Now that Confessions of an Ageing Tennis Player has been published, we’ve had a few comments from people remembering fondly – and sometimes not so fondly – their experiences of playing tennis when they were younger (and not so younger).
Consequently, this webpage – the ATP Locker Room – aims to collect and share memories of anyone who has experienced tennis in whatever capacity – player, observer, wannabee, whatever you like.
So, if you have something you want to get off your tennis chest, then this is the place to do it! (All you need to do is buy a copy of the book here, and then share those memories with us and we’ll add them to the Locker Room.
We start with some recollections from Roy (RFW):
“I seem to remember in my teens seeing the male French tennis player Jean Borotra at Wimbledon playing doubles in his white long trousers, he would be in his forties then… but I fear my mind has been playing tricks!! He did not appear at Wimbledon in the post-war years so I can only assume that I may have seen him in action on historic cinema newsreels or in bygone newspaper photographs. He did become a doubles champion at Wimbledon pre-war among other successes. So much for memories!!
I also recollect watching a superb semi-final singles match at Wimbledon in the Seventies between the Americans Jimmy Connors and Vitas Gerulaitis in my local pub The Rose and Crown at Morley: this was on the black and white small screen TV in the days before the advent of the large screen colour TV.”
Thank you Roy. As you say, so much for memories. They’re tricky things and responsible for a lot of mischief!