For some tennis fans, the main draw at the LA Tennis Open isn’t the Main Draw but the “Legends.” Pete Sampras (a two time champ in L.A.) played an exhibition against Marat Safin on Monday night before an enthusiastic crowd. Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier and Michael Chang – all past champs in Los Angeles – are also competing against one another in a series of exhibitions matches played alongside main draw action.
It’s fun to see these former champions walking around the grounds, hitting the practice courts and signing autographs (Edberg even helped a fan with his service grip.) Chang, Courier and Edberg sat down together for a press conference on Wednesday – representing 11 Major singles titles in one cramped, wood paneled trailer.
The veterans gave their perspectives on the tour’s uber-professionalism, the promising state of tennis and the considerable gifts of the sport’s newest legends, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
I asked the players to comment on Marat Safin’s complaints (click here) that the current tour is “too professional” and unfriendly.
“It changed from time to time.” said Stefan Edberg, who admitted to being away too long to comment on today’s tour. “Back in the 60s (the players) all hang out together, eat together. And over time it changes. There was even a change from the early 80s to the early 90s when it becomes more and more professional.”
Michael Chang, who retired in 2003, agreed that the game is becoming more “professional.” He said this insulated, Team Me mentality begins in the juniors:
“Our generation, we’re practicing together. We’re obviously playing against each other. Jim and I, we roomed together in Junior Davis Cup. Pete and I trained before a lot of the bigger tournaments and in our younger years. And nowadays a lot of the juniors don’t even hit with each other because they don’t want their opponents see what kind of game they have or what they’re working on. And I feel like maybe it starts a little bit from there. So there is some truth in it.”
“I’m sure Marat is being sentimental about (the old days). I think nostalgia plays.” Jim Courier said, saying that while the tour wasn’t as “jovial” as it used to be, the players are still comrades in arms.
“I sit here with these two guys.” Courier said, nodding to Edberg and Chang. “Guys I’ve played a lot of great matches against. These guys have broken my heart on more than one occasion, but they’re the guys I have more in common with than anyone. We have shared experiences and shared life experiences apart from each other. But we understand the mentality and I think Marat over time will probably find that to be true, as he looks over the course of his career.”
I asked if “professionalism” was a dirty word in tennis, and if it had a negative impact on the fan experience.
No way, said Jim Courier:
“The internal machinations of the game may not be as ’sweet’ as they were back in other eras, but the product that is being displayed on court for the average tennis fan is fantastic. The attitudes are tremendous. The role models are there in lots of different places. So while I think things do change. . . the common themes of two players walking on the court and one player walking off the winner stays the same. The guys doing it right now make me proud to be in tennis, because it’s in really great hands right now.”
Of course the main “guys” in question are Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who Stefan Edberg says “have taken the game to a different level.”
“What impresses me is that (Federer and Nadal) can keep the level for 5 sets. It doesn’t seem to bother them. They’ll still be running at high speeds in the 5th set. So they’ve really made the game more interesting.” Edberg explained.
He also credited Robing Soderling’s recent success for helping grow the game in his home country. “From a Swedish perspective. Robin Soderling doing what he did to Nadal in the French Open has just lifted tennis to a new level in Sweden. It got so popular over the last 3 months. We’ve been starving for a new Swedish star and it’s created a lot of attention.”
Of course, Stefan Edberg, a six time Major champ and an international superstar, is also legendary for his sportsmanship on court. The ATP’s Sportsmanship award, which he won five times, was renamed the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award in 1996. With Roger Federer recently winning it for the fifth consecutive time, Edberg “yoked” that the award needed a name change: “Maybe we should rename it, say ‘Roger, here it’s your turn.’ He’s just a tremendous guy and has done so much for the game. And you know the great thing about (the award) is that it’s voted by the players.”
I asked what made Roger Federer so popular with his colleagues and Jim Courier had this to say:
“Roger in the locker room is I think pretty unique in terms of players of his stature. I have several friends who are still playing on tour full time. They talk about Roger minutes before he’s playing a grand slam semi final. They’ll still be there playing doubles, and he’ll be listening to their ipods and asking them what their favorite new songs are. And this is literally minutes before he’s going out to play a prime time semi final grand slam match. . .Roger just has this very light energy around him. He’s not a tortured artist by any means. He’s someone who loves being around the courts. Loves hanging around tennis, loves talking tennis, loves being in this world. And it’s this very special lightness of being that I think the other players marvel at because he doesn’t show any mercy when he plays. But he knows how to make people feel comfortable around him. And for many, many years there were champions whose M.O. was to make everybody else uncomfortable. So it’s a very different energy that he brings to the table.“
Courier, Edberg and Chang will be bringing their own special energy to the courts this weekend. Click here for more information from the LA Tennis Open website.
Tags: ATP, Federer, Jim Courier, LA Tennis Open, Michael Chang, Nadal, Safin, Stefan Edberg, tennis, US Open Series
Loading ...
Freakyfrites, you rule.
Great questions and great answers! Thanks for posting this for all to see!
It’s funny, though: Of course, I’m not on tour, nor have I ever been, but if anything, I thought Safin’s era was the most buddy-buddy of them all, even to this moment. Courier and Sampras used to play doubles together, but once all those guys started challenging each other for Slams, I thought camaraderie definitely took a hit. If Safin thinks it’s bad now, just imagine how it would’ve been back in the ’80s and ’90s, at least from what I’ve read.
