Were the Good Old Days Really That Good? – By: Jack Neworth

Written by: Staff on 22nd July 2012

Were the Good Old Days Really That Good? - By: Jack Neworth

epa03153884 James Blake of the US hits a return to Nikolay Davydenko of Russia during their first round match at the Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne, Florida, USA, 21 March 2012. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

This week, July 23-29, marks the 86^th annual Farmers Classic tennis tournament at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA, an event rich in tennis history. This year’s field includes: two-time winner, Sam Querrey, James Blake, former world #4, Brian Baker, who recently reached the 4^th round of Wimbledon, two-time NCAA singles champion Steve Johnson, Jack Sock, the 19-year-old sensation, #5 seed Xavier Malisse of Belgium, #4 seed Nicolas Mahut.

Presented by Mercedes-Benz, the Farmers Classic features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles competition. L.A. County’s only top-tier pro tennis event, and an ATP World Tour stop on the Emirates Airline US Open Series, awards total prize money of $700,000. (The singles champion gets $100,000.)

The tournament began at the famed and historic Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC) in 1927. In that year Calvin Coolidge was president, Babe Ruth hit 60 homes runs and Lindbergh made the first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. In other words, a long time ago. (It was the era known as the”Roaring Twenties, which makes me wonder what this era will be known as. The “Texting Teens?”)

Originally called the Pacific Southwest Open, the first champion was Big Bill Tilden and those who followed included the greatest names in the history of tennis including: Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Connors, Courrier, Connors, Ashe, Laver, Kramer and Gonzalez to name but a few. (Talk about amazing, Pancho Gonzalez won in ’49, in ’69 and again in ’71, when at 43 he defeated Jimmy Connors who was a month shy of 19.)

In the glory days, Hollywood flocked to the event to see and be seen. World-renowned stars, including Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, William Powell, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, showed up on a regular basis. Joan Bennett loved tennis so much she hired an ambulance to bring her daily to watch matches from her patio box while she recuperated from a broken hip. Seemingly not that long ago, the late Johnny Carson, America’s forever favorite talk show, had a front row box.

The Open Era began in men’s tennis in 1968 and the Pacific Southwest joined the U.S. Open as one of the two major championships in the United States. Big-serving Australian Rod Laver became the first L.A. Champion of the Open Era. He added a second title in 1970. “I started playing in L.A. As a junior, so I have a really long history with this tournament,” Laver said. “I always enjoyed playing at LATC. So many stars would come out to watch the matches. It was like a who’s who among Hollywood stars.”

But, as with so many things in life, were the good old days really all that good? They were certainly glamorous but just below the surface, there was one element that, in retrospect, cut deeply into all the glamor, that being race discrimination. Even at late as the mid-1950’s, players of color and those of the Jewish faith, were excluded. It’s almost hard to imagine now, but it was a troubling reality that, thankfully is well in the past.

James Blake, African-American and Harvard-educated, would not have been allowed to compete. Blake’s is one of many compelling story lines in this year’s tournament. Ranked #110 among active male players with 24 career finals, (10 ATP titles), Blake reached the semi-finals of the Beijing Olympics, the quarters of the Australian Open and the U.S. Open (twice) and was a key performer in the 2007 Davis Cup Championship. In 2008 he was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year.

But in 2004, Blake’s entire world fell apart. While practicing for the Masters event in Rome, he broke his neck when he slipped on the clay and collided with the net post. In July, his father died and at the same time, Blake developed shingles, which paralyzed half his face and blurred his sight.

But remarkably, in 2005 Blake returned to the tour and was named Comeback Player of the Year. At the U.S. Open quarters that year he succumbed to Andre Agassi in a spectacular evening match, losing in a thrilling fifth-set tiebreak, 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6.

In 2007 Blake wrote his New York Times best-selling autobiography Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life, which depicted that extraordinarily difficult period in 2004. B;ale and fiancée, Emily Snider, have a brand new baby, Riley Elizabeth, born last month.

Another tremendous “comeback” story playing out at the Farmer’s Classic this year is that of Brian Baker. Sidelined for nearly six years after five surgeries—three on his hip, one on his elbow, and one sports hernia, Baker was off the tour for six years, but his love for the game never waned.

While coaching tennis at Belmont University, Baker began to feel his body gradually improving, and decided to give it one last go at making it as a professional tennis player. This past Wimbledon Baker reached the 4th round, is currently ranked #79 in the world and is the #8 seed in this year’s Farmer’s Classic. For all of us, life’s great memories are cherished. But for Brian, and we too, maybe the good old days can be now.

(For more information about the Farmers Classic go to: www.farmersclassic.com. Jack Neworth is a free-lance writer in Santa Monica and can be reached at jnsmdp@aol.com.)

Topics: 10sballs.com, Brian Baker, Farmers Classic, James Blake, Sam Querrey, Sports, Tennis News, UCLA tennis news