open prison where he ended up sounds like a kind of enclosed gym. Boris has probably shed some of that excess weight on a prison diet.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 20, 2022 at 10:34 am

    Catherine, this girl was cheated out of an Orange Bowl 4th round match and shot at QF, it’s a terrible injustice and whoever is responsible for this must face legal consequences. Good news on Becker, it’s good news that he is free man. I have only met him twice briefly, both at US Open, I asked to do a Biofile with him in about 1993 and he said he was already famous enough. The second was a just a few years ago, he walked by us in the hall when I was talking with another player for one of my Facing books. He had a nice friendly smiling aura this time. Though he seemed to be hobbling due to hip or knee troubles.

  • catherine · December 21, 2022 at 3:46 am

    Boris has had various ankle and leg injuries over the past few years. Probably legacies of his playing days.

    For a short while he was Head of Men’s Tennis in Germany but resigned a couple of years ago – probably when he, and the DTB, knew he would face prosecution in England and very likely go to prison. They do not like people concealing assets in bankcruptcty cases.

    From what I can gather he did well in the DTB job so the whole business was a great pity. He cannot re-enter the UK as a convicted felon.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 21, 2022 at 7:50 am

    No doubt Becker is a great coach, is a tennis wizard master, only a marvel could win a Grand Slam at 17. My standout memory of his genius is from the Love Means Zero Nick Bollettieri movie, where Becker was losing to his arch rival Agassi and to turn the match around he used a mind game of while competing in the battle vs Agassi he started flirting with Brooke Shields DURING the match. Of course he came back and won the match as Agassi fell apart mentally from seeing Becker flirt with Shields.

  • catherine · December 21, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    I had to smile a little when I read a transcription of Becker’s experiences at HMP Huntercombe on German TV. Huntercombe is a Category C (low security) prison for foreign national men awaiting deportation. No one stays there very long and Boris was never in danger of being murdered. He was apparently shocked at the language used by other inmates and studied Stoicism. And emerged looking slim and healthy.

    Something about tennis and prisons. The ATP Finals were formerly held at the O2 in London, not a huge distance from HMP Belmarsh, a category A Max security prison with a terrifying reputation.

    I know of two or three pro players who’ve spent time behind bars but I’m not mentioning names.

  • Scoop Malinowski · December 22, 2022 at 7:24 am

    Catherine, safe to assume Becker got some special privileges for being a star.

<<

>>

Find it!

Copyright 2010
Tennis-Prose.com
To top