No Sweat

For too long, the sport has allowed the relationship between players and ballpersons to go unregulated. At this point, it’s an unwritten rule that the ballpersons must do whatever the pros tell them. The most obvious—and gross—example is towel-fetching.

- Stephen Tignor

Last summer Tennis Channel re-ran several classic Wimbledon finals. Among the best was the 1977 title match between Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors. As entertaining as their rallies were, though, it was what the Swede and the American did between points that was more amazing: whenever they were thirsty, they walked over to a water cooler, picked up a cup, poured a drink and drank it.

Hard to imagine these days, isn’t it? Tennis has evolved, or devolved, to the point where players walk on court, plant themselves in a chair and demand all manner of accoutrements —bananas, water bottles, ice packs, restrung racquets, new shoes—that the ballpersons nearby feel dutybound to deliver to them.