Current Biography Excerpts: Tennis

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AGASSI, ANDRE
BECKER, BORIS
EDBERG, STEFAN
GRAF, STEFFI
LENDL, IVAN
MANDLIKOVA, HANA
NOAH, YANNICK
SABATINI, GABRIELA
SAMPRAS, PETE
SELES, MONICA

AGASSI, ANDRE
(AG-uh-see)
Apr. 29, 1970- Tennis player.

Not since Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe dominated the tennis scene has an American player stirred fans the way Andre Agassi has managed to do. With an aggressive topspin forehand, which he hits when the ball is still on the rise, and an equally deadly return of serve, Agassi, at the age of eighteen, won six major tournaments in 1988 and reached the semifinals of both the French and United States Opens, rocketing from number ninety-one, in 1987, to number three in the world rankings. At the same time, he became the tennis world's newest heartthrob and exhibited a flair for on-court dramatics, blowing kisses to the crowd, throwing pairs of his stone-washed denim shorts to spectators, and flicking his long, bleached blond hair. Agassi's earnings in 1988, including tournament wins and product endorsements, totaled over $2 million. But his detractors have continued to wonder if he has real staying power, since he won only two exhibition tournaments in the first ten months of 1989, though he again reached the semifinals of the United States Open, where he lost to Ivan Lend. Ranked number six in the world in late 1989, Agassi has hired a conditioning coach to improve his stamina, and he has worked on varying his strategy away from a predominantly backcourt game. "I am blessed with a talent and I have an obligation to the Lord to make the most of it," he said in a 1988 interview.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1989 Current Biography Yearbook.

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BECKER, BORIS
Nov. 22, 1967- German tennis player.

In his first two years on the professional tennis circuit, Boris Becker climbed from the ranks of the unknowns to number two, behind Ivan Lendl, in the Association of Tennis Professionals' computer ratings. A power player known for his scorching serve, Becker came from nowhere to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1985 with an astonishing display of gutsy, acrobatic shots and composure under pressure. Idolized as a national hero in his homeland of West Germany, he surmounted the stress of celebrity, a punishing tournament schedule, and the "sophomore blues" to repeat as Wimbledon champion in 1986. 1987, however, was a frustrating year for Becker, for he won only two major tournaments. Perhaps his most disappointing defeat came at Wimbledon, where he was ousted in the second round by an unseeded player. As a result of his string of losses, Becker dropped to number four in the world rankings.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1987 Current Biography Yearbook.

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EDBERG, STEFAN
Jan. 19, 1966- Swedish tennis player.

"There is nothing more beautiful or more breathtaking than Stefan Edberg's tennis game when he is on," Alison Muscatine of the Washington Post (September 9, 1991) has declared. "Every stroke is poetic, every movement lyrical." Edberg's quiet, dignified demeanor and graceful athleticism on the court betray none of the determination and desire that have brought the six-foot two-inch, 170-pound right-hander six Grand Slam championships. An aggressive serve-and-volleyer with a delicate touch at the net, Edberg has won fifteen doubles and more than thirty-five singles titles, in addition to helping Sweden capture three Davis Cup trophies. Edberg has held the number-one world ranking on several occasions, and he has been one of the most durable players on the tour, appearing in a record forty-six consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. At his best, Edberg can bewilder even the other top players in the game, as he makes the sport appear effortless by gliding in behind his serves to intercept his opponent's returns with deadly accurate volleys. "At the top of his game...," Joe Gergen wrote in New York Newsday (September 9, 1991), "Stefan Edberg makes tennis seem less a sport than an art form."

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1994 Current Biography Yearbook.

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GRAF, STEFFI
June 14, 1969- West German tennis player.

