Fifty years ago this summer, Open tennis came to Wimbledon, and the sport changed hands for good
In the summer of 1968, Abe Segal drove to London’s Heathrow Airport to pick up friends from his native South Africa. Big Abie, as he was known, had been one of the most flamboyant characters on tennis’ amateur circuit, and at 37 he had lost none of his irreverent joie de vivre. He showed up in a Rolls Royce and greeted his compatriots, as one of them recalled, “wearing a pair of pink trousers and the kind of wide eternal grin which suggests champagne for lunch and the prospect of a thousand hearty laughs.”
Segal, in truth, was only keeping up with the times, and the place. This was the Swinging London of the late-’60s, home to mods, miniskirts and supermodels; hippies, gurus, the Beatles and the Stones. During that decade, as post-war austerity gave way to baby-boom hedonism, England’s capital had undergone a metamorphosis. The land of Churchill was now the land of Twiggy.
“Place has gone mad,” Segal said, climbing back into the Rolls.
Segal gave his friends a taste of the delirium in London’s streets, which were drenched in psychedelic hues and blaring acid-rock. While other Western cities had been rocked by rebellions that summer, London was having a party—the Youthquake, it was called. The song that topped England’s charts in June wasn’t a protest anthem; it was the Rolling Stones’ pulverizing hymn to liberation, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Mick Jagger’s exuberant howl—It’s all right now, in fact it’s a gas—was inescapable as Segal passed those teeming arteries of trendiness, Carnaby Street and King’s Road.
“There’s madness here, a sort of happy irresponsible insanity,” said Segal’s doubles partner, Gordon Forbes. “A bomb attack on the mind.”
Denne historien er fra Jul/Aug 2018-utgaven av Tennis.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra Jul/Aug 2018-utgaven av Tennis.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The Tennis Conversation: Jenson Brooksby, a piano man
Billy Joel may be a New York City icon, but the fans in Queens should start getting to know this piano man
The Five-Step Sit-Down Plan
Don’t neglect the value of a smart changeover routine
MAKING THE TURN
Six years after saying goodbye to the protour grind, Mardy Fish may be more active than ever—on the court, on the course, and helping combat a struggle anyone can encounter
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Queens is known for its gastronomy as much as its tennis. Daniil Medvedev, equal parts sugar and spice, hopes to add a unique flavor to the borough as he vies for his first major
SUMMER IN THE CITIES
Broadway may not re-open until mid September, but tennis offers its own brand of live theatre in the preceding months
REOPEN SEASON
The pandemic halted tennis as an up-close experience— but is now giving way to pandemonium among crowds. As the pro game reopens this summer and fans gather again, we’re realizing what we’ve been missing for so long
Court of Appeals
Resolving Your Rules Questions&Quarrels
An Open Mind: New York's Slam has no shortage of history, but it always evolves
In the last decade, Arthur Ashe Stadium got a roof, and a new Grandstand and Louis Armstrong Stadium debuted.
Those Fall Feels
The end of summer may be bittersweet, but getting lost amid the backroads of NEW ENGLAND adds a silver—and golden—lining to the season change. Pack a few sweaters along with your tennis kit and prepare for leaf-peeping, scenic drives and delicious autumnal ingredients to pair with your forehands
Court of Appeals
Resolving Your Rules Questions & Quarrels