ST Spring 2011.indd - New England Senior Tennis Foundation

Transcription

Senior Tennis 2011 – 1
Volume Seven • Number Fifteen • Spring • 2011
THE NEW ENGLAND SENIOR TENNIS FOUNDATION BULLETIN
Ken and Dorcas Miller 2010 USTA New England
Family of the Year
By Helaine K. Block
Ken and Dorcas Miller were named Family of the Year for 2010 for their many contributions to the game,
but primarily for their institution of their newly instituted amateur Grand Slam circuit.
Dorcas and Ken Miller have a genuine passion for tennis. Their love of the sport is apparent from the
moment you meet them and pose the question of when did they first become involved in the sport.
A very likeable and humble couple, the Millers are a pair of highly skilled and highly ranked tennis players
who have participated in national and New England senior tournaments on a regular basis for just shy of three
decades.
Dorcas currently holds the No. 1 ranking for 2010 in the Women’s 70-year old division in New England
and is seventh nationally. Ken represents half of the No. 2 ranked doubles team in New England in the 70-yearold division.
Ironically, neither picked up the sport until they were in
their 30s. In her younger days, Dorcas was a stay-at-home mother
and an equestrian who enjoyed riding horses.
One day, while riding, she was thrown from her horse.
Fortunately, her injuries were minimal and she walked away with
only a separated shoulder. Once the injury healed, her doctor
recommended rehabilitation in either physical therapy or playing
tennis to regain the strength in her arm. She chose tennis and the
passion for the sport began. Shortly afterward, Ken joined her on
the court and tennis became a large component of their lives.
Back in the summer of 2008, while driving to a New
England senior tournament in Williamstown, MA, the Millers
began discussing what could be done to spice up senior tennis for
the New England region. They felt as though local senior tennis
could use a much needed boost and the timing was ideal.
“Ken and I both believed that the sport was fading and no
one had an interest in revitalizing it,” Dorcas said.
Equipped with their love of the sport, sense of
determination, and genuine passion, they started the New England
Senior Slams, a series of three United States Tennis Association
New England-sanctioned tournaments for senior men and women
between the ages of 50 and 85.
As the Millers’ dream was becoming a reality, it was time
Ken and Dorcas Miller
Continued on page 23
2 – Senior Tennis 2011
New England Senior
Tennis Foundation, Inc.
An organization established by Bernice and Irving
Levine for the general purpose of promoting tennis
among senior adults in New England.
Administration
Peter Allen, President
Rich Heath, Treasurer
Bats Wheeler, Clerk
Board
Irving Levine
Wade Frame
Carol Jaffe
Amy Read
George Ulrich
Carol Lipnick
Ken Miller
Dorcas Miller
To facilitate the promotion of senior tennis, the
following strategies will be implemented:
1. To provide instruction for seniors interested
in learning how to play the sport or improve
their skills;
2. To support the publication of material to
help seniors learn how to play the game, improve
their skills and knowledge of the game, and understand the latest health research information
relating to the sport of tennis;
3. To distribute a newsletter on a regular basis
that freely discusses issues in the sport of tennis and at the same time reports the results of
tournaments and other competitions and news
of interest to seniors;
4. To run tournaments and other competitions for seniors innovatively and in such a way
as to help participants fully enjoy the sport;
5. To develop and support interstate, intersectional and international competitions for
seniors;
6. To respond to changing needs and interests
of senior tennis players;
7. To recognize and respond to opportunities
to provide leadership within a larger context
for the development of tennis (i.e., to support
or oppose actions by tennis groups that either
further or diminish the growth and support of
the sport);
8. To provide where possible and to support
facilities for senior players at either a reduced
rate or at no cost to them;
9. To create and support a governance structure that ensures continuity to the Foundation
and support for its goals and strategies.
Leach Named to Wilson Friendship Cup
Laurie Leach of Weston, Mass., has been named to the USTA
Wilson Friendship Cup team. The Wilson Friendship Cup,
comprised of tennis players 75 years and older, is played every other
year in Portschach, Austria, in June. Ralph Wilson, owner of the
Buffalo Bills football team, sponsors this event which culminates
in the European Championship tournament. Ten women represent
different sections of the United States; however, Laurie is the only
one selected from New England.
Senior Tennis Newsletter editor
Dick Ernst of Cranston, R.I. The
Barrington High School boys
tennis coach and a ranking
senior circuit player.
Send stories, pictures and articles to:
Dick Ernst
71 Philmont Ave., Cranston, RI 02910
401-785-0532; or [email protected]
Advertising in this publication is available at
$500/page and $300/1/2 page.
N.E.S.T.F. website www.neseniortennis.org
Editor’s Corner...
with Dick Ernst
My Wonderful Life in R.I. Tennis at the Park
A plaque was dedicated June 10, 2010, at Roger Williams Park, Providence, will commemorating
my 62 years of playing, coaching, teaching, running tournaments, and promoting tennis at Roger
Williams Park. Court # 1 is named the Dick Ernst Court.
This is the biggest honor in my life because my tennis life started and centered around the park
courts and continues there today at age 72.
In 1947, when I was 9, my father, Bob, would bring me with him to watch him play with all the
characters. My dad was a very good player, but most of all, I saw the fun he had. He never pushed me to
play. He showed me the basics and I fell in love with tennis. There were no clinics or pros. You formed
your strokes mostly on your own natural ability.
On summer days he’d leave me off at the courts with my lunch at 9 a.m. on his way to work off
Broad Street as a screw-machine operator. Johnny, the court caretaker, would organize games and
tournaments for a bunch of us kids and we’d play all day until my dad would pick me up at 5 p.m. In the
40s and 50s it was 10 cents an hour to play. Our family was poor so it really helped that Johnny, Walt
Garbecki, and Joe Marcaccio would let me play for nothing, and I’d help them work on the courts. The
clay was a pure clay – soft, slow, dirty and dusty. I started with my dad’s old wooden-handled racket
with gut strings. Later on, Joe Marcaccio would give me used Bancroft Player Special rackets and balls.
I played endlessly, many times 10 or more sets a day, and instructed at the park in the evenings in
The Providence Journal-sponsored clinics in 1958, 1959 and 1960.
My aunt Helen (Dad’s sister) was the Rhode Island schoolgirl champion in 1930. She was a great
player and very pretty and personable. All the guys loved to hit with her in the 30s at the park. On July
12, 1958, she came up from her home at Green Hill and we played mixed doubles together at the park. It
was a big thrill for me.
In the early 60s I’d go to the park and play matches with Garbecki, Carl Johnson, Walt Weisman,
George Fleming, Ed Shein, Irv Levine, Journal sportswriter Dick Reynolds, with his soft, high, lob
game, and Charlie Butler.
Ed Karoghlanian, a New England top tenner, and I would have fierce battles. Once after losing a
point, he threw his racket high into a tree outside the court. It didn’t come down – hilarious.
I’d play doubles with my dad against the old timers and remember, often on hot, hot afternoons
playing best-of-five sets in three- or four-hour matches with Joe Cavanagh.
My dad died in 1965. It was the saddest time in my life. He never met my wife or my boys or knew
what I did with my life. My mom, Irma, played some tennis and in 1949 she beat me at the park and then
retired from tennis. My parents always kidded me about that. Mom died in 2004 at 95.
In 1965 I met Rollie Jones. She’d come to the park to watch on summer evenings. After playing, I’d
sit with her and some of the guys on the benches outside the courts under the street lights and talk till 10
or 11 p.m. We were married in August 1965. The best thing that ever happened to me!
Our sons, Bobby, Gordie and Andy, learned tennis at the park and became good – all three All
Staters for me at Cranston East. Gordie was undefeated in high school singles – four times singles and
doubles champion and record six Rhode Island Metropolitan Tennis Championships.
I ran the tournament for 43 years. Great players from New England and around the U.S. and some
foreign countries came to play in it.
I captained the Roger Williams Rhode Island Tennis League team for 25 years. There was a span of
eight years when I was undefeated at No. 1 for the park team in league matches.
In 1968 I played Jules Cohen in a best-of-five-set final of the Rhode Island Closed title at the park.
Continued on page 14
NESTF President’s Message
Is anyone else pining for the arrival of spring and outdoor tennis, free of snowdrifts? This lingering
winter has made me appreciate more than ever the exhilaration of running about a tennis court in the
bright sunshine, competing with my fellow seniors.
In my Fall Bulletin message, I noted that last summer marked the fullest complement of strongly
attended senior tournaments in memory. Now I hope that you’ve kept active over the winter, because the
2011 lineup of events will be even stronger.
On January 26, about 900 current requestors of our occasional e-mail blasts received NESTF’s
e-mail notice that the full 2011 tournament schedule had been finalized and posted online by USTA New
England. We also included a user-friendly link to just the senior tournaments on our NESTF website,
encouraging everyone’s very early calendar planning. If you didn’t receive our helpful e-mail but wish
you had, please add your e-mail address to our file by simply e-mailing our Webmaster Ken Miller at
[email protected].
And speaking of 2011 tournaments, I’d like to alert tournament players to the important fact that all
