What, No Rattles, Klaxons or Vuvuzelas?
SAY IT AIN’T SO: The All England Club has banned vuvuzelas (those renowned World Cup noisemakers) from Wimbledon. Said Ian Ritchie, “Rattles, klaxons and vuvuzelas all fall into that category. order...
View ArticleReturn of the Spice Girls
LONDON — Helen Wills vs. Suzanne Lenglen in Cannes in 1926; Bobby Riggs vs. Jack Kramer in Madison Square Garden in 1947; BJK vs. Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes in Houston in 1973 — exhibitions and...
View ArticleTennis War Stories: Part II
Tales of War and Tennis From Pre-Communist China to Post-Communist Russia By Bill Simons Thirty years ago, Sportstyle magazine asked Jantzen executive Bart Blout, “In light of the events of 1984, what...
View ArticleUS Open Preview: Rafa Sells Underpants
AN OVERVIEW OF UNDERGARMENTS By Bill Simons It’s a long tradition in tennis. No, it’s not strawberries and cream or that eternal question, “Tennis anyone?” It’s undergarments. In 1932, a...
View Article35TH ANNIVERSARY: BE JOYOUS AND WALK GENTLY ON THIS EARTH
BE JOYOUS AND WALK GENTLY ON THIS EARTH On the 35th anniversary of Inside Tennis, we salute the game’s great players and a few of its quirky delights. THE METAPHYSICAL TRUTH OF ROGER FEDERER: The late...
View ArticleNAOMI OSAKA AND THE DANCE OF INNOCENCE
The famous-long-ago singer Dinah Shore once informed us that “tennis is like a wonderful, long-lasting relationship with a husband. Golf is a tempestuous, lousy lover. It is totally unpredictable, a...
View ArticleNEWSFLASH: Wimbledon Cancels the Revolution and Other Notes from the Tennis...
LONDON – ALL IS WELL IN THE TENNIS KINGDOM: Roger Federer – elegant in white – is back on court on Wimbledon’s Centre Court. There is peace in the valley. JUST WONDERING: Is it some kind of record that...
View ArticleTIAFOE FORWARD – Can Frances Reach the Very Top?
FRANCES TIAFOE EMERGED OUT OF THE JUNIOR TENNIS CHAMPIONS CENTER TO BREAK INTO THE TOP 100. NOW CAN HE REACH THE VERY TOP? He had no choice. It was a matter of life and death. When Frances Tiafoe Sr....
View Article50 YEARS OF OPEN TENNIS: Crystal Balls and Phrases to Remember
OH-SO-CLEAR CRYSTAL BALLS: Richard Williams predicts his daughters will revolutionize tennis and become No. 1 and No. 2 (and they do in 2002)…In ’82, Billie Jean King says, “You may not believe it, but...
View ArticleRUSSIAN TENNIS – FROM ANNA KARENINA TO ANNA KOURNIKOVA AND BEYOND
Bill Simons It was a stunning suggestion. Long ago Raisa Gorbachev, the wife of the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, told Chris Evert, “Tennis will bring our peoples together.” Now flash forward to...
View Article
