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sportsmanship stories
"The first law of tennis is that every player must be a good sportsman and inherently a gentleman," These words of wisdom are as valuable and valid today as they were then. Tennis is still one of the few sports where the vast majority of amateur competition does not have a referee or umpire. Professional matches do, but most league and tournament matches are essentially unsupervised. This has always put a premium on fair play and good sportsmanship. Time-honored maxims, such as "The benefit of the doubt goes to your opponent," have always epitomized the credo that you should treat your opponent the way you would like to be treated. We'd like to hear about your most memorable and instructive sportsmanship stories, especially those that happened in the heat of competitive battle. Email our editor if you have a story to share!
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Playing the Best of New England
Paul Fein
Pfein@nsmta.net
April 2020
New England boasts quite a few admirable sportsmen in senior and super senior tennis. I've played a few of these athletes, and eight come to mind: Rick Klaffky, Dag Williamson, Bob McAfee, Arthur “Buzz” Durkin, George Deptula, Charles Secor, and Richard Bailey. And I have to put Peter Allen at the top of this class of classy sportsmen. I played him only once about 10 years ago. During a super-close, see-saw final match lasting more than three hours at the Pittsfield (Mass.) Country Club, we had about 20 very close line calls.
There were no problems, not even a mild questioning of a call. The point that sticks in my memory, though, didn’t involve a line call. In the third set, Pete hit a strong forehand that pulled me off the court. I sprinted as fast as I could to reach it and then hit a backhand as hard as I could because anything less meant I’d lose the point for sure anyway.
Immediately after I hit the ball, I stumbled and fell. I landed with my head turned away from the court. When I finally turned my head around, I saw the ball ricochet off the back fence. Then I looked across the court and saw Pete walking with his back to me toward his back fence, presumably to pick up a ball.
I yelled, “Pete, what happened with the last point?”
He replied, “My shot was just out.”
I said, “You’re the most honest player I’ve ever played.”
Pete replied, “If I don’t earn it, I don’t want it.”
This personal credo was as impressive as his act of sportsmanship was. Over the years, I’ve shared this memorable sportsmanship story with quite a few tennis players. They all reacted with the same admiration I felt.
Remarkable and Influential Sportsmanship
Jerry Headley
jerryheadley@cox.net
March 2020
I am 81 and have been playing tennis since my very young school days. The most remarkable and influential sportsmanship story in my life happened in the consolation championship match at the 2009 National 70 Hard Court Championships at the Irvine Racquet Club in California. Steve Drummy and I were playing against Lloyd Goldwater, a former 80's national hard court singles champion, and his partner.
We had set point on our opponents, who were serving in a close 4-5 first set. I hit a drop shot that brought Goldwater to the net. He barely reached it and returned the ball for a winner. However, he immediately said he touched the net, giving us the set. Nobody saw him or heard him touch the net, so he easily could have gotten away with the return winner. But he chose honesty over winning at any cost.
This act of honor had a lasting effect on my attitude about honesty and sportsmanship on the tennis court, as well as in all other situations. For years, I have told Lloyd of my reaction to his honesty. He has always been very modest about his call, I think because he felt it was always the right thing for him to do. Most impressive!
Who’s Making the Call?
Jimmy Parker, USPTA Master Pro
prkrtennis@aol.com
March 2020
I was playing Mike Stewart recently in a tournament out in Palm Desert. At 0 – 15 on his serve, he hit a ball close to the sideline that I thought looked good and I missed the next shot. Mike indicated that he thought the ball he’d hit was out, but I assumed I was making the call. (15-all in my mind) At what I thought was 40 – 30 on his serve, I won the point. Deuce.
Wrong! Mike calmly walked over to change courts, saying that his shot earlier in the game was definitely out, and that it was my game.
It struck me that our disagreement on the line call was a little different from the disputes that arise over line calls in the juniors!
Sportsmanship from Nobel Hendrix
Michael Beautyman
michael@beautyman.com
March 2020
My opponent, James “Nobel” Hendrix, saw I was taking ibuprofen on the changeover, and said, “If you don’t feel well, I shall default.”
After squeaking out the first set against Chas Phillips in the National Grass Championships at a club where some players had recently been robbed at gunpoint, I expressed concern to Chas that I could no longer see my 12-year-old son, who had come to watch the match. Chas immediately said, "We’ll suspend the match and find him.” We both went off to search for him; we found my son watching our match from between the balusters on the second-floor balcony.
Good sportsmanship is not about making an honest call. That is a given; any doubt is resolved in favor of one’s opponent; that is merely a requirement of our sport.
Good sportsmanship is about conducting oneself in a way that shows respect to one's opponent and to the game, because winning is not paramount.
In challenging situations on the court, think of our tennis-playing friends who are no longer with us, or who are no longer able to play.