Adult Ranking Requirements have been updated and simplified by USTA New England. For example,
the Sectional Championship in each New England ranking category will count as only one tournament
toward the minimums required.
I’m very happy to also bring to your attention the news that, in mid-February, USTA New England
selected NESTF Board members Ken and Dorcas Miller to receive the prestigious 2010 Family of the
Year award. This choice not only reflects their records as longtime avid and successful players, but
especially their tireless efforts over the past two years to establish the incredibly successful 2010 Senior
Slams. All New England senior players owe them our enduring gratitude.
As always, NESTF’s entire Board remains dedicated to the Foundation’s goals adopted when it was
generously founded by Irving and Bernice Levine in 1996. Focused entirely on promoting senior tennis,
NESTF continues to invest roughly $20,000 annually in
a mix of areas: grants (up to $2,000 each) for effective
senior tennis programs and events, plus preparation of
these semiannual online Bulletins. The Board marked with
great regret this past December the passing of an original
key NESTF Board member, Ken Rickson, who was a
beloved tennis fixture in Quincy, MA.
Please always feel free to call (508-366-0312) or
e-mail me ([email protected]) whenever you
might have a suggestion for NESTF improvement. Best
wishes for a highly active 2011 tennis season!
Pete Allen, President
New England Senior Tennis Foundation
Joslins Strike Father/Daughter Gold
Jupiter, FL – One thing was missing from Charles “Whitey” Joslin’s long and distinguished tennis career
that includes induction into the USTA New England Hall of Fame.
But that has all changed now.
After coming close on several occasions and on all surfaces, Whitey and daughter, Laura JoslinKing, finally took home a coveted “Gold Ball” by winning the USTA National Super Senior Father/
Daughter Clay Court Championships at the Jupiter Ocean Tennis Club, a venue which Whitey calls his
“Bermuda Triangle.”
“We had been so close at other times, and then to win the gold playing back at Jupiter after what had
happened there...was just great,” Whitey said.
Five years ago, in Jupiter, after playing the USTA National Senior Father/Daughter Clay Court
Championships with his daughter Laura, Whitey suffered a heart attack and spent a month in the Jupiter
area recovering from 6-way bypass surgery.
“It was something I’ve wanted for a long time,” said Laura, who, along with her dad, runs the family
business, New London, NH based Mountainside Racquet and Fitness Center. “After the last point, I
really hadn’t realized that we had won. I was so focused on every point. We had some memories here
and not all were good. We really didn’t think (Whitey) was going to survive the heart attack, so to get
the win there several years later was really special.”
When reality set in, the win’s true meaning came to light.
This was a special occasion for the entire Joslin family, including Whitey’s wife Sue (whose CPR
and nursing training saved his life way back then) and Laura’s husband, Richard, who were watching
from the sidelines.
“I looked over at Laura and she was crying tears of joy, saying ‘We did it, we did it, I love you
Poppy!’ said Whitey, who started competing in tennis in his childhood days at his parents’ summer boys’
camp, and played a few NELTA junior tournaments.
The Joslins, both New Hampshire residents, learned that good news travels fast, especially in the
tight-knit New England tennis community.
“It’s amazing, all the people who have offered us congratulations based on what was nothing more
than word of mouth after we won,” said Whitey, an Air Force veteran who carried his racquets wherever
he flew.
On reflection, Whitey mused, “I guess God – and Sue and the doctors at Palm Beach Gardens - gave
me time to reach this latest ‘highlight’ in my tennis career. It’s neat to be able to work and play with my
daughter, let alone be successful in doing so.
“Where do we go from here? I’ll continue
to compete in New England and National Super
Senior events, and Laura and I will continue
to play the National Father/Daughter Doubles
circuit. Maybe we can get another gold when I
get into the ‘Ultra Senior’ age bracket...if I live
that long!”
Former NESTF Board Member
and Tournament Player Ken Rickson
Passed Away on December 10, 2010
Ken Rickson, a long time player on the New England tennis scene,
died December 10, 2010. He was 82 years of age.
Ken was a founding member of NESTF and was a member of
the Board of Directors. Ken was present at the first meeting when
the Articles of Organization were approved in 1995. Late in 1996
he advised the board that he had secured dates for the following
summer for a 'model' senior tournament to be held at the Quincy
Tennis Club. Ken had persuaded the Club to host the senior event
which featured 16 singles entrants and eight doubles teams, with
play starting at one o'clock on Friday and continuing through Sunday
afternoon. This was in June, 1997. Ken ran the tournament so as
to minimize waiting and to provide amenities such as lunch, social
time, and photos of winners, runners-up and consolation matches.
Kenneth B. Rickson.
NESTF provided financial support for the event enabling entry
fees at $20 per singles and $22 for doubles teams. This support is one of the fundamental goals of the
foundation according to the vision of the organization. Ken should be recognized for his contributions
that include running the tournament until 2005 and assisting thereafter. The Quincy senior tournament is
still being run at the Quincy Tennis Club in June.
Ken also served as Chairman of the Adult Players Committee of USTA/NE for six years.
An obituary from the Boston Globe is below:
RICKSON, Kenneth B. Age 82, of Quincy died Friday, December 10, 2010 at the Coyne Healthcare
Center in Rockland, surrounded by his loving family, after a long illness. Beloved husband for sixty
years of Mildred H. (Vickers) Rickson. Devoted father of Kenneth O. Rickson of Hobe Sound, FL,
Jane A. McGuinness and her husband Mark of Scituate, Sally A. Goldman and her husband Stephen of
Milton, and Linda S. Savage and her husband David of Quincy. Loving grandfather of James Rickson,
Lauren Rickson, Benjamin McGuinness, Molly McGuinness, Gregory Goldman, Diana McDevitt and
her husband Brady, Leah Goldman, Maxwell DeVoe, and Mallory DeVoe. A Memorial Service was
conducted at the Bethany Congregational Church, 18 Spear street, Quincy, Saturday, December 18th at 1
p.m. Reverend William C. Harding III, Pastor, officiated.
The Comeback Coach
Miller survives heart attack, leads team to national tournament
By Josh Kessler
Lynn Miller has been coaching tennis at Wheaton for 30
years. In that time, she has taught many players many lessons.
But one of the most important ones she has taught recently –
through her own actions – is how to overcome obstacles.
The 57-year-old athlete suffered a heart attack in the spring
of 2009. But by year’s end, she had guided the women’s team to a
league tournament title for the first time and earned one accolade
for her on-court athletic prowess and another for her work within
the coaching profession.
“Part of being an athlete is your ability to recover from
setbacks,” says Miller, who is head coach for both the men’s and
women’s tennis teams. “The doctor told me, ‘You’re not doing
anything for the rest of the year, including coaching, including
skiing.’ And I said, ‘You don’t know me.”
During her three decades at Wheaton, Miller’s charges
have earned more than 500 triumphs, but a victory in the league tournament title match remained elusive
during her teams’ five previous attempts.
That changed in October 2009, thanks to a dramatic 5-4 victory over Wellesley College in the New
England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship match. The
Lyons will compete in May at the NCAA Tournament, the first appearance for a team coached by Miller.
Miller’s team reached the pinnacle of success after her frightening start to the year. She vividly
recalls the details leading to her February heart attack, which likely occurred on Friday the 13th – week
after she had competed in a national tennis tournament in Florida and two ski races. That day, Miller
experienced chest discomfort and became concerned during the following days.
Heart disease is prominent in her family, but she is an athlete, and the flu was going around campus.
So she dismissed her symptoms.
“I talked to my sister,” Miller recalls. “And her husband, who’s a little older than me and is in very
good shape, grabbed the phone and said, ‘Get your butt to an emergency room. You don’t mess around
with this kind of stuff.’ So, of course, I waited another two days.”
Finally, after work that Monday, she drove herself to Memorial Hospital of Rhode island, where
tests revealed damage. Miller received blood thinners during her sleepless overnight stay. On Tuesday,
her angioplasty at Miriam Hospital in Providence revealed one artery being 99 percent blocked and
another 30 percent clogged. Doctors took care of one clot and implanted a stent.
Suddenly, a fierce athlete who lived for the thrill of competition seemed vulnerable, especially to her
charges, notes team captain Katherine Knies ‘10. “To see her suffer such a life-threatening episode really
scared us.”
Miller’s own concern over never coaching or competing again was fleeting. She heard too many
stories about older athletes recovering from such ordeals and new she would do the same.
While implementing lifestyle changes – including modifying her diet, altering work hours and
taking medication – she incrementally began rebuilding her endurance. A nationally ranked skier, Miller
hit the slopes again for the first time in April 2009.
“I’m a competitor: that’s what makes me happy,” says Miller. “My identity is not that I’m a heart
attack victim, it’s that I’m Lynn Miller, athlete.”
Her tennis goal was to return for a national championship in Philadelphia, which began on July 13,
2009 – exactly five months after her heart attack.
Competing in doubles, she was paired with a woman she had never met. And there to provide
encouragement was one of the first players Miller coached at Wheaton, LynAnn Mastaj ‘84, a 1982
NCAA Tournament qualifier.
