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Yeah, the cheering after a first fault p1sses me off. Wait until a point is complete to cheer or "barrack". I enjoy their actual tennis, but some of the rest is just disrespectful to opponents. Hope they don't cry wolf in o/s tournaments or Davis Cup when the shoe is on the other foot.
Fair comment. Great showman and always good for a quote but will go down in tennis history as a wasted talent. He has all the tools but not of the application of Federer, Djokovic or Nadal.
Correct, although you have understated in that he isn’t even in the same stratosphere as those guys in terms of application and dedication to their craft. And you know what, Nick would be the first to say he doesn’t give a shit. He lives his life how he wants.
www.abc.net.au
Danielle Collins was super-impressive tonight. She destroyed 7th seed Swiatek. If anyone can beat Barty it's her. In fact the last time they met that's exactly what she did.
I knew it was Chris O'Neill, but I was, and still am, a a massive tennis fan (nerd)! Back in the 70s/early 80s we used to struggle to get many top players to the Aus Open, so I am a little too familiar with Eddo, Rod Frawley, Brad Drewett, Wendy Turnbull, Di Fromholtz, Kerrie Melville, Phil Dent. I even considered Kiwi Chris Lewis an honorary Aussie in those days. Vilas and Kriek were foreign players I enjoyed watching, but my mates and I thought Connors a brash Yank - little did we know who was waiting in the wings to take his place! Plus the teenager in me enjoyed watching Bettina Bunge, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch and their ilk - for their tennis skill of course!
I think the year Eddo won was the first to capture my imagination and got me into playing, not that I was ever much good at it. Newk was my fave. How about Roscoe Tanner? Loved the guys with the huge serves. There was one american, coloured guy, who had a big serve and his opponent [getting a bit over all the aces] asked him which way he was going to hit it on his next shot. He kindly told him but still aced him anywayFor anyone that is too young to know who Mark Edmonson (aka Eddo) is, this is a great read about his win in 76, beat (an ageing) Rosewall in the semi, and Newk in the final, only weeks after working as a cleaner at a hospital! (I've quoted the first part, but the whole thing is a quick read to give an insight to a larrikin who was briefly a hero as well.)
The Last Gasp of Australian Tennis’s Golden Era (Published 2011)
In 1976, Mark Edmondson became the lowest-ranked men’s player to win a major and the last native son to win the Australian Open.www.nytimes.com
On the night he beat Ken Rosewall to reach the final of the 1976 Australian Open, Mark Edmondson took the tram home, just like all the fans leaving the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.
His girlfriend, Vicki, now his wife, still recalls the blunt commentary from one of their fellow straphangers: “ ‘Nice job beating Ken,’ the one bloke said, ‘but you won’t have much of a chance to beat Newky in the final, will you?’ ”
Edmondson, who was ranked No. 212 at the time and had been mopping floors at a hospital just weeks before, seized his opportunity, beating John Newcombe in the final. Thirty-five years later, he remains the lowest-ranked men’s player to win a major and the last native son to win the Australian Open, which begins Monday in Melbourne.
In 1976, the Australian Open was still considered the forgotten major, widely ignored in North America and Europe and often skipped by the world’s elite non-Australian players. Few foreign stars wanted to travel around the world to play in a tournament that started the day after Christmas and offered a first prize of only $7,500.
Perhaps even more daunting than the long flight, low pay and holiday schedule were the Australians themselves. In the 35 tournaments before Edmondson’s victory, Australian men had taken the trophy 30 times and finished second the other five years.
In a country filled with tennis legends, Edmondson was an unlikely hero. Weeks before the event, he was working odd jobs to save money to travel on the circuit the next year.
“My sister was a nurse at the time, and she said, ‘We’re always looking for cleaners and window washers at the hospital,’ ” Edmondson said in a phone interview from his home near Sydney. “I was doing some floor polishing and window cleaning, but then like seven days into it, I got the call from Tennis Australia.”
Drooping the 1976 Aus Open trophy!
Yeah, was a fan of Tanner, and Gerulaitis came out often in the Kooyong days as well, and Nastase. Were you thinking of Arthur Ashe?I think the year Eddo won was the first to capture my imagination and got me into playing, not that I was ever much good at it. Newk was my fave. How about Roscoe Tanner? Loved the guys with the huge serves. There was one american, coloured guy, who had a big serve and his opponent [getting a bit over all the aces] asked him which way he was going to hit it on his next shot. He kindly told him but still aced him anyway
No not Ashe, he had more of a delicate styleYeah, was a fan of Tanner, and Gerulaitis came out often in the Kooyong days as well, and Nastase. Were you thinking of Arthur Ashe?
Amongst the o/s women, Navratilova and Evert started coming out, probably due to their rivalry, then Mandlikova came along (and was briefly 'Aussie Hana'). Luckily Cash and the double Macs emerged at the right time, and Masur, Fitzy, etc as the Open moved to then Flinders Park, and the o/s big guns like McEnroe, Lendl, Wilander, Edberg, etc started the ball rolling, but only after they moved the Aus Open from Dec to Jan, mainly to accommodate those same o/s players. Hasn't looked back, but I still fondly remember days cooking in the sun at Kooyong!
Loved the way Pat Cash and Pat Rafter played too
