Sport | Tennis
Courting Chic
With passion, temper and lots of money, the history of men's tennis has its share of memorable moments.
- By Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:31 March 4, 2008
Fast, ferocious and fun: three words that will always be associated with men's tennis. There's no doubt that the game has come a long way since it was first invented in 19th century England, played under the name lawn tennis; and although it's risen to Olympic proportions, the rules have stayed more or less the same since the 1890s.
The growth of tennis sponsorship during more recent times opened the floodgates for what tennis has become today: a social
event, full of fashion, glamour and society gossip.
Grand slams
Great changes to men's tennis came about in 1968, with the establishment of open tennis matches, which no longer
distinguished between amateur and professional players. This led to the creation of Grand Slam tennis tournaments, which today are Wimbledon, the French Open, US Open and Australian Open.
Undoubtedly still number one male tennis player is Roger Federer, who has earned the title for four consecutive years. Just last year Federer became the first player to win three grand slam titles in a year for three years running (Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open), as well as finding success in the Tennis Masters Cup against David Ferrer.
Federer is fast catching up with former No 1 Pete Sampras, who won 14 major singles titles during the 1990s and clocked up a total of 64 tournaments.
While changes in fashion and the style surrounding tennis were more than visible off-court, this started to become more
noticeable in the players themselves.
A famous rebellious attitude was brought to the court by Andre Agassi, with his long mane of hair, earring, colourful shirts and multi-coloured bandannas. Many a pirate reference was made to the player, after he sported a skull and crossed-racquet headpiece that looked suspiciously like the Jolly Roger.
Agassi even vetoed playing at Wimbledon from 1988 to 1990, citing an aversion to the traditional white dress code, preferring to dress for play in neon pink.
Sponsorship Deals
His energy and emotion on court was obvious to all when he eventually conceded to play Wimbledon in 1992. After beating Goran Ivanisevic in a five-set final, Agassi fell to his knees in tears.
Even this appearance managed to cause a stir in the fashion stakes, with Agassi sporting white denim shorts.
Lucrative sponsorship deals followed Agassi; he signed with Nike for 17 years, before taking a new sponsor by signing a
multi-million dollar endorsement deal with Adidas. His unofficial slogan "Image is everything" came about after he starred in a Canon commercial, which he said he later regretted.
This, however, surely did no harm to Nike's bottom line.
Temper, temper
"You cannot be serious", sound familiar? Feisty is certainly the word for John McEnroe, who famously lost his temper on
more than one occasion. As early on as 1980, McEnroe was performing heated exchanges with officials, which didn't stop when he returned for the 1981 Wimbledon championships.
He was fined $1,500 (Dh5,500) for the latter and was close to being disqualified from the tournament after calling umpire Ted James "the pits of the world" and swearing at tournament referee Fred Hoyles.
McEnroe's very public outbursts temporarily cost him honorary membership to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, something usually given to singles champions following their first victory.
Time after time McEnroe shouted at umpires, including once during a 1984 Stockholm match. He questioned the chair umpire's decision, then shouted "answer my question, jerk" followed by slamming his tennis racquet into a nearby juice cart.
Harsher Punishment
A harsher punishment befell McEnroe after the 1987 US Open, after which he was suspended for two months and fined a total of
$17,500 (Dh64,225) for "misconduct and verbal abuse".
He, however, is not alone. The usually sedate British tennis player Tim Henman was the first to ever be suspended from
Wimbledon in 1995, after whacking a ball in temper during a doubles match, which then struck a ball girl in the head.
The ancient game of tennis, then, is not just about strawberries and cream, but about energy, passion, fashion, society and status. Who knows how traditions will develop in the future.
Stat Attack
No 1 men's tennis players by decade:
2000s: Roger Federer
1990s: Pete Sampras
1980s: John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl
1970s: Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Börg
1960s: Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver
1950s: Pancho Gonzales
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