The tables had turned, with pupil now serving as coach. “She said, ‘I’m giving back all the advice
you gave me.’” Miller recounts.
Miller and her partner nearly knocked off the second seed in that championship. She competed
in five more tournaments after that, and won a national doubles crown at a December 2009 event in
Florida. To cap the year, she was named the United States Professional Tennis Association New England
Player of the Year for her age group, while earning a special recognition award for her contributions to
coaching.
Wheaton’s only All-American men’s player, Payum Payman ‘07, who helped Miller during that
championship match with Wellesley and is now an assistant tennis coach at Brandeis University, said he
is not surprised that Miller has forged ahead since her setback.
“Coach Miller is a warrior. She would tell us to battle, to fight hard. I could never see anything
slowing her down.”
taken from the WHEATON QUARTERLY, Summer 2010
New England Senior Tennis Foundation president Peter Allen poses with USTA New England award
winners Bill Ewen, High School Coach of the Year, and Dick Ernst, 45 Years' Service to New England
tennis, at the annual awards luncheon in March.
Vermont Team Does Well in National Competition
By Jerry Johnson
(Member of Governing Board, USTA/Vermont)
Jennifer Ranz of Greensboro, Vermont, and captain of a senior women’s United States Tennis
Association 4.5 level team, competed at the USTA National Tournament in Palm Desert, CA in October,
2010 with seven other teammates from the Burlington area. Their team, Hot Flashes, placed second.
Jennifer’s teammates were Amy Degroot, Allyson Bolduc, Christina Cavin, Melissa Lafayette, Kim
Mihan, Kristin Hartley, Jeanne Hulsen.
This was their best result to date and a terrific accomplishment. Jennifer has been on a team that
won the New England section three years in a row, and each year it was a great experience to compete in
the national tournament. The New England section represents players from VT, NH, ME, MA, CT, and
RI. There are a total of 16 sections that compete at nationals. The tournament is done in a round robin
format (four teams in four divisions.) The winning team of each division goes to the semifinals. The
Vermont team won the division competing against Southern CA, Eastern, and Mid-Atlantic. They beat
Texas in the semifinals and lost in the finals to a team from the Middle States.
Jennifer has played on USTA tennis teams for over 20 years and began playing in her youth at
Mountain View Country Club in Greensboro, which is right down the road from where she lives. She
likes to play tennis competitively.
Jennifer said to me, “I am amazed that I can still do it in my fifties, but primarily because it’s
something I do with my sister Christina Cavin of South Burlington. She is an inspiration and has been
my doubles partner for most of my life. It’s pretty special to have something like this to keep sharing
with her over the years. In 2008, when she was captain of the team that qualified to go to nationals, she
was unable to go because of cancer surgery and treatments. It was awe inspiring to be on the court with
her, having survived cancer, and competing in the finals two years later.”
Way to go, Vermont! You’ve left them “Green” with envy!
From l - r: Amy Degroot, Allyson Bolduc, Jennifer Ranz, Christina Cavin, Melissa Lafayette,
Kim Mihan, Kristin Hartley, Jeanne Hulsen.
LEGENDS of N.E. TENNIS
The New England Tennis Hall of Fame exists to recognize those members of USTA New
England, players and nonplayers, whose achivements as players and as sportsmen or sportswomen are
worthy of the highest commendation and recognition; or whose contributions as officials or as people in
some tennis-related activity have been so outstanding over a significant period of time as to justify the
highest commendation and recognition.
New England Tennis Legends USTA Hardcourt
champions. Men’s 75 Singles – 1977 Clarke; 1978
Chaffee. Men’s 75 Doubles – Clarke and Chaffee 1977.
Mens 80 Singles – 1981 Chaffee; 1982 Clarke
Helen Jacobs and Sarah Palfrey Danzig National
Doubles championships – 1934.
Recipients and others representing recipients at the first annual New England Tennis Hall of Fame induction, May
16, 1990. Left to right: Charles Swanson, Kay Hubbell, Lois Felix, Katharine Winthrop McKean; back: representing
Williams College for Clarence Chaffee, Dave Johnson, Bill Power, Ms. Chauncey (Ann) Steele, George Wightman,
Ned Weld, Don Manchester, and Gretchen Killins (representing Bud Collins.)
The Friendship Cup: Do you recognize any one of these great players?
Saint and Swingers: Teaching pros
of fall fling of N.E. Professional
Lawn Tennis Association at Jack
Kenney’s Tamarack Lodge Tennis
Camp, Franconia, N.H. Front:
Jack, Frank Fiala of Moody Inc.,
Pancho Phydeaux, Corey Wynn,
Jack Barnaby; Back: Bill Power of
Spalding, Ed Serues, Skip Howard,
Brownie Soule, Sheldon Caldwell,
Herb Stead, and Ralph Chambers.
October Bewitchers: Down by the Wentworth,
N.H. seashore for last outdoor tennis fling (annual
Junior Vet) include from left, 20-20 master and
matchmaker Rubin Jaffe, doubles finalists Jeff
Harvey of Australia and Nick Newman of West
Newton, Innkeeper Jim Smith, Doubles winner
and molar miner Don Manchester with partner
Charmin’ Chauncey Steele. (Front): Court
Couturier and Singles Winner, Henri Salaun of
Needham and singles finalist ever-youthful Bill
Power of Worcester. (1965)
The Extraordinary Evolution of Andre Agassi
“What seems to us bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” – Oscar Wilde
By Paul Fein
“If everything goes according to Brad’s plan, I’ll face Becker in the semis. Then Pete. I think: If
only, when we’re born, we could look over our draw in life, project our path to the final,” muses Andre
Agassi just before the 1995 U.S. Open in his searingly honest autobiography, OPEN.
Given a choice, would Agassi have even wanted the anguished and confusing but ultimately
fulfilling hand life dealt him?
Eleven years later, during the 2006 U.S. Open, the final tournament of his roller-coaster career,
Agassi stands at the bathroom mirror. Wracked by back pain, he stares at his aging, haunted face and
flashes back to the start of his strange odyssey and searches for an answer.
“Somewhere in those eyes, however, I can still vaguely see the boy who didn’t want to play tennis
in the first place, the boy who wanted to quit, the boy who did quit many times,” Agassi recalls. “I see
that golden-haired boy who hated tennis, and I wonder how he would view this bald man, who still hates
tennis and yet he still plays. Would he be shocked? Amused? Proud?”
Agassi’s bad draw in life starts early because he is never given a choice. After his father Mike,
a former Olympic boxer from Iran, determines his three other children aren’t cut out to be tennis
champions, much-younger Andre becomes his last best hope.
Still in the crib, Andre is coaxed to swat at overhanging tennis balls with a pingpong paddle taped to
his hand. At three, he’s told to whack whatever he wants, including salt shakers, with a sawed-off racket.
At four, he’s hitting balls with legend Jimmy Connors, and later with Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase, when
they compete in Las Vegas. When he’s seven, a souped-up machine that Andre calls “the dragon,” fires
balls 110 miles an hour at him with a blood curdling roar, 2,500 balls a day, with his frenzied father
constantly yelling at him.
OPEN, co-written with Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer, uses the present tense, which makes
you feel as though you are there witnessing everything through Agassi’s heart and mind. About the
fearsome dragon and his tyrannical father, scared Andre says, “No matter how much I want to stop, I
don’t. I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I
want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life.”
Throughout the enthralling book, Agassi’s photographic memory captures anecdotes in vivid detail.
His violent father is road rage personified, and the last place Agassi wants to be with him, other than a
tennis court, is in a car, where Mike keeps an ax handle and a handgun and is itching for a fight. After
Mike punches out a trucker in a traffic dispute, Andre recalls, “The trucker is lying on the pavement.
He’s dead – I’m sure of it. If he’s not dead, he soon will be, because he’s in the middle of the road
and someone will run him over.” After they zoom away, “Somewhat tenderly he says, Don’t tell your
mother.” Andre’s loving mother Betty lives in fear of Mike, too, and takes pleasure putting together
jigsaw puzzles, the perfect metaphor for their broken, dysfunctional family.
If being berated by his father at junior tournaments isn’t enough pressure, his father arranges for
nine-year-old Andre to play a match against retired football great Jim Brown for $10,000, the family’s
life savings. You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens in this humorous episode.
Despite all the pain his father causes him, 13-year-old Andre feels heartbroken and abandoned when
he’s sent to the famous Nick Bolletieri Tennis Academy in Florida. There his quest for self-identity and
freedom takes a sudden and dramatic turn. He calls the academy “a glorified prison camp,” where after
morning school classes that he hates, students endure endless tennis drills, tennis psychology classes,
aerobics, weight training and running.
Even more distressing, though, Agassi finds himself in a “Lord of the Flies” environment. “The
constant pressure, the cutthroat competition, the total lack of adult supervision – it slowly turns us into
animals. A kind of jungle law prevails” with “the constant threat of violence and ambush.”
The worse Agassi does in school, the more he rebels. He dyes his spiked hair pink, smokes
pot, drinks, chews tobacco, picks fist fights, cheats on a test, commits petty vandalism, and plays a
tournament match in jeans. At 14, Agassi gets what he wants from the consternated Bollettieri, a release
from formal education and the chance to play pro tournaments. At 15, “the prodigy” – “It’s the prettiest
word I’ve ever heard applied to me” – starts beating world-class players.
Gil Reyes, a hulking conditioning and strength coach, emerges as the hero of OPEN. Reyes, more
