LA Tennis Challenge – By: Don Brosseau

Written by: Tennischiro on 6th March 2013

LA Tennis Challenge - By: Don Brosseau |

I’ve been watching tennis matches in Los Angeles for a long time. I’ve actually been in the industry for almost 50 years. I started working on the courts at Griffith Park where I now teach back in the summer of 1963 after my freshman year in high school. True I was only working for tennis lessons in return for being the pro’s ballboy, but it was my first job. Never thought I would still be picking up tennis balls for a living 50 years later.

There have been many venues for pro tennis in LA in that time. My favorite was definitely the old Pacific Southwest at the LA Tennis Club. That tournament took place the week before school started and all through the late 60’s I could regularly be found hanging out of the balcony overlooking center court as daylight faded to dusk. You see, there were doubles matches until almost dark and most of the people who had been sitting in those seats were long gone if they weren’t in the cocktail lounge mostly oblivious to the wonderful tennis. And there I was, sneaking into the first row overhanging the court just a few feet from my idols.

During the mid 60’s I also saw at the pros play at LA Sports Arena (yeah, remember the Sports Arena; it’s been renovated and it’s still there!). I remember I was struck by the crisp volleying of an aging Pancho Segura. Man, could he stick it! Then there was Pancho Gonzales playing at the iconic Pan Pacific in the Fairfax district. I remember driving down to Newport Beach to watch Laver play Rosewall at some pro tournament there. And going out to the Forum from Harvey Mudd to watch the pros in a seemingly empty building in 1969. In those days I didn’t know I was going to become a tennis teacher; I thought I was going to be an engineer. But I sure did love watching all of those legends.

I spent most of the 70’s in NY, Florida and Germany, but I still got to see the first World Team Tennis match at the Sports Arena featuring Jerry Buss’s first professional sports team in 1974. It’s really too bad the Buss family got out of the tennis business. I even saw pro tennis played in Pauley Pavilion with at least one indoor event there in the 70’s.

With the development of the LA Tennis Center at UCLA for the ’84 Olympics, Straus Stadium became the nexus of Southern California pro tennis. I’m not really sure how many years the tournament was played indoors at Pauley, but for almost 30 years, Straus Stadium has been the site of the best tennis in Los Angeles.

In the current millennium, AEG has thrown its hat into the ring building the Home Depot Center and Staples. I saw a packed stadium in Carson greatly disappointed when the Croatian team led by Ivan Ljubicic upset Andy Roddick and the American team. In 2003 and 2004, before I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life broke, I was able to get great seats for the WTA Championships at Staples. Indeed, the seats were great, but it was an empty building almost the entire week.

Obviously, there has been some great tennis played at all of these venues, but much of the intimacy and electricity that was characteristic of the old LA Tennis Club, was lost when the tournament sought larger environs. The Davis Cup match at Home Depot Center was one of the few matches I’ve seen where the crowd really got into it. Of course, part of that is the nature of the Davis Cup. But I sat in the last row of a sold out Connors/Vilas year-end Grand Prix round robin match in 1978 at Madison Square Garden and the place actually shook.

It’s very tough to keep that intensity, electricity and intimacy alive in these larger arenas. We need that kind of emotion and big name players to make pro tennis a viable proposition here in Los Angeles. There are always celebrities at Los Angeles events, but this is the first time I have seen a bona fide “red carpet’ for the arrival of the celebrities as well as the players. The new layout in Pauley is wonderful for tennis with great sightlines and much improved access and amenities.

In 1994 Paul Annacone arranged for a 16-year old Justin Gimelstob to spend a week working with me on his serve (I’m afraid I didn’t do him much good.), so I have known Justin for a long time and followed his development from player to announcer to promoter. I think Justin and his buddy Mardy Fish “get it”. They understand what it takes to earn the patronage of the Southern California tennis fans. I felt so bad for Justin when the net strap broke and then to top it off, the lights went off. But Justin handled it perfectly. The crowd stayed with it the exhibition provided some wonderful moments. Probably the best were provided by the doubles match pitting the two number ones, present and past, Djokovic and Sampras, against the now perennial doubles number ones, Bob and Mike Bryan. Even though he’s been officially retired over 10 years, Pistol still has some impressive skills. And the crowd really loved getting a chance to see him display them.

In the end, that’s what really matters. The crowd loved it. And that crowd was a full house!

I recorded a few clips of the action. Some regular speed, some at 300fps so you can really see what the strokes and footwork look like. You can see them here:

http://youtu.be/F_-c7qTmD-I

10sChiro

For more information about Don Brosseau, just dial **tennispro on your cell phone.

Topics: Bob Bryan, Don Brosseau, Justin Gimelstob, LA Tennis Challenge, LA Tennis Club, Mike Bryan, Novak Djokovic, Pancho Gonzalez, Pancho Segura, Paul Annacone, Pete Sampras, Sports, Tennis News