Hall of Fame , Newport Rhode Island. ……or is it Heartbreak Hall ? Ask Nick ….

Written by: on 14th April 2012
Nick Bollittieri
Hall of Fame , Newport Rhode Island. ......or is it Heartbreak Hall ? Ask Nick ....  |

Hall of Fame or Hall of shame. Like what a shame? What a pity? What a system. ? What system ? The how you arrive on the podium system …. The induction is beautiful. The acceptance speeches are stuff for the history books. But the other goings on can break your heart. I call tiebreakers heartbreakers. Well guess what folks. Most of all that comes from Newport Rhode Island James a.k.a. Jimmy Van Allen gave us both the tiebreaker and he was the godfather of the Hall of Fame at the Newport ” casino ”

Ok. So I got all muddled in the first paragraph…, The major issue / complaint I have is the nomination and voting process. I’m not certain of the details but basically you get your heart stomped on more than once … Your name gets bantered about as a possible inductee … It’s discussed around and then voted on by international journos. … ? Ok. This years victim. Nick Bollettieri . You could look long and far and it would be hard to find a better guy. Nick has a passion for tennis that’s unheralded. He motivated more players to bring out their greatness. I’m not saying he was the worlds best coach ever. But he is one of them.

Max Mirnyi considers him like a second father. You could leave Nicks academy and the door was always open to comeback even if you defected to Saddlebrook ( yes Kevin could sell ice to the Eskimos ) …..

My point is why make anyone suffer the hopes. And the humiliation. Just announce the winners and keep all the other candidates name secret. …..sorry Nick.

We need to end on a happy note.

We say big congrats to Jennifer Capriati. She will be inducted in the Hall of Fame this year.Jen had great early success. Then hit some bad times. …. Jen then came back from a drug addiction to the top of the game. we always loved her fire and spirit. She was a very tough competitor. Bravo Jennifer.

We also want to mention. If you are in the Coachella Valley and aren’t there to hear 143 bands ….go by Rancho las palmas resort and watch the Easter Bowl !

We saw some names in the draw that jumped out at us. One was Taylor Fritz. He is the son of pro Guy Fritz and the former top tenner Kathy May. Taylor makes the whole family proud . Grandpa was the late David May . David wasn’t a great player … Short on form …but he had a tremendous passion for the game. He truly supported the sport in every way possible. He was a great friend to our sport for over 50 years. Geezer knew him well. They could talk tennis for hours.

Kathy May Fritz was inducted into the Southern California Hall of Fame last year with Billie Jean King and Billy Martin. Oops almost forgot Franklin Johnson ,Dorothy Head Knode, Richard (Dick) Leach ,Hugh Stewart,and Pat Canning Todd…

Remember the name Abe Hewko. Watch for him in Ojai at the end of the month. He is the real deal. He has the game. The focus. The mindset.

Lovey's Recent Lobs

CHICAGO • LAVER CUP TENNIS • GOSSIP • PARTIES • GREAT CROWDS • WHERE’S MO? thumbnail

CHICAGO • LAVER CUP TENNIS • GOSSIP • PARTIES • GREAT CROWDS • WHERE’S MO?

Here we are in Chicago. What a great event. We've been to the WILSON factory daily. Love to see some of the great old frames we played with.
THE 2018 U.S. OPEN TENNIS • OSAKA BEATS SERENA WITH CHAIR UMPIRES HELP • AGAIN thumbnail

THE 2018 U.S. OPEN TENNIS • OSAKA BEATS SERENA WITH CHAIR UMPIRES HELP • AGAIN

This was a tennis tournament.... Like no other. This was a U.S. Open like no other.. Let's start with new logo. It's click art like ours? But we aren't the USTA.
TENNIS GOSSIP FROM THE 2018 U.S. OPEN • WTA | ATP • FEDERER HAS PLAYED 1,424 MATCHES WITHOUT A “RETIREMENT” thumbnail

TENNIS GOSSIP FROM THE 2018 U.S. OPEN • WTA | ATP • FEDERER HAS PLAYED 1,424 MATCHES WITHOUT A “RETIREMENT”

The only way to describe this U.S. open is soaking wet without raining... It's really hard to play tennis when your socks are soaking wet and you are "sloshing" in your shoes. Your shoes get really heavy when they get wet.
2018 U.S. OPEN TENNIS FROM 10SBALLS • KANEPI BEATS WTA | TOP SEED HALEP thumbnail

2018 U.S. OPEN TENNIS FROM 10SBALLS • KANEPI BEATS WTA | TOP SEED HALEP

What a start. First match in the new stadium and bye bye ladies number one seed and WTA World Number One. Simona Halep. Losing to Estonian Kaia Kanepi.
TENNIS PLAYERS GET MARRIED • GOSSIP • ATP | WTA • ARTEM SITAK AND JONATHAN ERLICH WIN NEWPORT • HAPPY BIRTHDAY SVEN GROENEVELD! thumbnail

TENNIS PLAYERS GET MARRIED • GOSSIP • ATP | WTA • ARTEM SITAK AND JONATHAN ERLICH WIN NEWPORT • HAPPY BIRTHDAY SVEN GROENEVELD!

Wow. Where do we start. Forward. Backward. Sideways. I sound like a tennis player doing on court drills.






10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.