than any other of Agassi’s loyal friends – including his devoted brother Phil, his boyhood pal and later
manager Perry Rogers, pastor-musician J.P., and coaches Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill – mentors and
protects the sometimes self-destructive Agassi throughout his long, tormenting road to the top.
Reyes not only turns the scrawny (5’11”, 148 pounds) Agassi into an imposing physical specimen
who can benchpress 315 pounds and outlast opponents in grueling matches. He also builds Agassi’s
battered psyche and, 18 years older, becomes a father figure. Whether it’s standing up to obnoxious
bullies at a restaurant or standing in front of Andre’s home all night when his girlfriend, actress-model
Brooke Shields, is threatened by stalkers, Gil has Andre’s back. “I feel such overwhelming love, and
gratitude, for Gil,” Andre says.
A fair amount of OPEN covers Agassi’s yo-yo highs and lows on the pro tour. After he is upset
in his first three Slam finals, his first major title, the 1992 Wimbledon, brings him “relief and elation
and even a kind of hysterical serenity.” His bitterly disappointing loss to nemesis Pete Sampras in the
1995 U.S. Open final – “in the end I always lose, because there is always Pete.” – plunges him into “a
bottomless gloom” and a long slump. He bottoms out at a career-low No. 141 ranking that relegates him
to satellite tournaments.
Shields provides little comfort in their mostly long-distance relationship and short, doomed
marriage. Shields, a Princeton graduate, and Agassi have little in common aside from an abrasive
stage parent. She is absorbed with her acting career and Los Angeles coterie, and even worse, ridicules
Agassi’s friends, while he similarly lacks interest in her career and friends.
Agassi is at his storytelling best recalling the 1999 French Open which Gilbert has to talk him into
even playing. He calls his improbable run to the final “my return from the dead,” his chance to complete
a rare career Grand Slam “my final shot at redemption,” and a pivotal point in the deciding set against
Andrei Medvedev “the turning point in the match, perhaps in both our lives.”
Soon after his Paris resurrection that does turn his life around, Agassi embarks on a journey to
capture more major championships and the object of his affections, Stefanie Graf who first enchanted
Agassi when they danced at the 1992 Wimbledon ball. How ingeniously and relentlessly Agassi courts
the German superstar, now his wife, is touching and often amusing.
While Agassi lavishes praise on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, some of his 1990s rivals have
not appreciated how they have been portrayed in the book, or at least in the media’s accounts of it. The
anecdote about Sampras leaving a small tip seems more like a cheap shot. Agassi intensely hates Becker
for maligning him in the press and blowing kisses to Graf during a match. And he’s offended by pious
Michael Chang who credits God for his victories, thus implying that “God would side against me” in a
tennis match. In fairness, these former rivals should understand that is how Agassi viewed them then –
not today, when he has established good relations with most of them.
Agassi often levels criticism at sportswriters, too. Nothing infuriates and haunts him more in the
early 1990s than the memorable “Image is everything” Canon camera commercial that the sports media
twists to taint Agassi. When his Wimbledon victory forces them to change their tune, he writes, “After
two years of calling me a fraud, a choke artist, a rebel without a cause, they lionize me.”
Early press reports about critically acclaimed OPEN, which ranked No. 1 on the New York Times
bestseller list, focused mostly on Agassi’s stunning revelation that in 1997 he used the performance-
inhibiting (not enhancing) drug crystal methamphetamine, then lied to the ATP about how it actually
happened, and how he got away with it. Federer, Nadal and Becker, among others, denounced him for
that. Since most sports autobiographies are self-serving, Agassi deserves credit for being honest and
self-critical, an uncommon and admirable trait. As George Orwell rightly observed, “An autobiography
is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful.”
Hilarious anecdotes are sprinkled throughout the book. After Agassi gets two speeding tickets
within an hour, an Arizona judge summons Agassi to his courthouse. The judge, an avid tennis fan, tells
him he should have beaten Jim Courier at the French, asks for an autograph, and concludes, “I sentence
you to go giv ‘em hell down in Scottsdale.” Ivan Lendl once described the teen phenom as “a haircut
and a forehand," but premature baldness traumatizes Agassi, and his attempts to hide it provide farcical
episodes.
Irony also abounds, and Agassi appreciates its bittersweet nature. The morning after he overcomes
Marcos Baghdatis at the 2006 U.S. Open in a savage battle, his father sees him hobbling and urges him
to quit and go home so he won’t suffer any more. Andre replies, “I’m sorry, Pops. I can’t quit. This can’t
end with me quitting.”
Agassi has raised $85 million for disadvantaged children in Las Vegas for the Andre Agassi College
Preparatory Academy, an acclaimed charter school which loves the game.
This inspiring book will strike a chord with anyone who has gone through domestic abuse, rebelled
as a teenager, or succumbed to drugs at the depth of his depression. It is a story about survival, love
and redemption. In OPEN, Agassi ruminates, questions, investigates, experiments, tests, evolves and
ultimately discovers the meaning of his life. Even if he has more to lose than to gain from his intimate
revelations – which he contends – he wants to share the story of his enlightening and poignant journey
with you.
(Paul Fein has received more than 25 writing awards and authored three books, Tennis Confidential:
Today’s Greatest Players, Matches, and Controversies, You Can Quote Me on that: Greatest Tennis
Quips, Insights, and Zingers, and Tennis Confidential II: More of Today’s Greatest Players, Matches,
and Controversies. Fein is also a USPTA-certified teaching pro and coach with a Pro-1 rating, former
director of the Springfield (Mass.) Satellite Tournament, a former top 10-ranked men’s open New
England tournament player, and currently, a No. 1-ranked Super Senior player in New England.)
Continued from page 3 (My Wonderful Life)
(He beat me three straight.) In 1969 I beat Bruce Kiernan to win the Closed at the park. I won the 1973
Providence Open there, too.
My wife really got into tennis after she started playing at Roger Williams Park when our boys went
to college and has won several women's park tournaments. She plays regularly at the park courts, and for
the 2009 USTA season, she was ranked #1 in New England Women's 60 & over.
To prepare for my New England 70-&-Over tourneys, I play at the park almost every day. It’s been
a happy home for me.
(Richard “Dick” Ernst is a member of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame and the New England Tennis Hall
of Fame. He has coached 104 hockey and tennis teams. He is currently the LaSalle Academy girls hockey coach and the
Barrington High boys tennis coach.)
“There are some very valuable things of the past that have been lost in the wild scramble for speed and
power.” – Bill Tilden (1950)
In the 1998 essay
“OVERKILL: The Power Crisis Facing Tennis,”
Paul Fein wrote:
Fast forward to the 2020 Wimbledon championships, Ace Jordan, the 6’9” son of basketball legend
Air Jordan, is literally taking apart 7’1” Killer Ivanadisco in the fifth set of their vicious final on Centre
Court.
Although Killer earned his nickname by beheading a net judge and a doubles opponent with errant
175-mile per hour serves, he’s taking a terrible beating now. Ace has knocked him down 14 times – 11
requiring emergency medical treatment – with rocket serves that smacked him in the groin, mouth,
stomach, and eye. Bloodied and groggy, Killer finally throws in the towel after holding serve at 21-all,
and Ace, with a record-breaking 83 aces, prevails.
The future of tennis? Not if sanity prevails – but perhaps it will be if men’s tennis keeps evolving
from a sport of diverse styles and stylists to one of brutish power and vanishing rallies.
Future shock arrived a decade earlier than I predicted. During their 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 firstround Wimbledon marathon, 6’9”, 245-pound giant John Isner blasted 113 aces and slender 6’3”,
176-pound Nicolas Mahut whacked 103 more. The previous record for combined aces in a match? A
mere 96 whacked by 6’10” Ivo Karlovic and 6’1” Radek Stepanek on clay a year ago. The historic IsnerMahut encounter lasted an astounding 11 hour, 5 minutes and required three days.
“Normally you say sports records will eventually be broken. That record [183 total games] will
never be broken. Not even close!” predicted Andy Roddick, another master blaster who owns the record
for the fastest service, 155 mph.
Don’t be so sure, A-Rod. Mahut survived a 24-22 deciding set in the qualifying event, and then
ironically predicted, “The longest match I’ll play.” Isner’s opponent after his debilitating ordeal with
Mahut was Thiemo de Bakker, who had prevailed in his relatively quick 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 16-14 firstround duel.
In 1998, John Barrett, a 1950s British Davis Cup player and later a respected BBC-TV
commentator and journalist, warned in ITF World of Tennis:
Today power is all. On every surface, from grass to clay, the modern game is a one-dimensional
slugfest, exciting at times, occasionally brilliant, but tediously one-dimensional.
Subtlety, finesse, tactical awareness – all those things that made tennis a three-dimensional delights
– are, at best, only fleetingly observed. Power has killed the artist. There will never be another Santana,
Larsen, Pietrangeli, Nastase, or McEnroe to delight us with their chessboard skills.
Since 1998, advanced technology has produced even more powerful rackets and strings, players are
taller and stronger, and serves and ground strokes rocket faster than ever. Even Roger Federer, a mere
