Fred Perry interviewed in Eliot Berry's book "Topspin"

Gonzalito17 · 01-12-2013, 05:54 PM

Love these excerpts from the Berry book with Fred Perry...

Berry had to work for it though. "Look. I'm sorry. I just can't talk to you know," said Perry. "SKY TV wants me this afternoon. This German TV crew thinks I can open the door for them at Wimbledon if I let them interview me this morning but I can't and I won't. I'm doing BBC radio at noon for the rest of the day. It's just not a good time to talk."

"I smiled," wrote Berry. "And I think that smile, while he was trying to blow me away with his verbal serve and volley, got to him. Then he stared at my blue shirt: a Fred Perry."

"Oh, all right," Fred Perry said. "But I can give you five minutes. No more. Let's go down to the BBC studios, if we can find one down there that's free."

Here is some of what Fred Perry told Eliot Berry during that interview...

"Look. This game is not complicated. If there is no footwork, there is no tennis. If you're not secure in your footwork, you're in trouble."

"I played over 300 matches with (Bill Tilden)."

"To me...when you talk about the best player I ever saw...I say Bill Tilden. These professional boys today do not realize how much they owe to Tilden. He WAS tennis. He won this tournament (Wimbledon) three times. He only played here four times. The first professional, about 1928, was Suzanne Lenglen, the French girl, who got $25,000. They toured in the U.S. with Murray K. Brown, Vincent Richards, who had won the Olympics in Paris in 1924, and the Tinsey Brothers. They first year they made money. The second year they broke even and the promoter said, That's it. It was 1929 and the stock market crashed. The next year Tilden turned pro anyway after winning Wimbledon, and he really started the pro circuit as it is known today."

Outstanding feature of Tilden's game?

"His head. When you played Tilden, you had to think," said Perry without hesitation. "I learned a great deal from him. See, when you played Bill, you never got anything you wanted. If you wanted it low, he gave it to you high. If you wanted it wide, he gave it to you close. If you wanted it fast he gave it to you slow. If you wanted to talk, he shut up. If you wanted to play silently, he talked. You were always thinking, and you had to think against Tilden."

Thoughts on modern tennis?

"Today's game, because of the equipment which limits them to certain things, is lacking a bit of thought. They use the technology to the absolute utmost for their own game, which is wonderful in its way. They play extremely well. But there are certain things they just cannot do any more with this equipment. We could never play like they do with our equipment, but they can't play like we did with our equipment because we had to work for the opening much more. They can force it. Now when you force something and you make mistakes, you fall over. We never used to fall over. We never knew where the ball was going to come back; we knew where it wasn't going to come back. See, we had the fellow on the run by the time he moved in. It's a different ballgame completely. The tournament tennis played today is show business. You're advertising this, you're advertising that. At the age of 20 you have a manager, you've got a lawyer, you've got a coach and a trainer, you've got a mother, you've got a father, a girlfriend. It's an absolute business. They are extremely lucky today. And basically they owe it all to Bill Tilden."

Stay tuned for Part 2 where Perry tells Berry about how an ankle sprain wrecked his grand slam achievement, how Tilden was still perfecting his game at age 53, Don Budge insights, and more...

Excerpts from "Topspin" by Eliot Berry, Henry Holt & Company, 1996.

urban · 01-12-2013, 10:25 PM

Thats a very good tennis book by Eliot Berry, who died i think several years ago, with good interviews, a Laver-Rosewall double interview for instance, and some really good match descriptions. Mainly, Berry is following Edberg in the 1994 season, when Stefan was in decline, but still gave some good performances. He played Agassi in the summer heat in the US, when Agassi almost died on the ultra hot court, because he wore all black clothes.

Gonzalito17 · 01-14-2013, 03:45 PM

Agree with you Urba, it's one of the most entertaining and riveting tennis books I've ever read. So many highlight moments in there.

pc1 · 01-14-2013, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzalito17

Agree with you Urba, it's one of the most entertaining and riveting tennis books I've ever read. So many highlight moments in there.

I actually got Eliot Berry's phone number shortly after the book was published and complimented him on the book. Spoke to him a number of times on the phone and he seemed like a very nice men. Never got to meet him in person.

Gonzalito17 · 01-15-2013, 04:45 AM

PC, I emailed with him too but then he passed away before I could set up a chance to meet and get together. Underrated writer IMO. Topspin is a modern classic. Tough Draw is excellent too.

