Kings of the Court: Lew Hoad

Phenomenal strength and technique at age 10. Lew Hoad possessed the greatest combination of speed and strength tennis has ever seen. An exaggeration? Watch the video clips and see for yourself. At 10 years of age, he was slightly built but could easily handle the racquet with one hand on the backhand side, and had a perfect technical serve. Hoad had everything. A huge first serve. Great volleys. He returned first serves for winners. A technically, perfect game. Hoad could simply do things with a tennis ball no one else could do. He just looked different: stronger, faster, but always graceful. And in the view of his rivals and contemporaries, as nice a guy as ever walked on the court. With his movie-star good looks and outgoing personality, Hoad became a tennis icon in the 1950s. Fantastic shots for winners, including returns. Jack Kramer described his game this way: "He was the only player I ever saw who could stand six or seven feet behind the baseline and snap the ball back hard, crosscourt. He'd try for winners off everything, off great serves, off tricky short balls, off low volleys. He hit hard overspin drives, and there was no way...