John McEnroe NCAA Singles Final: Best Competitive Effort Ever
Dick Gould
18 matches in 8 days.
Monday, May 29, 1978-Memorial Day: a day to remember the incredible efforts, feats, and costs of our worldwide Battle for Freedom! Celebrations with parades, backyard picnics, and barbecues. And also a day historically marked by great sporting events such as the Indianapolis 500 motor car races held since 1911.
A newcomer to the crowded activities block was added in 1977 with the first combined NCAA Team and Individual Championships at Coach Dan Magill's great shrine to college tennis at the University of Georgia. The NCAA Men's Team Championship in 1978 was the second year of a true team championship.
I was the chauffeur for Peter Rennert and John McEnroe, who were in the back seat of our rental car in Athens, Georgia. Peter, John's teammate and best friend, was to give him a brief "loosen up" hit prior to the final match of his collegiate season. We wove through the crowd to find a parking place. As we stepped out of the air-conditioned car, we were met head-on by a midday blast of boiling air. Not only was the temperature in the stifling nineties, but the humidity was almost unbearable.
Dick Gould is now Director of Tennis at Stanford University, where as men's coach, he led his beloved Cardinals to an amazing 17 national team titles and 10 players to the NCAA singles title. In addition, he has coached 9 Stanford players who subsequently attained world top 15 in singles
rankings and 14 who have reached the world's top 10 in doubles (including 7 who have been ranked # 1 in the world in doubles). Although known for his college team records, Gould is also one of the game's foremost students, authors, and teachers, establishing both the Stanford Tennis School and the fabulously successful Nike Junior Tennis Camps at Stanford. A minor accomplishment was giving John Yandell his first tennis teaching job in California in 1979. Tennisplayer is proud to be presenting both his classical and advanced teaching systems on our site, starting with this analysis of learning from the greats.
Leading with Character: 10 Minutes a Day to a Brilliant Legacy
A collective memoir of 166 world champions, CEOs, leaders, and other professionals, all of whom played on Stanford’s men’s tennis dynasty under legendary coach Dick Gould, owner of seventeen NCAA men’s tennis titles. Compiled and authored by Gould with former player and author Tim Troupe Noonan, Anatomy addresses issues of leadership, team building, sustaining success over time, and many other topics of interest to anyone in a position of leadership.