I Just loved how Courier described Roger off court.Has special kind of lightness inside the locker rooms but shows no lightness/mercy on court.Hehe
Loving the coverage of LA so far, great job FF!
Funny Marat should be the one complaining, I always thought he would be totally sociable in the locker room.
Nice snippet by Courier on Roger in the locker room too. Maybe the fact that Roger’s so relaxed and easy-going helps him handle the emotional strain of playing on tour, of achieving records but still enjoying it at the same time.
You asked some great questions, and I’m amazed at the thoughtful answers you received.Jim Courier was never my fab fave player when he was on the tour, but he seems very articulate.
That tennis isn’t a brotherhood with shared hotel rooms and practices makes me understand the “professional” thing. In reading Alice Marble’s bio “Courting Danger” I began to understand the financial and personal challenges of being a tennis player in the pre-Open era. No one made any money. Four rival tennis players in an hotel suite, or if you were lucky, a weekend at the Hearst Castle or Will DuPont’s spread. Tennis players lived and died, won and lost together. They hung together because they had to.
One of the reason’s that the Stefan Edbekerg cup should never be renamed is because Stefan said it should be. What a gentleman!
(Um, is he still so handsome and sweet. Gimme the personal st
That would be “stuff.”
I need an edit button. That would of course be Edberg.
You asked, and you shall receive…you can now edit your own comments.
You are now, and always, The Man. (And you’re wicked with a camera. Thanks so much.)
This is a great interview! It is interesting to hear what players like so much about Roger — I knew he was popular, but never really knew what his peers thought about him as a person as opposed to a tennis phenomenon. Thanks for all this great coverage!
I really enjoyed this interview. It was great.
They are all class. Glad you got this opportunity..
Nothing much left to say. I ditto most of the above comments: great interview, freakyfrites! It was a pleasure to read this post.
Absolutely love your coverage! Thanks!!!
yup! fantastic stuff ff! love the roger lightness, love the edberg class and the respect all around. thank you for allowing us to live vicariously through you!
Enjoyed the interview, thanks!
Went to see Edberg/Chang match last night. The 4th round match went to the 3rd set which delayed the legends match until about 10pm. I must say it’s worth the wait!!! It’s the 1st time I saw Edberg play live and an interesting coincident is that the 1st match I ever watched in its entirety was the 1999 french final between Edberg and Chang.
They both still played top-notch tennis! Stefan’s serve and volley only looked that much more superior live v. on TV. What’s different some 20 years later was the 2 players clearly enjoyed their time on the court. Stefan being a gentleman as always yet he revealed the comic side of him. He’s pulling several stunts that were totally uncharacteristic of him of the old days yet extremely personable and charming. Chang also lost his game face and flashed warm smiles throughout the match.
The legends match exceeded my expectations in every way. It fulfilled my childhood dream of seeing Stefan play live. I can only say I’m grateful to have the opportunity.
Hi QP! Thanks for the on-the-ground report. I wasn’t there last night. I’m wondering – did the crowd stick around for the match? I worried a little when I saw that Fish/Guccione went long (though it was good match, too!) I wondered if everyone would go home – hate to think of Edberg and Chang playing to an empty stadium.
But regardless, I’m glad you were there and enjoyed it!
I’m also glad for the tournament that their focus on the Legends has paid off. When they couldn’t get the Murrays and Djokovics of the world to come to the tournament decided to direct its resources to these guys. From a fan perspective, I think that it’s definitely “added value” to the tournament experience.
I’d say about 50% of the people who watched the Fish/Guiccione match stayed till the end of the Edberg/Chang match. Yeah.. I know what you mean. I had the same concern… I thought I was the only few who wanted to Fish/Guiccione match to conclude. Interestingly enough, many of the people who sat in my section really wanted the Legends to come out. As matter of fact, I saw Stefan came out during Fish/Guiccione’s 2nd set tie break
It’s too bad that many probably had to leave early due to their own personal reasons, those who stayed were obviously the die-hard fans of Edberg and Chang. After a few games, they’d invited the fans to “upgrade” their seats (since there were plenty box seats that were empty). Once all fans were sitting close to the court, the energy level just rocketed even with a 25% full stadium.
Stefan especially made great effort to entertain the fans. It’s so very nice to see him goof around. My fav moment was when his famous “between the legs” shot went wide, he tried to produce another one after the real point had ended. The shot turned into a half court volley between him and Chang. They went back and forth a few times while the fans roared. I bet the umpire enjoyed it, too!
It’s so much enjoyable to watch a game when you don’t care about who wins/loses. I got to admire each player and their tremendous tennis. What a wonderful evening at the Legends match… is all I can say!!!
Oh, cool! I’m so glad that the fans got to crowd in and make some noise together. Sounds like a fun experience.
Everyone loves Stefan Edberg – I saw him walking around the tournament today and as soon as he passed people would say to each other “what a class act.”
Hi everyone! Thanks for the comments – I’m glad you all liked the interview. It was of course a fantastic experience to be able to “chat” with three tennis legends at once. And a little surreal.
Obviously the LA Open is about the ATP main draw and the story of the US Open series. But I think its interesting to have the Legends around to provide perspective and context. Watching guys like Sampras and Edberg serving and volleying and rushing the net at every opportunity reminds us of how dramatically the game has changed in just a short amount of time. It also begs the question – “what’s next?”