6’1”, pounded 50 aces when he outlasted Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 in the Wimbledon final a
year ago. The women can bring it, too. Serena Williams, who once quipped that Roddick envied her
muscular biceps, averaged more aces per service game, 1.35, for seven matches at Wimbledon, than did
Isner in his mind-boggling marathon, 1.22.
The longest match in tennis history undeniably created a buzz during the first week. Even after The
Championships, an impressed Nadal enthused: “Unbelievable. They show amazing good spirit for the
crowd, for the young people, because the attitude was very positive and fighting a lot every point, like
for 10 hours or 11 hours. Just amazing.”
Even so, this marathon match re-introduced questions about what’s best for tournament and TV
scheduling, the health of players, and spectators not enthralled by marathon matches dominated by
unreturned serves. Awesome power may thrill the crowd in many sports – the knockout punch in boxing,
the home run in baseball and the slam dunk in basketball – but an endless barrage of service aces and
winners in tennis disproves Mae West’s wisecrack that too much of a good thing is wonderful.
What then should tennis do so matches don’t turn into little more than monotonous serving contests
that can last days?
In 1978, the International Tennis Federation wisely banned the notorious double-strung “spaghetti
racket” because it produced wildly erratic and unpredictable bounces that changed the character of the
sport. Regrettably, it missed a golden opportunity for another much needed rule change in 2003.
Eight Wimbledon singles champions, including McEnroe, Boris Becker, Pat Cash and Martina
Navratilova, were among more than 30 well-known tennis figures who signed an open letter, drafted by
Barrett, during the ITF to “consider reducing the width of the head of the racket from its present limit
of 12.5 inches to 9 inches, perhaps in stages over four or five years.” They also advocated reducing the
maximum racket length from 29 to 27 inches.
They contended pro tennis had become one-dimensional, played mostly from the baseline, because
rackets give power an undue influence over skill. They also argued that serving and volleying is
uncommon in men’s tennis and virtually extinct in women’s tennis – “because it is so easy and effective
to hit topspin drives, players are reluctant to come to the net.”
That protest failed. But the Isner-Mahut spectacle or debacle (take your pick) should ignite another
campaign to reduce racket-head width, this time to a fairer, yet effective 9.5” maximum.
“The only way to put ceiling on power and topspin is by better governing the materials used in
tennis rackets and strings,” agrees Mary Carillo, the authoritative TV tennis analyst. “I can only imagine
that this would be savagely fought in the courts by the manufacturers.”
However, Carillo proposes an ingenious solution that could both save pro tennis from overkill and
keep profit-minded manufacturers happy. “Perhaps there could be separate racket divisions – powerful,
wide frames for the recreational player, and Professional Grade rackets for the pros,” says Carillo. “If
the manufacturers were smart enough, they’d sell them this way. It would attract good juniors to the pro
specs early, and it would still leave room for most other players to find the larger sweet spots and easierplaying frames that they seek. Most important, it would bring strategy, nuance and variety back into the
professional game.” Amen.
(Paul Fein has received more than 25 writing awards and authored three books, Tennis Confidential:
Today’s Greatest Players, Matches, and Controversies, You Can Quote Me on that: Greatest Tennis
Quips, Insights, and Zingers, and Tennis Confidential II: More of Today’s Greatest Players, Matches,
and Controversies. Fein is also a USPTA-certified teaching pro and coach with a Pro-1 rating, former
director of the Springfield (Mass.) Satellite Tournament, a former top 10-ranked men’s open New
England tournament player, and currently, a No. 1-ranked Super Senior player in New England.)
Tennis Haiku
By Jerry Johnson
A clay court rests
from the foot poundings
of groaning old men
Roger versus Rafael
in the Nadal corral
Is Federer betterer?
A fast serve
on its way to an ace
robbed by the net
The clay creeps onto
your socks
penetrates your head
Dirtballer you say
only groundstrokes and no serve
How did you lose?
Roger is king of all he surveys
says Rafa
the angelic assassin
Ball nailing the line
called out
Racquet cremated on the court
You are a thunderstorm
lightning-fast, deadly
Racquets broken in your wake
You are the cat
prancer, dancer
Federer’s effortless magic
Mens doubles
versus the Bryans
Perfecting the word “Yours!”
Sharapova swings the racquet
Her mouth vomits the sound
of a dying hyena
Mixed doubles
husband and wife
Divorce proceedings ensue
Fifty percent physical
Fifty percent mental
One hundred percent exhaustion
Santoro fabrices the ball
Enchantment of angles and spin
Spectators under a spell
Attention, all you tennis aficionados –
By Jerry Johnson
I felt like digging up some juicy tennis trivia today and putting it into a little tennis quiz. Some
of these questions may boggle your mind or at least get you to scratch your head. There are 33 multiple
choice questions.
Rules:
1. Have fun!
2. No cheating. You must not do any research to find the answers.
3. Write your answers on a piece of paper. For example, if your answer for #1 is “Chris Evert,” write
down “1. Chris Evert.”
4. You will be able to check your answers against the given answers which appear after the quiz.
Remember, no research and no peeking!
5. Send me back your score in the subject line, such as “I got 25”.
6. Feel free to forward this quiz to all your tennis buddies.
(1) Who defeated tennis player Bobby Riggs in the famous “Battle of the Sexes”?
A: Margaret Court
B: Billie Jean King
C: Chris Evert
D: Martina Navratilova
(2) What is the name for the left side of the tennis court for each player?
A: Ad court
B: Od court
C: Deuce court
D: Base court
(3) What famous tennis player died of AIDS on February 6, 1993?
A: Rod Laver
B: Arthur Ashe
C: Bjorn Borg
D: Stefan Edberg
(4) Who beat Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 40 minutes to win a sixth Wimbledon singles title?
A: Billie Jean King
B: Martina Navratilova
C: Helen Wills Moody
D: Peaches Bartkowitz
(5) What did Goran Ivanisevic refrain from doing at Wimbledon in 1994, to win a $2,000 bet?
A: Make an ace
B: Go to net
C: Hit an overhead
D: Throwing his racket
(6) What Nevada-born tennis star had a ball and racquet to stare at above his crib?
A: Pancho Gonzales
B: Andre Agassi
C: Pete Sampras
D: Andy Roddick
(7) What gonzo tennis brothers threw autographed potatoes into the crowd at an Idaho match?
A: Luke and Murphy Jensen
B: Bob and Mike Ryan
C: Bob and Mike Bryan
D: Andy and Jaime Murray
(8) What’s Billie Jean King’s maiden name?
A: John
B: Moffitt
C: King
D: Riggs
(9) What tennis player’s last name means “She who returns” in Czech?
A: Hana Mandikova’s
B: Petr Korda’s
C: Jana Novotna’s
D: Martina Navratilova’s
(10) What 19-year-old became the youngest man to win the U.S. Open tennis title in 1990?
A: Pete Sampras
B: Boris Becker
C: Andre Agassi
D: Michael Stich
(11) Who emerged from segregated Virginia courts to win the 1968 U.S. Open tennis title?
A: Zina Garrison
B: MaliVai Washington
C: Arthur Ashe
D: James Blake
(12) What Grand Slam tennis tournament is held every January?
A: The French Open
B: The Australian Open
C: The US Open
D: Wimbledon
(13) Who was the first Russian tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title in 1996?
A: Maria Sharapova
B: Yevgeny Kafelnikov
C: Goldfinger
D: Marat Safin
(14) What Dutchman became, in 1996, the first unseeded player since Boris Becker to win
Wimbledon?
A: Richard Krajicek
B: Tom Okker
C: Paul Haarhuis
D: Toms Asejevs
(15) What two players won all the U.S. Open men’s singles tennis titles from 1978 through 1984?
A: McEnroe and Borg
B: Connors and McEnroe
C: Becker and Borg
D: Connors and McEnroe
(16) Who was the first American male to win thee straight Wimbledon titles?
A: Roddick
B: Agassi
C: Sampras
D: Gonzales
(17) What tennis star won 129 of 130 matches during one stretch in the 1980s?
A: Evert
B: Navratilova
C: Borg
D: Connors
(18) Who broke Martina Navratilova’s record of 331 weeks at number one?
A: Evert
B: Graf
C: Hingis
D: Seles
(19) What tennis star says “Express yourself” in camera commercials?
A: Andre Agassi
B: Maria Sharapova
C: John McEnroe
D: Renée Richards
(20) What racketeer was the first female named Athlete of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 1972?
A: Althea Gibson
B: Chris Evert
C: Billie Jean King
D: Margaret Smith Court
(21) What tennis star was born in Montreal, raised in Florida and played for France in the
Federation Cup?
A: Marion Bartoli
B: Mary Pierce
C: Nathalie Dechy
D: Tatiana Golovin
(22) What 17-year old tennis phenomenon beat Kevin Curren to win his first Wimbledon title?
A: Boris Becker
B: Pete Sampras
C: Roscoe Tanner
D: Andre Agassi
(23) What U.S. tennis star’s father boxed for the Iranian Olympic team?
A: Pete Sampras'
B: Andre Agassi's
C: Monica Seles'
D: Andy Roddick's
(24) What’s the common term for the tennis ailment “lateral humeral epicondylitis”?
A: Chocking
B: Tennis elbow
C: Fallen arches
D: Bone spurs
(25) How many tennis players are needed for a game of Canadian doubles?
A: Three
B: Four
C: Six
D: Two
(26) Which astronaut earned a ranking of 18th nationally on the junior tennis circuit?
A: Buzz Aldrin
B: Sally Ride
C: John Glenn
D: Neil Armstrong
(27) At age 16, who became the youngest player to win the US Open?
A: Christ Evert
B; Michael Chang
C: Martina Navratilova
D: Tracey Austin
(28) Which American pro tennis player was often called “The Brat”?
A: John McEnroe
B: Ilie Nastase
C: Jimmy Connors
D: Bill Tilden
(29) In 1997 at the age of 16, who was the youngest woman to win a grand-slam tennis tournament
in 110 years?
A: Monica Seles
B: Gabriela Sabatini
C: Tracey Austin
D: Martina Hingis
(30) Which tennis great was known as “Little Miss Poker Face”?
A: Helen Wills Moody
B: Chris Evert
C: Althea Gibson
D: Suzanne Lenglen
(31) Tennis pro Evonne Goolagong’s last name means –––––––?
A: Boomerang
B: Kangaroo’s nose
C: Fast runner
