By Scoop Malinowski
Lleyton Hewitt: With his emotional fighting spirit and animated celebrations, the Aussie wonder changed the sport and inspired many imitators who used emotional adrenaline and colorful animated celebrations. Also go to any major junior tournament like Eddie Herr and you may here over 500 come ons on any given day.
Andre Agassi: The flamboyant American introduced colorful costumes and image recreations to the sport. Though his playing style was rather basic and fundamental outside of his ferocious forehand, Agassi exuded a charisma and flashy style that attracted many new fans to the sport.
Pete Sampras: His quiet, low-key competitive style may have fooled more than a few into thinking he was lackadaisical but underneath the stoic facade was burning inferno with a freakish drive to win. His very first ATP opponent in Philadelphia, Sammy Giammalva Jr summed up Sampras best in Facing Sampras, “I think Pete transformed – in a subtle, silent way – the attitude of the game and the attitude of the best players.”
Anna Kournikova: The first and most transcending tennis beauty who captivated male attention all over the world. Far more known for her physical appeal, and countless endorsements and sponsors, Kournikova was also a very good player, reaching the semis of Wimbledon, the top ten, and major doubles titles.
Marcelo Rios: The first South American to be no. 1 in the world, inspired many south American players to see that it’s possible to reach the top of tennis. Gaudio, Coria, Massu, Fernando Gonzalez, Guga Kuerten, among others, were all inspired by the amazing early success of Rios who is often praised by Roger Federer as being one of his favorite players.
Michael Chang: Pioneer of Asian success in elite pro tennis and also the first of the American Big Four to win a Grand Slam major title at age 17 in Paris. Sampras, Courier and Agassi soon followed up Chang’s success with more major titles for America.
Victor Estrella Burgos: Possibly the all-time most inspiring player in tennis history. The extraordinary Dominican struggled for over a decade as a sub journeyman, with repeated failures to get through major qualifying rounds or any positive results on the ATP World Tour. Until age 33 he suddenly found success and made the third round at US Open main draw, the top 100 and eventually became an ATP main tour regular, even winning three successive ATP singles titles in Quito, Ecuador. The example of Estrella Burgos showed in astounding manner that no player should ever give up his or her dream, and that even after age 32, their best tennis and best results could be ahead. Estrella Burgos holds the record for being the oldest player in tennis history to enter the top 100 rankings at age 33.
Felisimo Ampong: This Filipino wonder stood only five feet tall. But pound for pound, inch for inch he was an ultra talented player who still gets high praises from his peers like Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle.
Lendl and Navratilova: Both of these hard-working, extremely driven Czechoslovakians took tennis fitness to new heights.
Thomas Muster: All you have to do is think of the video of Thomas Muster playing tennis with a broken leg, while sitting in a custom built chair. Muster eventually got up from that handicap and won Roland Garros and became no. 1 in the world.
Jennifer Capriati: The most inspiring player in women’s tennis history. The highly touted teenager eventually derailed her own career due to extreme pressure and expectations to fulfill her potential. After a long hiatus to rebuild herself, Capriati achieved her greatest success.
Venus and Serena: Never could anyone ever have imagined that the sport of kings, the sport of grace could ever include a kid from one of the most underprivileged areas in the United States, let alone two sisters from the Compton section of Los Angeles. The Williams sisters are two miracles, as is their father and coach Richard Williams who dared to have a dream. Since the Williams achieved professional tennis success, there have been hundreds of other black teenagers inspired but their extraordinary examples.
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catherine · December 18, 2017 at 11:26 am
Scoop – this I assume follows on from previous thread.
So I don’t want to get into a long argument about who was a game changer and who wasn’t – I think they were few and far between. To me a ‘game-changer’ was/is a player who in an essential way, by example, influenced the dominant style of the day. At any point in history.
Jack Kramer I gather did this for men’s tennis after the war for the big game, s/v.
BJK wasn’t a game changer because she simply refined a style of s/v introduced for women by Alice Marble.
Chris Evert was a game-changer because she brought back a predominantly baseline style and influenced thousands of girls to camp out beyond the baseline, with mixed results which we see to this day.
The next game changer, as I mentioned below, was technology.
And Capriati the most inspiring player in women’s tennis history ? I know you admire Jennifer beyond all reasoning but that’s going a bit far.
Kournikova ? Oh please. What did she change ?
