With the US Tennis Open Grand Slam tournament going on in New York this week, I’d like to go back 39 years ago, in 1987 when I was able to visit this prestigious place with another priest Fr Paul Driscoll, who was a great fan of tennis. In fact he would take his vacation time during these 2 weeks, and he would be there from 11 AM, when the doors open until the early hours of the morning the next day, whenever the last game ends. Curiously enough Fr Paul became so familiar with the security guys that they gave him a reserved parking space. Going into the complex, he was treated like a VIP. On any given day, we would roam around and follow the outer courts as well as the big stadium. The Unisphere was also a major attraction, as you can see from 2 photos. Then at the training courts, we would watch various player up close and personal, practicing before their scheduled games. As you can see from these photo, I followed John McEnroe, who was still at the peak of his career back then in 1987. The level of tennis has increased tremendously since then, and the new stars are reaching levels of aggressive tennis like we’re never seen before. From McEnroe and Connors, from Becker to Lendl, from Sampras to Agassi, from Federer to Nadal, from Djokovic to Murray and the two present superstars, Sinner and Alcaraz. And the trio of new Americans, Shelton, Fritz and Tiafoe. (Click to enlarge these photos)
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