Beech Tree News Network

In the ‘90’s, professional tennis gets a shot of adrenaline from a new generation of players.  Skill and style go up while court etiquette goes down. Endorsement deals go through the roof.  But as player celebrity increases and their emotional well-being decreases, the game will cost some players nearly everything.

For decades, tennis was a stodgy country-club sport where the color of clothes and players was the same.  Prodigies like Andre Agassi, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and the Williams sisters inject life into the game and attract bigger audiences than ever before.  While they emerge as the rock stars of tennis, some players will burn out before having the chance to fade away.

While tennis in the ‘80’s had its rivalries and bad boys, players reach a new level of celebrity in the ‘90’s as television focuses as much on the personalities as the matches.  Chef among those players with personality is Andre Agassi.  Born in Las Vegas, Agassi was forced into tennis as a toddler by his father Mike, himself a former Iranian Olympic boxer-turned casino ambassador for the Tropicana Hotel.  According to Andre, his dad was so determined for his then 12-year-old son to become a star player that he administers amphetamines to make Andre more focused during junior matches.

At 13, Andre is shipped off to a tennis academy in Florida run by Nick Bollettieri, former power-trooper turned tennis teacher.  Andre would not be who he was as a player without Nick.  Nick also coached former grand slam champion Boris Becker, Jim Courier and Monica Seles (who we’ll hear about later).  Agassi needed discipline.  Nick locked him in a bus for a whole week in 100-degree weather.  Agassi had an epiphany on that bus and came out with a “I’ll do whatever you want” attitude.  I’m certain you couldn’t employ that tactic today.

In 1986, a 16-year-old Agassi turns pro.  Nike quickly signs the tennis rebel and starts changing the culture of the sport by featuring Andre in some of its biggest ads.  Using Agassi, Nike transforms their business model-selling not just sports gear but the players who wear it.  Agassi’s endorsement deals help attract admirers who would formerly have had nothing to do with tennis.

The marketing of Agassi sparks outrage among tennis media and more traditional tennis fans.  On the women’s side of tennis, Steffi Graf was the one to beat in the ‘90’s.  16 year-old Monica Seles was one of the players gunning for Seles’ position.  In 1990, the teenager becomes the youngest champion in French Open history, winning her first Grand Slam event.  At the end of 1991, after winning three of four grand slam titles, Seles bumps Graf from the #1 spot.  But there’s one fan willing to bump Seles off for good.

On April 30, 1993, this fans obsession became global news and forever changed the sport.  During a match in Hamburg, Germany, Monica Seles was stabbed by Gunter Parche, a fanatical Stefi Graf fan.  Despite making a complete physical recovery, Seles sinks into a depression and develops an eating disorder that takes her off the circuit for two years, costing her the #1 spot.  Her attacker receives a suspended sentence and never spends a day in prison. 

Another teen prodigy of the ‘90’s was Jennifer Capriati.  Even before her professional debut in March 1990, her father has his 13-year-old daughter signed to $5.5 million in sponsorship deals with multiple brands.  This made her the family’s main bread winner.  She even gets a Sega Genisis videogame named after her.  Capriati takes a break from tennis.  Eight months later, she’s arrested for drug possession in a hotel outside of Miami.  With her downfall, people looked for someone to blame.  Capriati became a case study in burn-out.  Her story will become the backdrop to study how all tennis dads treat their children.

Richard Williams taught his daughters Venus and Serena a different approach to tennis far from any private country club courts.  Initially coached by their dad, the Williams sisters steamrolled the Junior Circuit.  Serena was the #1 in the under 10 circuit while undefeated Venus was #1 as an 11-year-old.  Richard enrolls them in a tennis academy but then forbids them from continuing in the junior circuit.  He wanted them to have an education and not think sports was their way out.  Richard held them back from turning pro until he thought they were mentally ready to handle the pressure.  For Venus, that was October 1994’s Bank of the West Classic. 

The media feared the Williams sisters would become the next Jennifer Capriati.  In interviews, they start fishing for signs of future distress.  When ABC journalist John McPherson presses young Venus in 1995 for being perceived as overly confident, her father Richard comes to her defense. 

The international success of young male and female tennis prodigies like Agassi and Capriati mask a reality that not all young players are treated equally.    When Zina Garrison (Runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990) becomes #4 ranked in the world, she still has trouble securing an endorsement deal.  It’ll take until the end of the decade and Venus and Serena Williams, for an African American female tennis player to garner endorsement deals.  I’m surprised it took as long as it did for Dark Side to go the race route in this episode.  They usually go there much sooner. 

This was my least favorite episode of this series.  Not because the stories weren’t interesting, however.  Instead of sticking with one player, telling their story and moving to the next, this episode jumped from one player to another and back again. I tried as best I could to piece them all together.  Only two episodes remain in this season.  Until then, check out my weekly vlog here: https://youtu.be/fa0N3LHexGE?si=KS7zFXX7HOlA87Tu