Scoop Malinowski · December 18, 2017 at 7:27 pm
Catherine, Kournikova reintroduced sex appeal and very very VERY skimpy tight fitting outfits which are very popular with a lot of current players who like to wear those tight and short compression shorts or pants and revealing tops. Kournikova definitely changed what women players wear and she showed that beauties don’t even have to win majors in singles to become mega box office attractions. Anna paved the way for Monique Viele, Genie Bouchard, Ashley Harkleroad, Maria Sharapova, Camila Giorgi, Dani Hantuchova, Nicole Vaidisova, etc.
catherine · December 19, 2017 at 2:51 am
Wearing skimpy clothes and attracting a lot of male attention isn’t exactly something new in the world 🙂
And whether you’re a beauty or not is simply down to genes and luck. No talent or hard work required.
By ‘game changers’ I mean players who do something significant and lasting on the court.
Otherwise, a pretty face but no hands on the silverware or names in the record books. Ask most players with any talent which they’d prefer.
I doubt you’d really be surprised.
Scoop Malinowski · December 19, 2017 at 7:56 am
Catherine, But Kournikova showed that a player with good looks can earn a fortune even without the elite results. Kournikova’s skimpy outfits were an innovation that changed the tennis landscape in the way that the WTA presents itself to fans.i think Anna deserves the credit for that. If you remember before Anna, all the WTA players outfits consisted of dresses skirts and collared shirts and mostly short sleeves. Take a look at it now. That’s how Anna changed tennis.
catherine · December 19, 2017 at 9:21 am
Well, I’m not sure that’s a significant achievement – and as much a fashion statement as anything else. And not all women players today wear what I would call ‘skimpy’ outfits.
Anna didn’t ‘change tennis’ – she influenced peripherals maybe. And I’d hesitate to say she was responsible on her own for design changes. Sports fashion and other fashion moved along as it always does.
I’m sorry – I never did get the fuss over Anna K.
Hartt · December 19, 2017 at 10:56 am
I suspect that women are not as interested in Kournikova’s looks and skimpy outfits as some men seem to be. From what I’ve read it wasn’t just Anna’s good looks that gave her an impact, but she purposely used her sex appeal, loving to flirt with just about anyone.
I doubt that it took Kournikova to bring about today’s skimpy outfits on the WTA. That is an unfortunate aspect of our society – so much emphasis on what women look like rather than what they achieve.
Scoop Malinowski · December 19, 2017 at 11:23 am
Well, tennis is just following the direction of culture in general. Look how sex appeal and sexualizing everything in entertainment has changed from the 40s and 50s. There clearly is an agenda to objectify and hyper sexualize women by the media and entertainment industries so I think it’s unfair to put blame on Kournikova who is just a chess piece on the chessboard. Kournikova definitely added a different spice to sports and I would not say it was a detrimental footprint.
Duke Carnoustie · December 19, 2017 at 6:35 pm
Kournikova certainly did flirt with everyone, including yours truly once! I refused to give in and let Iglesias have her. (sigh)
Scoop Malinowski · December 19, 2017 at 6:41 pm
Duke, you should have thrown her your boxers. Big mistake!
Scoop Malinowski · December 19, 2017 at 6:48 pm
Hartt; What would you say has contributed to the evolution of what the women players wear today? I definitely trace it back to the late 90s and Kournikova. I think Kournikova and adidas made tennis attire more sexy oriented just like Agassi and Nike made tennis clothing more flashy, neon, and flamboyant. This did not change the tactical play of tennis but it did alter the image and appearance of the sport.
catherine · December 20, 2017 at 2:54 am
I’m not Hartt but I’ll answer your question anyway – as far as I see it. Fashion changes, and off court fashion often now is going to influence designers of sportswear. And liesure wear off court and sportswear on court moved closer designwise during the era you’re talking about.
No one player was that influential IMO.
And if you take a close look at the clothes women players wear today you’ll see a wide range and some outfits are pretty modest – tank tops are everywhere but they’re not especially revealing or sexy.
Have you heard of Gussie Moran ? Nothing new under the sun.
scoopmalinowski · December 20, 2017 at 4:32 am
Gussie was from a half century ago. Gussies lace panties or whatever they were, changed the game. Then came Anna about 50 yrs later as the next pioneer. I think Anna influenced other sports too. Anna was the no 1 sex symbol in ladies sports in her time. Imo. She really was iconic.
catherine · December 20, 2017 at 6:32 am
Well, Gussie’s panties certainly did for Teddy Tinling who was on the outs with the AEC ever since.
