I was a young teenager when Evert and Connors burst onto the scene in the early/mid 70's. I grew up in a really small (small Class D) town in Michigan so we did not have a tennis team. I played a lot of other sports but really loved tennis and started with a Jack Kramer wooden racket when I was about 14 or 15 and would hit balls with anyone I could find that could hit them back.
Started playing a lot more in college and I've been in California for 30 years so played a lot here of course. I have not hit a ball in 6 years -- total hip replacement in December on 2019. When my hip started to hurt tennis was the first thing to go because I could still trail run and do a lot of other activities to stay in shape. But, I am going to hit for the first time with a friend next week and can't wait.
With no tennis on TV for 3 months I've been watching some matches on Youtube in the evenings. Evert and Connors were my favorite growing up and I had forgotten how good some of the Evert v. Navratilova matches were. There are plenty of them to watch on Youtube. Really a different playing style than now due to rackets and strings but some of those matches are really good and compelling. Kind of fun to watch some of the matches from the 70's with wood rackets and Eastern grip forehands. One of the best matches is the 85 French (Evert) and the 84 US Open is pretty good too. (Navratilova). There is also a 10 minute highlight clip on Youtube of Evert at 16 in the second round of the US Open where she saved 6 match points and made it to the semi's which was unheard of for someone so young back then. The beginning of 33 straight semi's in grand slams which is incredible.
Started playing a lot more in college and I've been in California for 30 years so played a lot here of course. I have not hit a ball in 6 years -- total hip replacement in December on 2019. When my hip started to hurt tennis was the first thing to go because I could still trail run and do a lot of other activities to stay in shape. But, I am going to hit for the first time with a friend next week and can't wait.
With no tennis on TV for 3 months I've been watching some matches on Youtube in the evenings. Evert and Connors were my favorite growing up and I had forgotten how good some of the Evert v. Navratilova matches were. There are plenty of them to watch on Youtube. Really a different playing style than now due to rackets and strings but some of those matches are really good and compelling. Kind of fun to watch some of the matches from the 70's with wood rackets and Eastern grip forehands. One of the best matches is the 85 French (Evert) and the 84 US Open is pretty good too. (Navratilova). There is also a 10 minute highlight clip on Youtube of Evert at 16 in the second round of the US Open where she saved 6 match points and made it to the semi's which was unheard of for someone so young back then. The beginning of 33 straight semi's in grand slams which is incredible.