Archive for the 'Tennis History' Category

The International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum sports a special exhibit on view now through May 1, 2007, called Mining the Archives. The museum’s collection focuses on the sport of tennis and the players honored therein as well as the history of Newport, Rhode Island, the beautiful town in which the museum is situated.

Mining the Archives develops three primary themes from its archives in this exhibit:

The Newport Casino Theatre (1881 – 1959)
Discoveries from the archives that span 75 years of performances including diaries, scrapbooks, programs, and announcements.

The American Tennis Association: The Early Years
Highlighting the achievements of the pioneers that established the American Tennis Association to give all tennis players an opportunity to compete nationally regardless of race.

Discovering Helen Hull Jacobs
Helen Hull Jacobs is known as a 1930s tennis star, but her achievements off the courts were special too. Learn about her unique life through her personal artifacts, photos, clippings, and correspondence.

Mining the Archives is made possible by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH), an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For information call 401-849-3990 or visit the Hall of Fame’s official web site at tennisfame.com.

Did you know that the game of tennis has French roots? It’s tough to pinpoint the exact origin of tennis as we know it today, but France heavily influenced the development of the game particularly its vocabulary. Modern tennis terminology derives from 12th century France where the game was enjoyed by French aristocracy. Here are a few examples of the French influence on tennis:

tennis from tenez
imperative form of verb tenir to hold, this cry means “I am about to serve!”

racquet from raquette
derives from Arabic rakhat meaning palm of the hand

deuce from à deux le jeu
to both is the game (that is, the two players are tied)

love from l’œuf
the egg, referring to the shape of the zero symbol; because un œuf is more common, the etymology remains in question

The city of Antwerp in Belgium has honored native tennis great Kim Clijsters with a small museum of sorts, highlighting her career. Clijsters plans to retire at the end of this tennis season and Belgium wants to ensure that her legacy endures.

Beginning in February, Kim’s most important trophies and other career mementos will be housed in a showcase at the entrance to the Sportpaleis, one of Belgium’s most famous sports arenas. Included are her first WTA trophy, her US Open trophy, her number one ranking trophy, her Masters trophy, and five awards for Sportswoman of the Year in Belgium.

The “Kimuseum” will be open to fans and tourists daily in Antwerp. For her thoughts on this honor, visit Clijsters official web site at kimclijsters.com. Lawn Tennis News also offers a glimpse of Clijster’s trophies.

Former World No. 1 Björn Borg is scheduled to play the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament this June, his first appearance on English grass in over 25 years. The 50 year-old Swedish tennis legend will play a doubles match on June 13 and a singles match on June 15 at Calderstones Park in Liverpool. For ticket information, visit www.liverpooltennis.co.uk.

Borg won five straight Wimbledon titles (1976-1980) but lost his last Wimbledon final to his rival John McEnroe in 1981. Eurosport.com has an entertaining excerpt from a recent joint interview with Borg and McEnroe. For Swedish speakers, Expressen has the full interview between the legendary rivals.

Borg holds a record six French Open titles; he is widely considered one of the all-time greatest tennis players. He officially retired from tennis at the age of 26 in 1983. In December 2006, Borg was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by BBC Sports.

Kim Clijsters, currently ranked number five woman in the world of tennis, has declared 2007 her last year of professional tennis. Though Clijsters is only 23, she is plagued by persistent injuries. She also plans to marry American Brian Lynch right after Wimbledon and devote herself to starting a family and making a home. Lynch plays for the Belgian basketball club Bree, Clijsters’ hometown team.

Clijsters’ career highlights include winning the 2005 US Open as well as 36 other singles titles. She was the first Belgian female to reach a Grand Slam final at Roland Garros in 2001 though she was defeated by Jennifer Capriati. Kim held the world’s number one ranking for a period during 2003 and has earned over $14 million in prize money.

In 2004, injuries began to bother Clijsters when she sprained her ankle badly and withdrew from a tournament in Sydney. She managed to come back and win Antwerp (the biggest match in her home country of Belgium) but then another injury struck when Kim hurt her wrist in play at Indian Wells. After months of rest and rehabilitation, she fought her way back again. In 2005, her world ranking soared from 133 to 17, and even a bad knee injury did not keep Clijsters from winning her first Grand Slam—the US Open! Sadly her game in 2006 was hampered by an injured hip, a twisted ankle, an injured foot, and a painful fall on her wrist.

“2007 will become my final year for sure. Pretty special if you ask me. I’ll select some nice tournaments so as to go and say goodbye to the many nice people I have met in the past,” Clijsters said in her web diary in November. Kim will begin her last year in tennis in Australia where she has long been a favorite, perhaps partly due to her former engagement to top Australian player Lleyton Hewitt. She will also play her home tournament in Antwerp though she declined an invitation from the Belgian Olympic Committee to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Read Clijster’s web diary for further thoughts about her last year in women’s tennis.

Tennis fans of all ages will enjoy collecting and trading all of their favorite heroes with these cool Ace tennis cards. In years to come, these tennis card collections will be cherished nostalgia, reminding the holder of lots of great matches watched (and debated) together in the 2006 season.

If you are beginning a collection or simply want more cards featuring more players, the 2005 ACE Tennis Trading Card Set is also available. (Aside: I used to store my Charlie’s Angels cards in a red metal bandage box, remember those? They were the best for keeping cards unbent, dry, and safe from my sister’s prying fingers).

Tennis magazine’s latest issue has a great my point article by L. Jon Wertheim titled “The Slamless Wonders.” In it he exclaims the top 4 male and the top 4 female tennis players to never win a grand slam title.

In order to determine the best in each sex to not win at least one of the tennis slams he employed Jonathon Brown of the University of Washington. Brown recently determined that if a pro would win just 53 percent of his/her points he/she will win 75 percent of matches. This I guess made him a pretty good source to “crunch the numbers” and come up with an accurate way to measure “best” player to never win a major title.

The results are in and here they are.

The Top Males are:

Alex Corretja
Todd Martin
Miloslav Mecir
Marcelo Rios

Top Females are:

Mary Joe Fernandez
Andrea Jaeger
Helena Sukova
Wendy Turnbull

Some of these names might surprise you and some of them you may have already realized, but a great list none-the-less. Some of them were number ones and some weren’t but all were great and never won a major title, ever. Check out the magazine for a more in depth look at the numbers (comparing records, tournaments won, vs. slam winners etc).

Thanks for the great article LJ.