In 1988 a West German teenager with a ferocious forehand and an iron will joined the tennis world's most elite group when she took the titles in the Australian, French, and United States Opens and at Wimbledon to become a Grand Slam champion. Only the fifth person--the other four being Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court Smith, and Rod Laver--to sweep the four events in a calendar year (Martina Navratilova won the four titles in succession, but not in the same year), Steffi Graf capped what many aficionados of the game believe to be the finest year ever in tennis by winning a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics, thus becoming the first player to capture the "Golden Slam," as her business managers called it. Moreover, she won her four Slam crowns on four different surfaces: rubberized Rebound Ace hardcourt in Australia, slow red clay in France, fast grass in England, and hard DecoTurf II in the United States. The other Grand Slam champions played all but the French Open tournament on grass.

Winless on the women's professional tour until 1986, Steffi Graf has been virtually unbeatable since, as she vaulted in the computer rankings from twenty-second at the end of 1984 to number one in mid-1987.Since taking her first Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1986, she has lost only nine matches to three players--four to Martina Navratilova, three to Gabriela Sabatini, one to Pam Shriver, and one to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. In addition to her intimidating topspin forehand, which is widely considered to be the best in the history of women's tennis, Graf possesses an explosive serve, a devastating slice backhand, and consistently strong ground strokes, and because of her astonishing speed, her court coverage is unparalleled. Combining athleticism and sheer physical power with a no-nonsense on-court demeanor reminiscent of Bjorn Borg and with what Arthur Ashe calls "snap," she simply overwhelms her hapless opponents. "I think she can do pretty much anything," Martina Navratilova said recently.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1989 Current Biography Yearbook.

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LENDL, IVAN
(LEN-duhl, ee-VAHN)
Mar. 7, 1960- Czech tennis player.

With his stunning, come-from-behind victory over John McEnroe, currently top-ranked internationally, in the final of the 1984 French Open, Ivan Lendl overcame a major hurdle in his bid to become the world's finest tennis player. Twice the winner of the prestigious Volvo Grand Prix Masters tournament and the victor in countless lesser events over the past four years, the moody Czech right-hander had failed in every previous attempt to capture a title in the French, British, American, or Australian national championships--the four tournaments that comprise tennis's "Grand Slam." Despite his having led his country to its only Davis Cup championship, his string of forty-four consecutive victories in match play, and his domination of McEnroe, Lendl was not satisfied until his victory in Paris. "I've won I don't know how many tournaments in my career," he said in an interview in mid-1983, "and I would give them all away for a Wimbledon, French, or United States Open."

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1984 Current Biography Yearbook.

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MANDLIKOVA, HANA
(mahnd-LEE-koh-vah, HAH-nah)
Feb. 1962- Czech tennis player.

Hana Mandlikova has been called, by no less an authority than three-time Wimbledon singles champion John Newcombe, "one of the most natural athletes" in women's tennis. Because of her grace and agility on the court, the young Czech righthander has often been compared to Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Maria Bueno; others have seen in her relentless serve-and-volleying traces of Martina Navratilova. But her daring and extraordinary stroke versatility, including unusually lethal serves, backhand topspin lobs, and flat forehands, put her in a class by herself as one of the few players with the skills to challenge the seemingly indestructible Chris Evert Lloyd and Martina Navratilova, who between them have dominated women's tennis for more than a decade. The victor in countless lesser events over the past few years, Miss Mandlikova has won three Grand Slam crowns, including the 1985 United States Open championship, which she took with stunning back-to-back defeats of Mrs. Lloyd and Miss Navratilova. Miss Mandlikova has also helped her homeland to three consecutive Federation Cup titles, most recently in October 1985.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1986 Current Biography Yearbook.

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NOAH, YANNICK
May 18, 1960- French tennis player.

Blessed with what no less an authority than Arthur Ashe has called "the ideal physique for tennis," Yannick Noah is arguably the most gifted athlete playing the sport today. He is a master of the serve-and-volley game, intimidating his opponents with his imposing height, speed, agility, and acrobatic shot-making. His formidable arsenal includes an explosive serve, a deceptive, dancing drop shot, and an overhead that has been described as the "most spectacular" in men's tennis. When he won the French Open in 1983, becoming the first Frenchman to wear that coveted Grand Slam crown in thirty-seven years, Noah seemed to be on the verge of greatness, but he has yet to fulfill his promise. Troubled by personal problems and repeatedly sidelined by debilitating injuries, he did not win a single major tournament between June 1983 and May 1985, when he took the Italian Open title. Since then, he has added a clutch of Grand Prix championships to his win list and reclaimed his place among the top ten players on the international men's tour.

