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.
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.
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.
(Of course, I am only joking).
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
So you never heard of Ilie Nastase or Jan Kodes in the 60's and 70's. Then you had Navratilova,Lendl and Mandalikova in the late 70's and 80's. Best South American players of all time, Pancho Segura and Maria Bueno 50-60's So kids can just rock up at the tennis courts and play? Thats the real issue, kids can't play tennis anymore , the tennis court centers need to be open and free for local kids, particularly after school. Waiting for obsessive parents who slave drive their children into becoming tennis players like the Williams sisters parents is the other option. The real
Matt H
Roar Guru
It's very simple and you said it yourself: "The rest of the world in Europe and South America started playing tennis." Now Australia is ranked in tennis the same way it is in athletics or association football, in line with it's population. Australia is also a wealthy nation with many choices of professional sport and leisure pursuits for our young people. This cuts down the talent pool.
Wise Old Elf
Guest
Where did it all go wrong for Australian tennis? Back in the day, there were not as many people playing the sport and it was not played to a decent level in the number of places it is today. Anywhere in the Iron Curtain was forbidden to travel to the west to play. Aussie kids just don't do the required training. You need to do the 10,000 hours growing up just to have a chance. The best players are practicing their tennis and not at some pointless school learning pointless things. To sum up we have been pretty average for nigh on half a century now. The way back is to get youngsters playing the game a lot, lot more. I only ever see tennis courts empty, hardly being used. Maybe at e-sports tennis will we have a chance in the future.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Australia was in an in an enviable position, land was cheap, Australian cities were new and well laid out, and there were so many tennis courts in people backyards from my memories in the 70's. Both Rosewall and Laver came from tennis court families. Nowdays the land is smaller, more of it is in the house, and the rest is occupied by a pool. Lets also look at the Davis cup , the professional players didn't play in it in the split era. So Australia would not have been as dominant in the 50's though Australia would have dominated the late 50's through to the early 70's. Australian players dodged the Davis cup a lot of the time even after professional players were eligible so sorry but Newman and Roche are not the stoic heroes of the Davis cup. The 80's onwards actually the Australian players were more likely to always play in the Davis cup and other nations top players less likely. While Australia had less talent they were more likely to play in the Davis cup. In fact bad boy Ilie Nastase stands out as the biggest Davis cup stalwart amongst the best players. Australia has Hewitt as the one who has appeared the most.