D: Of the heart
(32) Which male pro player has hit the fastest serve in a match?
A: Roddick
B: Philippoussis
C: Karlovic
D: Mike Sangster
(33) Which female pro player has hit the fastest serve in a match?
A: Venus Williams
B: Serena Williams
C: Brenda Schultz-McCarthy
D: Nadia Petrova
Answers are on page 29
Continued from page Front Cover (Ken and Dorcas Miller)
to find enthusiastic supporters as well as financial backers. They approached USTA New England and
the section offered support in any way possible. USTA New England backing of the idea was crucial, but
they also needed a senior organization in conjunction with the USTA to gain additional credibility. Their
answer was the New England Senior Tennis Foundation, a Massachusetts-based organization founded by
Irving and Bernice Levine to promote the sport amongst seniors in New England. Both Dorcas and Ken
are on the Board of Directors and Ken currently serves as the webmaster. The Board of Directors loved
the idea and quickly became ardent supporters.
While attempting to pull all of the necessary pieces together, the Millers’ biggest challenge was
finding and securing three venues that could accommodate both the draw size and represent the three
slam surfaces (hard, clay, and grass courts) to parallel the professional tour slams.
“Finding a grass surface that could accommodate our draw size in New England was quite the
challenge,” Ken said. “There are a limited number of single standing grass courts in New England alone,
never mind enough grouped together to accommodate a tournament.”
After much networking, lobbying, and research, the three surfaces finally were secured for the 2010
New England Senior Slams. The hard court tournament was held at Yale University in New Haven, CT.
Yale offers an extensive venue with beautiful outdoor as well as indoor facilities in the case of inclement
weather. Yale has been home to the professional Pilot Pen tour since 1995. The grass tournament was
held at the International Hall of Fame in Newport, RI, a beautifully-situated venue right in the heart
of historic downtown Newport. The clay tournament was split between the Concord Country Club
in Concord, MA, and the Beverly Golf and Tennis Club in Beverly, MA. Reluctantly, the tournament
organizers opted to split the clay tournament by age brackets due to lack of enough clay courts at a
single location. It worked out quite well and the two separate clay venues proved to be a smooth success.
“New England just does not have the inventory of facilities to host tournaments like Florida or
California do. It was quite a challenge to find the appropriate venues, but we did and we could not have
been more pleased with the results,” said Dorcas.
The 2010 New England Senior Slams were a huge success and exceeded the Millers’ expectations.
There were 365 individual participants competing in singles, doubles, or both. It was not only highquality tennis, it was a great deal of fun and quite the social event. Some of these players have been on
the national tournament circuit for years, and seeing one another is always a pleasure. Old friendships
were rekindled and new ones were formed. There were cocktail parties and informal dinners at the end
of the day. The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, and a large majority of players
plan to return in 2011. The Millers anticipate a substantially larger draw since participants have spread
the word in the close-knit senior tennis community.
When asked about the caliber of play at the tournaments, Dorcas mentioned that the tournament
attracted many highly-skilled players along with some new talented players who had never participated
in a tournament before.
“Not a heavyweight out there, these players are fit and in great shape,” she said.
The 2011 New England Senior Slams will be held at the same venues again during the summer
months. The new and exciting addition will be the inclusion of a mixed-doubles 65-year-old bracket
tournament. With the daunting challenge of securing the venues for the 2011 tournament behind them,
the Millers are devoting a significant amount of time to publicizing the tournament and continuing the
arduous process of raising funds.
For additional information on how to participate in the Senior Slams and to support the New
England Senior Slams, visit www.neseniortennis.org.
Osteoporosis
Board Certified by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery
By Jack D. Goldstein, M.D. Fellowship Trained in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
Osteoporosis is a slow progressive loss of bone mass with age. It is a normal part of the ageing
process, but may be accelerated in abnormal situations. Generally osteoporosis develops slowly without
obvious symptoms. Eventually, however, stature may decrease, and the spine may curve to create a
fixed hunched alignment. The most worrisome effect of osteoporosis is the increasing risk of fracture
with progression. More than 25 million Americans are affected by osteoporosis and nearly 1.3 million
bone fractures occur per year as a direct consequence. These are the most serious consequences of
osteoporosis, with wrist, spine and hip fractures most common. They contribute to significant pain,
disability, and a large expense.
www.sportsmedcenter.com
The causes of osteoporosis are not fully understood. The quantity of bone mass slowly declines with
age in both men and women beginning about age 35. This bone loss is accelerated with the onset of
menopause, accounting for a fracture rate in women more than double that in men.
Bone Metabolism
Bone is not a static material. Instead, it is constantly layed down and removed at the same time.
In one year, the bone you have today will be completely replaced. Because of this, minor alterations
in bone metabolism may lead over years, to severe bone loss and increased risk of fracture. As bone
remodels with age, a young small bone shaft with thick cortical walls, develops into a large diameter
bone with thin cortical walls and overall less strength. The bone quality is the same, but he overall
quantity is reduced and spread over a larger area. The same metabolic turnover of bone allows us to heal
fractures.
To understand this, one must have a basic appreciation for bone metabolism. Bone is made of a
collagen marix (protein lattice) with calcium-phosphate crystals deposited in a special pattern. Too
much calcium and phosphate in the body fluids may result in bone formation in abnormal locations. Too
little of either or both may result in abnormal or weakened bone. The body has complex mechanisms
to combat abnormalities in calcium especially. This is because calcium in the blood must be kept
within is used as a huge reserve, and in times of need, calcium may a very narrow range for muscles
and nerves and the heart to function. The bone is used as a huge reserve, and in times of need, calcium
may be mobilized from bone to maintain the blood concentration. Inadequate dietary intake of calcium
leads to an imbalance in bone formation in favor of bone destruction and eventual osteoporosis (weak
bone). Vitamin D, generally formed when sunlight shines on skin, is a major factor in the absorption of
calcium from the intestine, and control of calcium and phosphate balance by the kidneys. Inadequate
Vitamin D, like inadequate calcium intake may result in weakened bones. Several hormonal mechanisms
control normal calcium and phosphorus balance. Thyroid and parathyroid gland functions are necessary
for normal balance. Bone also responds to loading by creating more bone. We know that this serves
to minimize fracture risk and increase healing rate of existing fractures, when load against gravity is
applied to the skeleton. This accounts for a protective effect of exercise like walking or running, while
astronauts in space are at risk of bone loss secondary to weightlessness.
Fracture Risk
The Risk of fracture is based in normal individuals on hereditary factors, dietary factors, and drug
use. Fair skinned women are at high risk. So are those who smoke, have poor dietary habits or need to
take most anti-convulsant medications. The accurate assessment of bone mass may be made by special
X-ray exam.
Dual X-ray diffraction is the most sensitive and reproducible method for assessment of bone
mass. When performed, bone mass is compared to people of the same age and sex, and reported as
significantly below or not, the normal for that age.
Treatment of Osteoporosis
The most simple and effective treatments for osteoporosis have already been discussed. Adequate
calcium intake is simple and inexpensive with the use of calcium carbonate antacid taken daily. This
is easily broken down in stomach acid and easily absorbed. Oyster shell calcium may be “natural,”
but little may be absorbed. Aluminum containing antacids should be avoided in excess, because they
may actually have an adverse effect on bone mass. Normal dietary sources of calcium occur in leafy
green vegetables, whole grains and milk products. Excess calcium in the diet may cause constipation
and in unusual circumstances may cause kidney stones. If you have a history of kidney stones, it is
important to find out what they were made of. You should consult your urologist or general medical
doctor for this information. Estrogen in normal doses has been found in women to be highly protective
against osteoporosis after menopause. This occurs because the sudden decline in estrogen results in an
accelerated drop in bone density which is reversible.
With estrogen, bone density is maintained in a similar course to that of a man. Estrogen has side
effects and dangers. In normal doses it is felt to have a very low risk of allowing blood clot formation
in the legs. A severe family history of breast cancer (mother and/or sister) is a contraindication to its
use even with normal low doses in combination with progesterone. You should discuss the risks and
benefits of estrogen treatment with your Gynecologist and plan on regular yearly visits prior to starting
on estrogen therapy. Monthly self breast exams should be performed as a routine screening even if
estrogen is not used. Exercise is also very protective. Although swimming and bicycling are excellent
