Bigger is better. Height makes might. The good big man beats the good little man. More than ever, these maxims apply to pro tennis today. Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, both 6’6” tall, look likely to dethrone Novak Djokovic in 2022 or 2023. In the US Open final, No. 2-ranked Medvedev foiled Djokovic’s bid for a Grand Slam, while Zverev captured the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and overpowered Medvedev in the final of the ATP Finals.
“Tennis is so much like basketball in terms of cutting and moving and a little bit of jumping.” — Basketball legend Michael Jordan, a spectator at the 2014 US Open, in a stadium interview with Pam Shriver
Do you enjoy other sports besides tennis? I live in Massachusetts and playing tennis almost every day isn’t feasible in the winter. So I’ve added indoor basketball and ping-pong to my sporting life. Both sports are a lot of fun, but they also help my tennis, in addition to staying in good physical condition. Both are fast-paced, moving-ball sports that enhance hand-eye coordination and several other abilities and skills required in tennis.
“I want to reach absolute perfection. And I think I can reach it.”
– Steffi Graf, owner of the unique “Golden Slam” in 1988, and the only player to win each Grand Slam title at least four times.
People occasionally ask me who my favorite player is. I always answer that a tennis journalist can’t have favorite players because that would compromise his objectivity and fairness. Then I add that I do admire certain attributes of all elite players.
