Continue Reading
This is a preview of the article. The full content is available to TennisPlayer.net subscribers only. Create or login to your free account to view up to three articles per month.
In 1990, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker contested the Wimbledon final with Edberg winning in 5 sets. What first inspired you to become a tennis player? Not long ago, I asked that question to a group of young teaching professionals at a coaching conference where I was presenting. Many mentioned famous players such as Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi, or Roger Federer. One named James Blake. Others named less famous players with names like “My Mother or “My Father.” As I pondered the responses my thoughts went back to my own first inspiration from a different era when matches were won and lost at the net. I had played tennis a few times as a kid leading up to 1992, since every residential development in the suburbs of Tampa where I grew up had tennis courts. Then on a random summer day in late June, the family TV happened to be tuned to Wimbledon. During a rain delay, the network showed highlights from a match two years earlier, the Gentleman’s Singles Final between Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker. I was 10 years old at the time and I had never really sat down to watch a tennis match. Almost immediately…