Hall of fame tennis coach Steve Wilkinson rousted the Gustavus Adolphus Black Team early for the long van ride to Grambling, Louisiana. The day’s match represented a daunting task because the Black Team was the junior varsity from the Division III school facing off against Grambling’s Division II varsity.
The team understood that Grambling was a primarily black school and I’m sure that jangled the nerves of some on our lily white roster. After all, just...
40 years ago the cover of Time Magazine blared: “Sex and Tennis”. In many major cities, tennis mixers served as the Match.com of the era. At Lakeshore Racquet Club in Chicago, Friday and Saturday nights were reserved as swinger nights, where seven bucks got you into a mixer with three couples on one court, ensuring you had plenty of time to court your partners. Life Time Athletic in Eden Prairie (formerly Flagship) offered the same mixer opportunities with their own bar just steps away. Noted fashion designer Oleg Cassini was riding a tidal wave of tennis clothing sales when he told Time: “90 percent of the men who play tennis with...
Wednesday at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, the world said goodbye to Mardy Fish as a professional tennis player. Minnesota tennis fans were especially affected by Fish's decision because of his upbringing in the area.
Fish grew up in Edina and learned to play tennis in Minnesota before moving to Boca Raton, Florida for his last few years of high school. He is an avid Minnesota Vikings fan (even
blowing the Gjallarhorn in 2008).
In the first round of this year's U.S. Open, Fish was able...
