The Belle Epoque:
Zurich
Philip Picuri
With Illustrations by the Author
In the early 70's, I went to Zurich to study and when I finished my studies as an electrical engineer and started working, I joined TC Seeblick in Zurich. This was a club I played in for many years, before moving back to Lugano to play in my current club, TC Lido.
The club is very nice, up on a hill overlooking the lake of Zurich (hence the name "Seeblick" which means "view on the lake" in German). It consists of a large clubhouse (no ramshacke affair like Lee Born's Campo Marzio in Lugano), and 9 beautiful red clay courts.
Whereas TC Campo Marzio (Click Here) was a one man show run by Lee Born, TC Seeblick was run with Germanic precision by a committee, and consisted of about 10 officers (president, vice president, in charge of interclub, in charge of social activities, in charge of court maintenance, in charge of the restaurant, etc.). The most prestigious office, of course, was that of president.
So, let's get into our time machine again, and we will visit TC Seeblick as it was in the 70's on a sunny afternoon....
Hans
The loud, cigar-smoking chap you see at the bar, is Hans. Hans is always dressed to the teeth when he shows up at the club, wearing blazers, scarves, trendy shoes.
He is well aware of the important social position he holds in the club and will not let you forget it either. He will meet you with a hardy handshake and loud greeting. He smiles like a politician.
Hans once got involved in an argument on an out ball during the yearly club championships (this was always played with a life or death intensity by all), and finally defaulted the match in a huff. If that were not enough, he ordered his wife and two daughters (all three meek and subjugated) to also immediately pull out of the club championship in solidarity!
Marco
The guy behind the buffet is Marco. He has a beard, a gruff low voice, a beefy chap with an eye for the ladies.
When he talks to you, he lowers his voice and looks aside, as if taking you into his confidence. When women are not present, he likes to tell off-color jokes. A good cook, though.
Eddie
Over there is Eddie, a short little middle-aged guy, who always shows up with 4 Prince tennis rackets (though he can hardly play). He walks with a limp, is very friendly, and has a tough, younger wife, who mostly ignores him.
Ruth is a fanatic for tennis and the captain of the 3rd league women's team. The members of her team are all hard-boiled females forming a clique of women's liberation adherents.
Luca
Look at court 2 and you will see Luca. Luca is a tall Swiss Italian, extremely fond of cuisine. He moves ponderously about the court, his rear section in prominence.
He used to be a member of TC Lido Lugano (Lee Born's rival club) and had the nickname there of "gatto di marmo" (cat made of marble), an allusion to his slow movements on court. When he runs towards the ball, he runs like an avalanche.
Ueli
Luca is playing agains Ueli, the owner of a Volkswagon dealership. Ueli has the highest ball toss I have ever seen in my life.
It is stratospheric. Birds are in danger. How he ever manages to hit the rapidly descending toss is beyond me. And sometimes he doesn't.
Hans
Over there is Hans, a rich dentist. He is ponderous with false teeth and about the worst hairpiece I have ever seen in my life. It looks like a huge basque beret.
Due to his false teeth, when he talks to you he lisps. He plays mostly with his young and surprisingly glamorous, red-headed young wife. She often disappears and you will see Hans frantically running about searching for her around the courts.
Martin
On court 7 you will see Martin playing. He is the one playing with a cigarette in his mouth. He is slim and has rather longish hair. He has a sly expression and is also the desperation of the second league team captain, because he will constantly contradict every decision made concerning the player lineup. He has a grating voice like a crow, which does not help things.
Eric
Martin's opponent is Eric, a big beefy chap. What he lacks in playing ability, he more than makes up for in equipment.
He is proudly playing with an enormously huge and thick Austrian racket from an obscure manufacturer which has just come out on the market. It is a super-graphite, turbo, antivibration model. He is getting a proper whipping from Martin, who although smoking and playing with an old racket and shoddy tennis shoes, is quite a talented player.
Alfred
The sour-puss just marching into the clubhouse is Alfred, the local pharmacist. He always looks grim (tennis is serious business after all...) He is accompanied by his assistant in his shop, Erica, a plump mousy, friendly young woman, meekly following him. They only play tennis with each other and she seems resigned to her fate.
Ruedi
There on court three is not Godzilla playing, but rather Ruedi. Ruedi is a huge, massive guy and his tennis racket seems like a toothpick in his hand. He has a special style. He just flicks his wrist when playing, but is an awkward opponent to play nevertheless.
Brigitte
And finally, over there by court 4, there is a group of old fogies drooling. Ah yes, on court there we have Brigitte, a voluptuous, dark-haired school teacher, wearing a top which makes her assets apparent, playing with a girlfriend. When she plays, she giggles and bounces and attracts the old fogies who go over to ogle her.
The Championships
The yearly club championships was an enormously prestigious event. Everyone participated, and in the controversies. It started with the draw. Members began arguing with the tournament director, unable to understand why they were seeded lower than X and Y. Everyone knew they were the better player.
Once underway, the tournament schedule often got hopelessly late, because matches would typically last for hours, the players cautiously pushing the ball back and forth for endless rallies, neither wanting to make a mistake. The record was held by two woman players from the third division team that managed to play for 5 hours, until one pulled a muscle and was led tearfully off the court.
Many longtime friendships were broken during the tournament, and marriages put to a severe test in the mixed doubles competition. The club looked like a battlefield, full of red-faced, sweating, limping players with the smell of liniment oil everywhere.
Such was the love of tennis in the Belle Epoque.
