Sixteen Lessons and Observations from the US Open

Since Bob Greene provided The Tennis Recruiting Network with a synopsis of the junior event in New York, I thought I would try some a little different for my weekly post and I came up with 16 (it's a strange number unless you look at a lot of tennis draws) lessons and observations from my nine days in New York.

And while we're on the subject of New York, Aron Pilhofer of the New York Times emailed me several questions about junior tennis and my involvement in it, but because of our busy schedules last week, we never got together to get it in the NYT Tennis blog, as we had originally planned. So I thought maybe some of you would be interested in the same questions he had, and he told me to go ahead and include on my blog whenever I wished.

1) I found your profile tantalizingly incomplete. How does someone go from banking to blogger?
I grew up in Kalamazoo, where the USTA boys 16 & 18 national championships have been played for 65 years. I was always interested in sports, and it was really my only opportunity to see world class athletes in action, short of a two hour drive to Detroit. Although I initially went as a teenager as interested in dating the boys as in watching them play, I soon was hooked on tennis, as were many others at the time, as this was the start of the Golden Age of Tennis. I have seen virtually every U.S. male player of significance, from Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Michael Chang (the only one of the above to win the 18s) to James Blake and Andy Roddick. I continued to attend the tournament when I finished college, and I haven’t missed a final in over 25 years. When I retired from banking in 2000, I immediately volunteered, joining over 700 others in Kalamazoo who donate their time to the event. I was assigned to the website committee, and with my journalism background, I began to see any opportunity to use it to enhance the tournament’s website, ustaboys.com. That eventually led to a credential to cover the American boys at the US Open Junior championships (in 2004), which prompted me to start my blog, zootennis.com and to pursue a career as a freelance tennis writer specializing in junior and college tennis.

1a.) How many tournaments do you attend per year, how much traveling do you do?
Between 22 and 25, although some of them are five days duration or less. I attend at least three major college events every year, including the 12-day NCAAs and in the past two years have been to both Australia and Wimbledon for their junior championships. I love to travel, and find that after more than two weeks at home, I’m itching to get on the road again to watch live tennis.

2) Why the fascination with junior tennis?
Young tennis players sacrifice a great deal of their normal adolescence to pursue excellence, to compete, to test their physical and mental capacities. I find most of them to be remarkably mature, independent and disciplined. I am not so naïve to think that all aspects of the process are positive--the wacky tennis parent is a minority, but they do exist, in every country and every age group—but on balance I count myself among those who see the sport as a positive influence on young people. I’ve enjoyed seeing their games and their personalities mature and there is no doubt that their stories are much fresher.

3) You've been following junior tennis for a while. What are the interesting trends you see?
The globalization of course. I’ve seen juniors from Madagascar, Liechtenstein, Moldova and Zimbabwe playing at the junior Grand Slams, the highest level in junior tennis. The rise of academies (and home/internet schooling) as an option. And the height factor. Small players can still compete, of course, but the advantages on the serve for those who are blessed with some athleticism are many.

4) How about the state of U.S. tennis... do we have another andre, pete or davenport in the making?
I don’t know. I’m firmly in the camp that champions are exceptions by their very nature. Great players, Grand Slam winners, are not manufactured or developed by federations. The best a federation can hope to do is provide opportunity for competition and perhaps some funding for coaching and travel.

5) Junior tennis in the mainstream media tends to get the short-shrift a lot of the time. Should there be more coverage, or would that just add to the pressure these kids are already under?
I believe recognition for achievement is valid and the mainstream sports media does not give juniors enough of that. I believe touting the “next-big-thing” by anyone, however well-intentioned, often puts undue pressure on children, and forces them to deal with expectations that are not their own.

6) Talk a little about Ryan Thacher, who seemed to impress everyone here not only with his play, but with his intellect. Here's a kid who could turn pro, but instead is going to college. Good sign? Positive thing? Trend? Or the exception to the rule?
With James Blake, who attended Harvard for two years, reaching the Top Ten, and John Isner, with his four years at Georgia, making such a big splash this summer, I think college is back on the radar as a game-development option, particularly for boys, who tend to mature a few years later. Getting into the habit and expectation of winning, coping with the pressure and excitement of team competition and having access to consistent and structured training and practice are just a few of the advantages of college tennis. The career for a pro athlete is not as short as it once was, so the pressure to get at it before you are mature enough to cope with the inevitable losing is abating. Improving at college is not guaranteed—a high level program with good coaching, scheduling, and depth on the roster is important. And there are a rare few for whom college is not the appropriate place. It is a legitimate stepping stone to the next level in tennis and a opportunity to explore what to do with the rest of your life, whether pro tennis is in the equation or not.

TAGS: tennis, Colette Lewis, college tennis, junior tennis, The Tennis Recruiting Network