for cardiovascular fitness, loading the body against the force of gravity is more effective in maintaining
bone mass. Walking or jogging is therefore excellent exercise to maintain the bone mass. With more
severe forms of osteoporosis, other treatments are sometimes utilized. This occurs when severe bone
loss is noted with testing, or multiple risk factors are present and traditional methods of maintaining
bone mass have been ineffective, or there is a history of prior fracture with known osteoporosis.
Nasal calcitonin spray has been recently approved by the FDA for use with recalcitrant osteoporosis.
This is a hormone which tells the body to lay down bone. Its human form normally provides minor
influence on the control of bone deposition. Diphosphonates are also available which help encourage
bone deposition over breakdown. Newer forms of these have become simple to use and more predictable
than their predecessors in outcome. These too should be used primarily when traditional methods of
treatment fail or are contraindicated.
Summary
In summary, osteoporosis is a silent part of the aging process, whose consequences may be
devastating. Normal diet and exercise help to slow its progression, and some diseases may accelerate
its onset. Treatment is dependent on multiple factors which are patient dependent. Please consult your
doctor for further information.
Compliments of: Sports Medicine, Orthopaedics & Podiatry
400 Massasoit Ave., Suite 200 East Providence, RI 02914
Health Insurance and the Health Care Crisis
submitted by Sports Medicine Center, East Providence, RI
The Problem
There is an unmistakable revolution occurring in Healthcare. As a direct consequence of this, you
are losing control of your health care provider and your money spent on health care insurance. You
may not even be aware of this. The government and insurance companies would like you to think this
problem is due to “greedy doctors.” In fact, the problems we are encountering are not new or unique
to the United Sates, but are throughout the Western World. No country’s solution to the problem of
providing wide access to Health Care at a reasonable cost has been adequate. Canada’s Health Care
System is on the verge of bankruptcy and physicians leave that country in large numbers each year
because of incredible government rationing of services and absolute caps on salaries to physicians
regardless of the work they perform. Britain has turned full circle from private fee for service to a
purely government subsidized Health Service back to reinstitution of private care. This is largely due
to inefficiencies in a highly bureaucratic government controlled system where cost outweighs quality,
and the social and personal impact of health problems are ignored rather than incorporating them into
the complex equation. Sweden has excellent health care but also a nationalized health care delivery
system contributing to an enormous tax burden on the public. The United States is currently groping
in unexpected territory with a Health Care System which most would agree is little more than a huge
experiment.
History
The history of American Medicine is important in understanding why we have our current problems.
Health Insurance did not exist prior to 1937. It was created in response to the Great Depression and the
inability of hospitals to survive when few had money to pay. Health insurance companies were given
special antitrust protection because of this special situation, and they continue to retain this special
protection despite a very different world and healthcare landscape. On the other hand, individual
physicians are still treated as large corporations. They are not allowed to speak about what they charge,
nor act together as a unified group despite the fact that what they charge is unrelated to what they are
paid; if they are paid at all. Large hospital groups and Insurance Companies on the other hand, use your
health care premiums to advertise on billboards, TV and Newspapers, for care that they don’t provide
and pay little or nothing for.
Most patients are happy with their own doctors even when they are unhappy with their shrinking
coverage for care. Despite inflated claims of insurance companies, they provide less every day to you,
pay less to your providers of care, and have decreased insurance premiums little or even increased them.
Depending on your carrier, between 20% and 40% of your health care dollar is taken as profit by your
insurance company which accepts less and less risk, while the physicians are forced to accept more.
Nearly all the driving force behind the health care revolution is purely monetary. There is little or no
competition if the only survivors in the new order are large conglomerate groups of physicians battling
over a shrinking dollars and they are pitted against one another by insurance companies whose motive is
primarily to profit their investors, and not to improve health care to their patients.
Advocacy
It is important to realize that your only Health Care advocate is your physician in an increasingly
complex health care landscape. Without your doctor nobody is going to make sure you get what you
need. Some physicians are more dedicated to this than others. This is not related to practice employment,
hospital affiliation, or part of a large multispecialty organization. Most physicians maintain high ideals
and continue to practice the Hippocratic Oath, placing patient care ahead of all other considerations. You
must realize that these physicians do this at risk to their own professional survival for your well-being.
You are the most powerful advocate for your own health care. You alone can improve the situation.
Physicians are generally felt to have too great a financial interest to be unbiased. Because of this
we have great difficulty in influencing legislation. In addition, those who are your strongest advocates
have the least time to direct at political change. Most physicians practice the best medicine they can,
utilizing the highest standards they know. There is scientific basis in treatment, and rational care is
based on personal experience and training. We are currently attempting to further validate what we do to
show what works best and what should be deleted from the medical armamentarium. Outcome studies
are the new order of highly sensitive tools to capture what you think about your health care and what
needs improvement. The best person to collect this information is your physician. He or she is trying to
work to improve your health care and learn the most expedient route to the best result. In the hands of
Insurance Companies this information may be easily misinterpreted without a complete knowledge of
the long-term benefits of treatment. It is unfortunately easy to examine today’s cost without considering
tomorrow’s related savings. A simple example of this is the elderly patient with a hip fracture. Without
adequate care, this patient will end up in a Nursing Home for a long time or the rest of his/her life. When
treated appropriately, this same patient generally is home within one or two weeks and continues to
function as a valuable member of society at a reduced overall cost.
Technology
Technology is often cited as the reason for the inflation spiral in health care costs. Certainly
technology needs to be used judiciously, However, much of what we do now is so much more cost
effective than 5 or 10 years ago, that it is absurd to blame technology on medical costs. In Orthopaedics,
only 10 years ago femur fractures were treated with 6 weeks of traction in the hospital. Now, routine
intramedullary internal fixation allows the patient to be walking the day after surgery, and often return
home one or two days after surgery. Not only are the direct cost differences enormous but the indirect
cost difference to society in a rapid return to work and the psychological improvements are inestimable.
The same is true with ligament injuries. Ten years ago they were routinely treated with open knee
surgery and required over a week convalescence in the hospital. Now, routine ligament reconstruction
occurs with arthroscopic techniques. This is more technical, but the results are more reproducible, and
often the patient returns home the same day as surgery or at most, stays overnight in the hospital. These
patients are treated without casts, and may return to light work within a week or two of surgery. The
cost to treat these patients is low in relationship to the long-term benefit gained. More important are the
ethical considerations involved in medical decision-making. Decisions regarding medical or surgical
treatment options are best made with patient, family, and physician together. These decisions are not
always easy, but families and patients generally choose what is best for themselves, and the physician
need only listen. Medical decisions need to be made by you, not your insurance carrier, government, or
employer.
Choosing your Insurance
You have power when you decide what insurance you purchase. Unfortunately, you may not
have a choice if your employer offers only one or two options. In this way, the Insurance Companies
have gained even more power by removing your influence on your health care one step further. If
you can choose between several alternatives, pick whatever gives you the most freedom to choose
your physician. Ask exactly what is covered, what your co-pay is, and for what. Often patients are not
aware that co-payment is required or that payment is denied for simple things like crutches, braces, or
even surgery. Truly the only thing that Insurance Companies “insure,” are their own profits. Be a savy
consumer and write your legislature. Remember that the future of Health Care in this country is in
your hands!
A Brief,
Informal History of the Tennis Tournament
By Axel Kaufman
(From his book Pardon Me Your Forehand is Showing)
The tennis tournament is a device which enables countless tennis players, for little more than the
cost of balls, to share the same court with other, sometimes better players who ordinarily would not
glance sideways at them, much less consent to play. While this explanation differs from that given in
Oglesby’s Dictionary of Lawn Tennis Terms, p. 734, it does account for the ever-increasing popularity
