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“The Man We Barely Knew” Gets A Positive Review
8 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
My book about Marcelo Rios “The Man We Barely Knew” has received a nice review at amazon.com from Meg Perrott. Thanks Meg!
I really admired Marcelo Rios’ tennis when he played in the 1990s. He was a fantastic talent and is often called the most talented player never to win a grand slam. He was also a bit of an enigma, with a so-called `bad boy’ reputation. This is an insightful and fascinating book by Scoop Malinowski who is a respected tennis journalist. It’s not a straight-forward biography of Marcelo Rios – it’s a selection of interviews and quotes from tennis greats such as Mats Wilander and Thomas Johannson, players who played alongside Rios such as Michael Joyce, M Gambil, Luke Jensen, Michael Chang, respected coaches such as Nick Bollettieri and Bob Brett, and tournament officials, workers and those involved in the commercial side of the game. There are also interviews/quotes from fans and their encounters with Rios. It’s a fascinating read, discussing the technical side of the Rios game as well as trying to find out what made him tick – was he a social misfit? Shy? Misunderstood? Or did he really not just care? A definite must for tennis fans.”
http://www.amazon.com/Marcelo-Rios-Man-Barely-Knew/dp/1461162416
"A definite must for tennis fans"
Steve · November 18, 2011 at 2:13 am
Rios vs. Federer highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ5H1nacyaU
Scoop Malinowski · November 18, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Unfortunately Rios was not quite at his best here, neither was Federer of course. The best of Rios on you tube is that set with Agassi in Miami SF in 2002, that’s my favorite, even though Rios is passed his best by a few years he shows some of the old magic in the first set.
Dan markowitz · November 18, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Scoop,
I look forward to reading your book. But what is the biggest reason, in your opinion, why Rios didn’t break through on the slams column?
Gans · November 18, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Scoop,
Congratulations!
I placed an online request to the publisher for an e-version of the book, but I can’t wait. That’s it. I got to buy myself a copy! 🙂
Steve · November 19, 2011 at 11:56 am
Watched the 2002 Miami highlights. Amazing.
Scoop Malinowski · November 19, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Thank you very much Gans,
Scoop Malinowski · November 19, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Injuries. Soon after he became #1 in the world in 1998 the injuries began to plague him. He only had one match as the #1 player, a four set win over Gumy in Davis Cup, before an elbow injury put him out for a month. After becoming #1 he had a decline in results, it’s almost like he had some kind of mental letdown and never really was the same player for a consistent duration, though he showed many flashes and played many great matches — though not with the consistency and dominance he showed in the first half of ’98. There were back problems, tendinitis in the knee, hamstring trouble. There is a school of thought that Rios, in his big seasons, played too much and didn’t allow himself enough recovery time. Agassi and Sampras played 18-20 events a year, Rios played 32 tournaments, not including Davis Cup and numerous exhibitions, as he was a major attraction in Chile. One reporter told me that when his body began to breakdown Rios started to drink more which did not help. But overall, I think Rios getting to #1 for six weeks at age 22 was a turning point. He said in the media that he would rather not be #1, he’d rather be the hunter than the hunted. It just wasn’t in his composition to be the face, the flagship ambassador and spokesman for the sport, like Federer and Nadal and now Djokovic are doing so well with now. As far as the failure at the Slams, I think Wilander said it best: “…sometimes that has to do with the mindset. Three out of five sets, two weeks, you’re not there to win the tournament really. You’re there to put in eight hours of work every day. And then at the end of it there’s one winner. And I think that if you don’t get into the majors early enough in your life, you never really learn how to play majors. Because it’s a long haul. And I don’t think, for me, that he really got it. I really don’t. And some players don’t get it…” That’s part of what he said.. Also the fact that maybe Rios, with his unique style wasn’t physically strong enough and mentally strong enough to win seven matches in best of five format, he was better equipped for 64 or 32 man draw tournaments.
Scoop Malinowski · November 19, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Simply amazing. The funny thing is that video only shows Rios best shots, also in that set he tried some of the silliest shots you ever saw, kept on trying drop shots, one or two that landed BEFORE the net lol. I have this set on tape, it’s so good I had to save it. At the end of the set Patrick McEnroe said on ESPN “That was one of the most enjoyable sets of tennis I’ve seen. Rios hit some of the most amazing shots I’ve seen – and some of the worst shots.” Rios was really toying with Agassi in that set and that’s something you never saw any other played do.