Anna was a sex symbol, true. But we probably are in disagreement about what ‘changed the game’ means 🙂
Sex symbols don’t last of course.
Scoop Malinowski · December 20, 2017 at 9:11 am
Catherine, some sex symbols do last…Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, James Dean, Madonna 🙂
catherine · December 20, 2017 at 9:23 am
I knew those names would come up – I was thinking more of sports actually.
I’d argue that most of those past sex symbols are now known for being other than actual sex symbols – especially Marilyn Monroe who has become a blank page for everyone to write their own stories upon.
And other sex symbols who really had only that going for them have disappeared – I won’t mention any names because you wouldn’t have heard of them 🙂
What’s sexually appealing in one era often seems quite unalluring in another.
Joe Blow · December 20, 2017 at 9:40 am
I’ve played in Country Clubs, and public parks from Cal to NY, I’ve never seen a woman playing in SW’s wacky outfits, nor have I ever seen a “ V” outfit on a court. How companies justify paying endorsements, or how they choose is beyond me.
The only interesting endorsement battle, even though it was the same endorser was Nike in the 90’s. Sampras and Agassi. AA’s market was the under 20 player, and PS was going for the older more Country Club look.
It’s an interesting part of the tennis match. What always shocked me the most was two players with the same company wearing the same exact kit( as BG calls it). They have multiple styles and colors, yet they throw out 2 players with the same duds
Scoop Malinowski · December 20, 2017 at 10:37 am
Joe, I think the players make the choice and sometimes they both like the same outfit combo. It’s gonna happen. Serena is huge for Nike. Nike attiring Serena results in consumer support for Nike because a lot of Serena and tennis fans appreciate Nike for supporting Serena so they buy Nike.
catherine · December 20, 2017 at 11:51 am
If memory serves me both Julia Georges and Coco V wore the same outfits in the Zhuhai final this year. ( I think Coco wore a visor.)
I assume that was their own personal choice, not an accident in the locker room 🙂
Joe Blow · December 20, 2017 at 1:17 pm
I think their Company reps are dressing them. Maybe not the top guys, or women, but the next tier, and on down for sure.
Scoop Malinowski · December 20, 2017 at 1:49 pm
In recent years players have more input in their clothes. I remember watching Mardy Fish practice with Federer at US Open on Ashe before the tournament started and I overheard Fish telling Federer how K Swiss follows requests by players regarding fabrics. I would guess also colors. Also I remember years ago players first started talking about how they designed their outfits with Nike or adidas, can’t remember if it was Seles. I’m pretty sure Pete Sampras made requests to Nike with some of his gear. I think a lot of the top players do. It’s a good question as to when it started.
catherine · December 20, 2017 at 2:25 pm
adidas brings out new lines before the big events and the players seem to choose what they want to wear. Some players have favourite outfits which they appear in on and off through the year. And non-favourites which are quickly discarded. Only the W’don whites are special but I’ve seen Simona H wear her whites at different times and a couple of other players too.
As you say Scoop, I imagine someone like Serena has a big input when it comes to her clothes, same with top men and women. But others just wear the regular designs with their sponsorship patches etc.
As to when it started, I really can’t recall. Teddy Tinling designed some of BJK’s dresses in the 70s but maybe about then the designers like Fila,Ellesse etc got in on the act and after that players signed up with big companies.
Martina Navratilova appeared at W’don one year wearing a line sponsored by Kim cigarettes because she’d lost some sponsorship deals – her skirt started unravelling during a match on No 1 court.
Scoop Malinowski · December 20, 2017 at 6:32 pm
Catherine; Never heard of Kim cigs but that is an embarrassing moment for Martina. If she was losing, I could see her really getting ticked off. It would be cool if Nike hired McEnroe or Borg to design a new line, if they’d be interested in such a creative pursuit.
catherine · December 21, 2017 at 2:21 am
Kim cigarettes was a Japanese brand I think – anyway briefly around in the early 80s before cigs began to disappear from sport. Martina had difficulty attracting sponsors around this time so she took what was offered I imagine. The association didn’t last long.
The skirt unfurling didn’t faze Martina one bit, it was an early round match, – she swept on to beat Andrea Jaeger for the title.
(tobacco ads were banned on tv in Britain by then so that was a cunning move on the part of Kim to get their logo on tv))
Borg was involved in a clothing line after his first retirement but it all went belly up and I don’t think he was attracted to that again -although he may have his name on various merchandise in Sweden – don’t know.