The Old Wolf

Richard Gonzalez remained a beautiful player and a fierce competitor.

Richard Gonzalez’s name dropped permanently from World Top Ten tennis rankings in 1970. He had been a tough competitor for over twenty years, but now younger men would take his place.

As they did, tennis experienced an unprecedented growth in popularity. One cause of this great boom was open tennis. With more money-making possibilities, more players than ever before were entering tournaments.

This meant more tournaments were held. More tournaments brought increased exposure of the sport, which in turn, brought in more recreational players.

New tennis players needed to buy equipment and clothing for their latest hobby. This made the advertising of tennis products profitable. Advertisements increased people’s exposure to the sport and produced more tennis fans.

The tennis boom meant commercial endorsements even for older players such as Gonzalez.

Open tennis also continued to create an ever increasing number of tennis enthusiasts. All of these new tennis players needed places to play.

So during the 1970s, city parks everywhere seemed to overflow with people wanting to use a tennis court. New courts were built, and public recreation programs now included tennis lessons and tournaments.

In addition, television began broadcasting…