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What has happened to Australian tennis?

Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic are in a race to see who can claim Australia's next Grand Slam title. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Roar Pro
29th August, 2018
4

Long memories are either a curse or a treasure.

I remember when Australian tennis was supreme in the 1950s. Names like Frank Sedgman, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall and Harry Hopman were the heroes of world tennis grand slams and Davis Cups. Australia won them all.

We all stared at black and white newsreels and later black and white television screens. Wimbledon and Kooyong were our triumphant palaces. We gnashed our teeth when Ken Rosewall couldn’t win Wimbledon but revelled in our Aussie winners.

Even in the sixties, we were unmatched.

Rod Laver, John Newcomb and Tony Roach were our heroes. We were the masters of the serve and volley. It was a great feeling as even those pesky yanks couldn’t match us.

Fast forward 50 years and everything has changed. Grass gave way to slower and higher bouncing surfaces. Wooden racquets gave way to all sorts of exotic materials like metal, graphite and titanium.

The rest of the world in Europe and South America started playing tennis. We were outnumbered and couldn’t rely on our past glories as prize money went through the roof.

We did win the occasional grand slam when Pat Cash, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewett reminded us of what used to be, but these victories were too rare.

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Now we are excited when one of our players make it to the quarterfinals or reach the top 100 in world rankings.

What has happened now?

Our highest ranking player is one of the most bizarre individuals to represent Australia in any sport. Nick Kyrgios, still only a callow youth, started off his grand slam career with incredible wins against top-ten ranked players.

Hooray, we had another hero – but not so fast.

Nick then regressed into an emotional headcase. Unpredictable episodes occurred with bewildering rapidity.

He wanted to play basketball instead. He didn’t want a coach. He had a sore elbow, hip, shoulder and ankle and couldn’t finish his match.

He and Bernard Tomic gave a new meaning to how to lose a tennis match. His scowling battles with umpires and linespeople resulted in fines and suspensions.

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Many said he is young and will grow up.

Look at the former Chicago Bull and NBA Hall of Famer, Dennis Rodman, who acted strangely in his playing days and still seems off the deep end today.

We all now despair that our new tennis hero will not make us proud. Never mind we have Alex de Minaur, a young budding tennis hero, who is the true successor to Ken Rosewall and Leyton Hewett.

The ladies were also supreme many years ago. Who can forget Margaret Court who won so many Australian Opens that they should have changed centre court to, well, Margaret Court? What about Yvonne Goolagong whose beautiful personality and elegant game captivated all of us?

We have had only one grand slam women’s title since then when Samantha Stosur beat Serena Williams at the US Open. Not quite glory days, but something nonetheless. Now though, Stosur keeps losing in the early rounds of tournaments

We have another star in the women’s game, Ashleigh Barty, whose training for greatness is playing cricket for the Brisbane Heat.

She has it all: attitude, guts, a solid serve, groundstrokes and a fighting spirit. She never gives up. I want her to coach Nick Krygios.

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(Of course, I am only joking).

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