Who Are These Characters?

Now that Wimbledon has come and gone, most American fans have tuned off tennis from their world for a few weeks. Along with the start of clay court tournaments in Europe, and the last grass court tournament of the calendar year taking place in beautiful Newport Beach, four people received the ultimate honor in tennis, becoming part of history as inductees to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

This week, Rafael Nadal picked up his clay court dominance right where he left off by winning the Swedish Synsam Open, his seventh clay court title of the year, equaling Thomas Muster's record in 1996. Another clay court specialist, Gaston Gaudio, won the title in the stunning settings of the Swiss mountains in Gstaad. Sticking to tradition, the first seed did not win the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Greg Rusedski, the third seed, repeated his title of last year on the grass court tournament.

However, the real heroes of the week were four characters, all from different time periods (except Jana Novotna and Jim Courier) who earned their rightful spots in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Courier, Yannick Noah, Novotna, and Butch Buchholz are now part of an elite group called "Hall of Famers."

It never ceases to amaze me how little today's players and juniors show interest to the game of tennis, how little dedication they display toward being "students of the game." I will never forget when I asked a group of kids during a clinic to name the number one male player in the world. It was during the late '90s. Most did not know, one of them said Tiger Woods (oh boy!), and only a little girl came up with the right answer: Pete Sampras. I should add that I asked this question only a few days following one of Sampras' seven Wimbledon titles.

But here is the kicker: when the little girl said his name, half of the other kids did not even know this guy called Pete Sampras. I wondered if I should call "Ripley's Believe It or Not!"

So I got curious again and asked another group of kids recently if they heard any of the four names that were inducted to the Hall of Fame. Jim Courier was the only one that many of them heard about, and that was due mostly to the big poster in the clubhouse promoting an exhibition that Courier played several days earlier, in which a good friend of mine played also as his doubles partner.

If any juniors are reading this article, I apologize because you might find this boring, since it is about these four "mysterious" people who happened to be a part of tennis history.

Jim Courier, a baseball fan as a child, won four Grand Slams, represented United States in six Davis Cups, and finished the year ranked number one in the world in 1992. I remember Courier from my time at Nick Bollettieri's Academy in mid-'80s when he was a quiet junior, not even considered one of the best players at the academy (many of those never made it big-time except Andre Agassi). He was truly a nice guy, came to practice ready to give his best effort.

I was very pleased few years back when he got his first major commentary job with TNT alongside Marv Albert during Wimbledon. I enjoyed his comments and now that he is a regular in the booth, I am all ears when he speaks. One of the few knowledgeable guys in the business, Courier brings an excellent down to earth perspective on the ins and outs of the tennis world. My friend who played the exhibition would not say enough about how nice he was during the event, indicating that all the fame and glory have not manipulated his nice persona. I am happy that he is inducted. Well done, Mr. Courier!

Butch Buchholz, aged 64, was chosen mostly for his accomplishments as a contributor to the game of tennis. One of his major contributions was being the Executive Director of ATP for a brief period in the early-'80s. Although I am glad for him, I can understand (only for once) if most of today's juniors have no clue about Mr. Buchholz.

The only female inductee this year, Jana Novotna, has one thing going for her: irony. Most people who know her probably wondered if she was inducted to the Hall of Fame for a particular negative experience. Ironically, she became famous when she succeeded in pulling off the biggest choke job recent memory when she led Steffi Graf 4-1 in the final set of the 1993 Wimbledon final and managed to get so nervous that she double faulted and missed shot after shot on her way to a loss, finding herself in tears in the arms of the duchess of Kent during the trophy presentation.

Ironically, not everyone knows that, the experience turned her career around. Not everyone knows that she stayed in the top 10 for six years. Not everyone knows that she did not fade away, and in fact, came back to win Wimbledon five years later. But hey, everyone knows that she "once choked like never seen before." Being in the Hall of Fame will state once and for all that 1993 Wimbledon final was simply an incident during a great career of this deserving champion.

Last, but not the least, the one that I am truly happy about, is Yannick Noah, the 1983 French Open champion. I mentioned earlier that four "characters" were inducted in the Hall of Fame. Well, this guy carries the "character" title better than anyone.

Truly entertaining to watch, maybe one of the greatest "athletes" ever seen in any sport, he managed to win numerous titles, including the French Open, mostly thanks to his physical athleticism. Believe me when I say this guy did not have very good technique in any area of the game except his serve, and even had the wrong grip on his forehand volley, not to mention a mediocre forehand from the baseline. But, ah yes, the Frenchman could jump, and he had game — and a personality.

Discovered in Cameroun, Africa, by late Arthur Ashe when he was a little kid, Yannick Noah packed style and emotion in his bag every time he stepped on the court. After his career ended, he brought the same qualities to a music career that still goes strong today. Some of his reggae tunes will have you dancing before you know it. It must be the dreadlocks!

I met Yannick once in the mid-'80s again at Nick Bollettieri's when I was feeling pretty bad physically, sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall. The sun got to me that day during practice and my stomach was about to turn upside down. People were walking by, no one thought about asking if I needed some help.

Well, almost no one...

Then came by Yannick Noah, a top player in the world at the time who happened to be practicing at the Academy for a short period of time. He asked me if I felt okay. Not really listening to my answer of "okay," he took the trouble of stopping where he was going, went and got me a glass of lemonade, offered to assist me in going to my room, even told one of the supervisors to take a look at me. That day, I became the biggest fan of this man, not to mention that I immediately felt better and went back to practice.

Few years later, I saw him practicing at Roland Garros (not during the French Open). I could not believe it when he not only remembered me, but also actually stopped his practice to have a few words. This is exactly how Noah is, one of the most loved men in the world of tennis by all people involved.

I salute these four characters for all the memories. If any current junior player stuck with me through the whole article, you can take pride in knowing that you have one up on the rest of your peers in terms of being a student of the game.

Take care, everyone.