Tennis News • 10sBalls Website Celebrates 15 years Circling the Globe • Traveling The Tour

By Lovey Jergens
Time flies! Our website came out of thin air. It was a quick let’s just jump right in.

We knew nothing of what we were getting into. No plan. We all just followed our hearts and a man named Gene Scott. My partner was in media 15 years with Gene. I was an old stringer for UPI and then with Tennis Week. Funny we both launched on May 10th. Tennis Week officially in 1974 and 10sBalls.com in 2009. The team jumped the gun on the launch it was to start in 2010. But the site took on a life of its own.

Our passion and eagerness couldn’t be restrained. One of us knew tennis
a-z. The other partner was a great writer who had been with Gene Scott for many years. As for me, Gene was my best friend and mentor. I loved that man and his grin. We first met when I was wasn’t even a teenager. I was contesting my ranking. I needed to be in top ten to get in a “free list” for a racket. He agreed with me and moved me up a place. Within 6 months I was working for him at the Clean Air Classic in Manhattan. Then Rye Town Hilton. Then South Orange Lawn Tennis Club in New Jersey, and on and on…

Gene passed away younger than I am today. It was a sad, sad, sad loss to many of that really knew the essence of Gene. We felt we needed to be a clear and honest voice in the game. How else could we honor Gene? No one could buy our silence.

In retrospect we should have bought Tennis Week from IMG…. (Oh, those
archives) Oh well! We’ve (10sBalls.com) lost many of our archives over the years. But we were working 6/8/10/12/14 hours a day. We were learning about the credentials and trying new things. We sponsored junior tennis at the Easter Bowl and Ojai. We honored the great coaches. We honored great players. We shone a light in the sport with an insider’s point of view. The labor of love through the pandemic. We all tried to help the players with hotel rooms and airfare to Australia and beyond. We kept our staff even though there wasn’t much to report. But as usual we found the obscure. Alix Ramsay’s great stories from England on her news
from the Bins” ” – CLICK HERE TO READ

Or Capt. Tom who became Sir Tom raising money for the British national health care for covid. He pushed his Walker around the driveway daily in honor of the health care workers. CLICK HERE TO READ. (Alix is a brilliant journalist. We are always lucky when she shares a tale with us.)

We had “The Great Master Coach”, Sven Groeneveld writing from his 21 days stuck in a hotel room during an extra dose of quarantine. He was on a flight that had a player that tested Covid positive. We got “insiders” on the inside. CLICK HERE TO READ Tennis is an amazing game. Both my parents played into their 90s. (PB still hit balls last month on her 94th Birthday) They now know it’s truly the sport of a lifetime – really keeps your brain sharp. It’s not nice to knees or hips. But personally, I was always careful not to twist or turn too drastically, my hips and knees are fine. Yes, I suppose we all limp a bit. I’ve made a decent living off the sport but even better I made a great life through my sport.

“Have racket will travel” was what my business card said when I was 18 and I meant it. Flew the coop for Los Angeles. Gene called it La La Land. He saw me flourish on the other coast. We visited often here or there.

Today the media application came for the US Open. The excitement begins! First finding out which team members want to attend and the dates of arrivals and departures. We are all set for Wimbledon – credentials, flights, room bookings. I last went in 2017. It was amazing. I’d missed about 10 years after doing 20 years straight. It felt like home. We literally spent every moment of the day from first practice ball to last ball hit at Wimbledon. No restaurants. No shows. No shopping. No pub hopping. Not even the “Dog and the Fox” what a great pub up in the village of Wimbledon, which was a short jaunt down the road. It was Wimbledon!

It was tennis. A dream come true. Another Wimbledon. Another hit in the grass. Another birthday celebrated in the players restaurant with Max Mirnyi.  Another tournament that RF won. Last year for a brief moment (1 day offered it and pulled off deal overnight) we were going to sell the website. It’s old and has its flaws but it’s still running. So, we are too.

Hard to know where the sport is going. Sadly, it’s very poorly run tours are a mess.

Tennis does not even begin to understand it’s fans, their wants or wishes. The demographics. It’s really never been so lost under such weak leadership. Ticket prices are crazy. Empty stands everywhere. Some tournaments directors get it. Richard Krajicek for one. Yes, he won Wimbledon in 1996. He does a great job in Rotterdam. The event is packed daily. Packed with kids, wheelchair tennis and clinics. Something for everyone. Queens (The Queens Club), is a great event. The club itself is a real gem. The corporate area is very impressive. But there’s nothing that compares to that old clubhouse and its terrace. Their grass is better than
Wimbledon’s. Oh, and their pitchers of Pimms…

Cincy (Cincinnati) is lost. It has been for a few years. Its heart died; a man called Paul Flory.  Since then all we see is greed – once a tourney has to spruce itself to the max and bump all their little booths out of booth land.
To see America lose so many 100 plus year tournaments is shameful. I can’t even count them anymore – Los Angeles, Indianapolis, San Jose, La Costa, Memphis. And Newport and Atlanta ending in 2024!

We don’t do much with social media. We love it but it’s just too much work.

We need to end with some recent fun finds along the road. Freestyle tennis. If you haven’t seen, “The King” it’s Stefan Bojic. Look for him.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stefan Bojic (@stef_bojic)

“The Prince” of freestyle tennis is Diego Decooman. They did a Lacoste promotion together with Guy Forget son Mathieu Forget at the French Open a few years back. Diego is currently in college. And Stefan’s daily posts on Instagram are a highlight of the day. We need a freestyle tennis tournament. Maybe Stefan’s sponsor Red Bull will entertain that thought.

Editor’s Note: We always love supporting Tennis Players that develop their skills and talents in other areas. Here is an example of Melle van Gemerden