Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9203010230
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In his latest book, sports journalist John Feinstein takes readers behind the scenes of professional tennis. Except for the occasional brilliant match, which the author brings vividly to life with his insider's perspective, it is not a pretty place.
Instead, it's a world dominated by money, manipulative and parasitic managers, organizational rivalries and the swollen self-images of spoiled and coddled stars. The book's apt subtitle is "Real Life on the Profe$$ional Tennis Tours." Drugs and sex, though factors in tennis as in other sports, are barely mentioned.
"Hard Courts" spans the 1990 tennis year, beginning with the Australian Open and ending with the Davis Cup competition. All the great tournaments are in between. But the emphasis here is less on play than player, less on grass or clay battlefields than on hidden minefields: the hotel rooms, restaurants, offices and telephone connections where international tennis deals are made.
It's a world in which the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) battles the ITF (International Tennis Federation) for organizational domination of the sport, a world in which the three principal player management companies - IMG (International Management Group), ProServ and Advantage - wage Machiavellian campaigns to win prized clients.
Those clients scornfully refer to the companies as "IMGreedy," "ProSwindle" and "DisAdvantage." At the same time, Feinstein writes, "Every agent has horror stories to tell about players and their families lying, cheating and stealing."
Players accept six-figure guarantees under the table just to lend their presence to a tournament. Some of them then reward their hosts by faking injuries or deliberately losing in an early round, the better to start early practice for a more prestigious event.
While some players barely scrape together a living, others make so much money they think nothing of withdrawing from a tournament that might have brought them half a million dollars.
Professional tennis blesses its superstars with material rewards, but with the riches comes enormous pressure to win the big matches - and grab off the fattest endorsements. The hours of enthusiastic youthful practice give way to drudging months and years of travel and competition, of wheeling and dealing with agents and sporting goods companies, and of still more practice.
Eventually, Feinstein writes, "many players feel trapped by the game they thought they loved . . . As they get older, they look around and realize they know nothing but tennis, the tour life, and all that comes with it."
"It's a totally unreal world we live in," player Yannick Noah told the author. "It's very dangerous to know you can have anything you want. You don't really have a balance after a while.
"I'm 30 years old, and when I quit I will have to make my first real decisions as a man. Up until now, everything in my life has been taken care of for me. In one way, it's nice to be 30 and still be a kid. In another way, it's scary."
Feinstein doesn't apply the literary equivalent of an overhead smash to everyone in professional tennis. While acknowledging the faults of Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, he writes admiringly of the fierce competitiveness of the sport's senior citizens. He tells of generosity and sensitivity on the part of Monica Seles, Jim Courier and Elise Burgin, among other players, and he cites NBC's Dick Enberg and Bud Collins for their unfailing professionalism.
But generosity and true professionalism seem clearly the exception in Feinstain's view. What happens on the hard courts may at times be beautiful, but what goes on off the courts is not so pretty.
Jeff DeBell is a staff writer for this newspaper.
by CNB