of tournaments, which is reaching such magnitude that these days a draw of 175 entries is considered
quite normal – although there are probably not more than a handful of players in it actually capable of
winning the event.
The origins of tennis tournaments have never been traced conclusively, so that a concise
presentation of their history is necessarily difficult. The records indicate that a Major A.M. HarrisStrong, a well-known sporting figure of the 19th Century, was brought into court in England in 1879
for charging usurious entry fees for a contest held on public courts. The Crown’s case, however, was
so woefully weak that the charge was dismissed because of in sufficient evidence, thus depriving an
overcrowded courtroom of the opportunity to hear the inimitable Major speak on the “Precise History
of Entry Fees.” The original manuscript of the speech was later willed to the British Museum but
disappeared mysteriously from its files around the turn of the century; it has never been found again.
There are some who claim that the entry fee was invented by the Major’s father, who, through the
tireless promotion of tennis tournaments, amassed a sizeable fortune and rose from obscurity to become
the First Earl of Chathamshire; be that as it may, the custom of paying for the privilege of playing has
persisted to the present day. Even Invitation Tournaments have entry fees nowadays, which is roughly
the equivalent of asking someone to come to dinner and bring his own food.
The elimination type of tournament, most commonly used in tennis circles, was originally a contest
in which two opposing parties, armed with blunt weapons, attempted to do precisely what the term says,
namely, eliminate each other. Interestingly enough, the first extension of this to include more than two
contestants was thought of by a New Zealand tribal chieftain who was faced with the problem of having
to decide among eight suitors for his daughter, and paired them off with the idea of next pairing the
winners, and so forth. Due to the unexpected enthusiasm of the suitors, however, there were no survivors
at all after the first round, and the unfortunate girl died a spinster at the age of 87.
All this was reported to us by a missionary, and was eventually adapted to tennis with a modified set
of rules. The main criticism of the system as used is that it tends to produce snobbery: the winners look
down their noses at the losers, and someone who wins a tournament can’t be spoken to at all. Professor
B.O. Trumbley, the eminent psychiatrist, has reported several cases of gradual mutosis, or loss of speech,
all involving tennis players and traceable directly to a string of victories in tournament play.
Early tournaments were marked by a lack of organization: places in the draw were assigned at first
according to social standing, and later according to an extra fee paid to the official in charge. When the
good players (who felt they didn’t need to pay extra because they didn’t care where they were placed)
began to find themselves clustered in the same section of the draw, a storm of indignation and protest
arose and culminated in the famous Loaded Draw Scandal of 1909, at which time the International
Federation stepped in and saved the day by enacting a ‘Law for the Seeding of Good Players.’ This law,
unfortunately, not only set back social progress by 200 years, but also ushered in the ‘Era of Seeded
Players.’ With its advent, matches were no loner just won or lost: they were scored either as ‘true to
form,’ or as ‘upsets.’ It was soon an unwritten rule that seeded players should not play anywhere but on
the best courts, only under the most favorable circumstances, and only at times convenient to them. One
recalls the case of Pierre Van Lootjes, the Dutch Internationalist, who arrived for a tournament five days
after its start and arranged to have seven of his opponents line up behind the grandstand court ready to
go on in succession. However, having recklessly stayed up late the night before, he lost his first match
and threw so much confusion into the schedule that the tournament had to be abandoned completely in
order to avoid a riot. Unlucky Pierre!
In recent years, the class distinction between seeded players and the rest of the mob has been further
accentuated by the practice of paying expense money in varying amounts. An amateur is defined as “one
who admires” so that, human nature being what it is, it would perhaps be unrealistic to draw a line short
of money. A movement advocating a neo-classic revival of the old-time spirit deserves notice for having
gained widespread support.
...that the tournament had to be abandoned entirely in order to avoid a riot...
It might be of interest to speculate briefly on the future development of tennis tournaments. Several
avant-garde players have suggested a type in which the losers move ahead instead of the winners; others
are experimenting with a canasta-type doubles tournament in which the partners play on opposite sides
of the net and are allowed to interfere with their opponents’ shots. Basic revisions in the rules of the
game may lead to unexplored areas: greater audience participation is an interesting possibility. Whatever
the future may bring, it certainly beckons with a wide horizon. Sic transit gloria tournamentis!
ANSWERS:
1. King
2. Ad court
3. Ashe
4. King
5. Throwing his racquet
6. Agassi
7. Jensens
8. Moffitt
9. Navratilova
10. Sampras
11. Ashe
12. Australian
13 Kafelnikov
14. Krajicek
15. Connors & McEnroe
16. Sampras
17. Navratilova
18. Graf
19. Agassi
20. King
21. Pierce
22. Becker
23. Agassi’s
24. Tennis elbow
25. Three
26. Sally Ride
27. Austin
28. McEnroe
29. Hingis
30. Moody
31. Kangaroo’s nose
32. Roddick
33. On some websites, I read that Venus Williams had
the fastest service. On others I read that Brenda SchultzMcCarthy had the fastest. On others I read that they were
tied for the fastest. So, you are correct if you picked either
Venus or Brenda OR if you picked both!
NEW ENGLAND
SENIOR TENNIS
FOUNDATION
N.E.S.T.F. Has Financial
Support for TennisRelated Projects
The New England Senior Tennis Foundation is soliciting proposals for programs which will support and promote the goals of the
Foundation which are: to promote tennis among senior adults (45 and
older for men and 40 and older for women) in New England and, by
instruction and education through the operation of clinics, programs
and competitive events, to enhance their physical and mental wellbeing and thereby their quality of life. The Board of Directors of the
Foundation will award a grant of up to $2,000 to an individual or
organization that submits a proposal that is consistent with the above
goals. The deadline for submission is February 28, 2012. The program
can be run any time in 2012. If you have any questions on your idea
for a program you may call George Ulrich at 860-443-2098. Please
consider submitting a proposal using the attached form.
NEW ENGLAND SENIOR TENNIS
FOUNDATION, INC.
PROGRAM GRANT REQUEST
Description of Program:
____________________________________________________________
Grant Policy / Discussion
Our policy, as stated in our program grant request, is to “promote tennis among seniors in New England and by instruction and education through the operation of clinics, programs
and competitive events, to enhance their phsycial and mental
well being and thereby their quality of life.”
This is a good general statement but in the review of grant
requests other considerations arise. We are guided by the following:
Grant requests, where appropriate, are considered as seed
money only, and that after a short period of time, grantees
should become self-supporting.
____________________________________________________________
We have been following a policy of partial funding,
and require grantees to tap other sources including participants.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Budget for Program (Please provide breakdown of all expenses,
e.g. salaries, materials, equipment, court rental, etc.)
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
As a matter of administrative policy, we request that grantees
report to us in detail as to the success of their ventures and
how the grant was spent. We also ask grantees make participants aware that NESTF is providing financial assistance.
George Ulrich
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Date(s) Program will be run:___________________________________
Geographic Location of Program:_ _____________________________
Number of Seniors Expected to Participate in Program:____________
____________________________________________________________
Goals and Objectives of Program:_______________________________
____________________________________________________________
Contact Person for Program:
Name_______________________________________________________
Telephone
Mail to:______________________________________________________
George Ulrich
New England Senior Tennis Foundation, Inc.
6 Shore Rd
Waterford, CT 06385
Tel. 860-443-2098
Fax 860-437-3175
e-mail: [email protected]
Address_____________________________________________________
Telephone_ __________________________________________________
The Atlantic Coast Cup Grant, named for Ray Barbero,
a former captain of the New England team for ten
years, is to be given to the Men's Atlantic Coast team.
We look forward to receiving some worthwhile ideas. Let us hear from you! – Donations to NESTF
are accepted at any time.
New England competitors and top contributors
to the New England Senior Tennis Foundation
Carol Jaffe
Carol Lipnick
New England’s great super senior doubles team (L) Irv Levine and (R) Henry Tiberio.

ST Spring 2011.indd - New England Senior Tennis Foundation

Transcription

Similar documents

State of the Program Address Swing N` Splash

STEM and Project-Based Learning: What`s All the Excitement About?

1 - Indesit Company

brittany breeze - Point Brittany Association

Coach Henry makes his return to tennis

Billfish Bulletin - San Juan International Billfish Tournament

Feb-March_FEAT_Agassi_final 1/7/08 1:31 PM

Mountain Vistas, City Lights 2016 POOL AND TENNIS NEWSLETTER

Mylan World Team Tennis

atNACC - New Albany Country Club

SLEEPING BOOTY - Country Club of Landfall