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1987 Current Biography Yearbook.

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SABATINI, GABRIELA
(sah-bah-TEE-nee, gah-bree-AY-luh)
May 16, 1970- Argentine tennis player.

When she took the United States Open title in September 1990, Gabriela Sabatini finally came into her own as one of the world's top women tennis players, although she has yet to achieve the number-one ranking. In 1991 she had the best record on the women's tour, and she defeated Steffi Graf, her longtime nemesis, five times in a row. Under the watchful eye of her new coach, Carlos Kirmayr, whom she hired following her demoralizing early exit at the 1990 French Open, Sabatini developed a more complete game, especially at the net, and greatly improved her endurance and mental toughness. Her impressive record over the past two years not only restored her shaken self-confidence but also dispelled the once-widespread notion that she lacked the talent and initiative to become a serious contender for the Grand Slam titles. As Robin Finn noted in an article for the New York Times (April 13, 1991), Sabatini had "transformed herself from a perennial also-ran into a firebrand and enhanced her baseliner's topspin with a picturesque blend of volleys, lobs and drop shots."

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1992 Current Biography Yearbook.

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SAMPRAS, PETE
Aug. 12, 1971- Tennis player.

At the 1990 U.S. Open tennis championship, Pete Sampras, an unheralded nineteen-year-old twelfth seed, stunned the tennis world when he used his overpowering serve to dominate the field on his way to becoming the youngest champion in the prestigious tournament's history. Although he was unable to match his Open performance in any other Grand Slam event over the next two years, the young right-hander entrenched himself among the game's top players, and in April 1993 he attained the number-one ranking in the world. He validated that position by winning four of the next five majors--Wimbledon in 1993 and 1994, the 1993 U.S. Open, and the 1994 Australian Open--and by amassing the largest points lead in the history of the rankings. In addition to his five major titles, Sampras has won numerous other tournaments and over $10 million in prize money over the course of his career.

Sampras's main weapon is a serve that can reach speeds of up to 130 miles per hour. The power and consistency of his serve put opponents on the defensive and allow him to dictate the flow and pace of his matches. The ferocity of his serve-and-volley game is in stark contrast to his quiet, professional demeanor, which has been part of his makeup since, as a youngster in southern California, he began his well-planned rise to the top. "I want to try to bring to tennis the nice, clean-cut American image," he told Ronald Atkin of the London Observer (November 4, 1990). "I want to be a good role model so that kids will say they want to grow up to be Pete Sampras." Complimenting Sampras's dominating play and unsullied character, George Vecsey wrote in the New York Times (September 13, 1993), "It is just possible we have a latter-day classic on our hands."

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1994 Current Biography Yearbook.

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SELES, MONICA
(SEL-uhs)
Dec. 2, 1973- Yugoslav tennis player.

The youngest woman to win the French and Australian Opens, Monica Seles, a teenage phenom from Yugoslavia, reached the pinnacle of women's tennis at the age of seventeen in 1991, when she dethroned Steffi Graf to become the youngest number-one-ranked player in the history of the game. Seles has won nearly 90 percent of her professional matches, and she is the first woman in more than fifty years to win three consecutive French Opens. A ferocious competitor, she has gained notoriety for emitting loud--and, some would say, distracting--grunts while unleashing her unorthodox, yet devastating, two-handed forehands and backhands. "She puts more pressure on you from the baseline than anyone I've ever played against," Martina Navratilova, one of the top players in the history of women's tennis, has declared, as quoted by Robin Finn in the New York Times (November 25, 1991). "Because she hits it on both sides, you never rest. With Monica, you don't really have an opening. You can't relax for one second with her. She is very, very mentally tough, and the points don't last long."

The complete article can be found on the Current Biography CD-ROM and in the 1992 Current Biography Yearbook.

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