[OESY]

Mr. Hart is professor of English emeritus at Dartmouth College. A longer version of this essay appeared in the summer 2004 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.

Don Budge and Bobby Riggs knew how to behave on the court.

[Voltage]

The epitome of this was John McEnroe, a very great player, also a barbaric brat.

Has his joke of a cable show hit a zero viewership rating yet?

[CatoRenasci]

Tennis players were gentlemen before the big money game in the 1960s. My father was a top level amateur player in California from the 1920s through the mid-1950s, having played at UC Berkeley in the late 1920's. He played, at one time or another, most of the top players of that era: almost all of the amatuers who came to the West Coast and most of the professionals, including Tilden, Riggs, Vines, Lacoste (who used to send him his shirts without the alligator logo because my dad wouldn't wear logos), Budge, etc. as well as many of the great women players of those days. I met some of these guys in the late '50s and early '60s when they were in the area and my dad would warm them up (the pros) or play with them. While a very few were from wealthy backgrounds, most weren't. It was truly an aristocracy of talent.

[Malesherbes]

1968. Not a good year. Just ask John Kerry about his adventures in Cambodia on Christmas 1968.

[HitmanLV]

One of my prized possessions is an autographed cover of Sports Illusutrated from the early '70s - 'Bobby Riggs - Don't Bet Against This Man.'

Great conversation starter!

[MHT]

Stan Smith--the ultimate class act of tennis--what a gentleman (and a scholar!).

[nickcarraway]

Maybe too polite, to strangers

[RightWingNut]

Don't you miss Ilie Nastase ??

Always fun to watch. Also a very good tennis player.

People started watching tennis when Nastase, Connors,and McEnroe were in their prime. (There were also some great tennis players who were better behaved also. Lendl, Borg, etc, but for pure enjoyment, nothing beats Ilie !!)

[john_virtue]

It's no secret why these guys aren't gentlemen anymore...they're all card-carrying spoiled liberals. Just check the public record!

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/hof.php?#SPORTS-TENNIS
(click names, right-hand column)

[socal_parrot]

What about big Bill Tilden? There was a man's man.


Literally.

[raybbr]

Pete Sampras... seemed to have a sense of his place in tennis history, his demeanor good except for a slouching pout when things went badly.

This guy clearly knows nothing about Sampras. Sampras is a spoiled brat, egotistical and cares nothing about the sport of tennis other than what it provides him.