Flash O'Groove · 01-15-2013, 04:55 AM

His comments about today's game are very interesting!

forzamilan90 · 01-15-2013, 05:17 AM

Fred Perry's alright. Great sneakers line.

Gonzalito17 · 01-15-2013, 05:24 AM

Tennis is show biz!

Moose Malloy · 01-15-2013, 08:56 AM

Quote:

His comments about today's game are very interesting!

The comments are on tennis in 1994, not today. Fred Perry died in 1995.

pc1 · 01-15-2013, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzalito17

PC, I emailed with him too but then he passed away before I could set up a chance to meet and get together. Underrated writer IMO. Topspin is a modern classic. Tough Draw is excellent too.

We were suppose to meet and just hang out and watch tennis videos but we never worked out a time.

01-12-2013, 05:54 PM	#1
Gonzalito17 Professional Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Bradenton, FL Posts: 1,008	Fred Perry interviewed in Eliot Berry's book "Topspin" Love these excerpts from the Berry book with Fred Perry... Berry had to work for it though. "Look. I'm sorry. I just can't talk to you know," said Perry. "SKY TV wants me this afternoon. This German TV crew thinks I can open the door for them at Wimbledon if I let them interview me this morning but I can't and I won't. I'm doing BBC radio at noon for the rest of the day. It's just not a good time to talk." "I smiled," wrote Berry. "And I think that smile, while he was trying to blow me away with his verbal serve and volley, got to him. Then he stared at my blue shirt: a Fred Perry." "Oh, all right," Fred Perry said. "But I can give you five minutes. No more. Let's go down to the BBC studios, if we can find one down there that's free." Here is some of what Fred Perry told Eliot Berry during that interview... "Look. This game is not complicated. If there is no footwork, there is no tennis. If you're not secure in your footwork, you're in trouble." "I played over 300 matches with (Bill Tilden)." "To me...when you talk about the best player I ever saw...I say Bill Tilden. These professional boys today do not realize how much they owe to Tilden. He WAS tennis. He won this tournament (Wimbledon) three times. He only played here four times. The first professional, about 1928, was Suzanne Lenglen, the French girl, who got $25,000. They toured in the U.S. with Murray K. Brown, Vincent Richards, who had won the Olympics in Paris in 1924, and the Tinsey Brothers. They first year they made money. The second year they broke even and the promoter said, That's it. It was 1929 and the stock market crashed. The next year Tilden turned pro anyway after winning Wimbledon, and he really started the pro circuit as it is known today." Outstanding feature of Tilden's game? "His head. When you played Tilden, you had to think," said Perry without hesitation. "I learned a great deal from him. See, when you played Bill, you never got anything you wanted. If you wanted it low, he gave it to you high. If you wanted it wide, he gave it to you close. If you wanted it fast he gave it to you slow. If you wanted to talk, he shut up. If you wanted to play silently, he talked. You were always thinking, and you had to think against Tilden." Thoughts on modern tennis? "Today's game, because of the equipment which limits them to certain things, is lacking a bit of thought. They use the technology to the absolute utmost for their own game, which is wonderful in its way. They play extremely well. But there are certain things they just cannot do any more with this equipment. We could never play like they do with our equipment, but they can't play like we did with our equipment because we had to work for the opening much more. They can force it. Now when you force something and you make mistakes, you fall over. We never used to fall over. We never knew where the ball was going to come back; we knew where it wasn't going to come back. See, we had the fellow on the run by the time he moved in. It's a different ballgame completely. The tournament tennis played today is show business. You're advertising this, you're advertising that. At the age of 20 you have a manager, you've got a lawyer, you've got a coach and a trainer, you've got a mother, you've got a father, a girlfriend. It's an absolute business. They are extremely lucky today. And basically they owe it all to Bill Tilden." Stay tuned for Part 2 where Perry tells Berry about how an ankle sprain wrecked his grand slam achievement, how Tilden was still perfecting his game at age 53, Don Budge insights, and more... Excerpts from "Topspin" by Eliot Berry, Henry Holt & Company, 1996. __________________ Dolgopolov Marcelo Rios Volkl Yonex NB atptour.com Guga Djokovic Radwanska Serena Bradenton Tennis-prose.com Woz Tomic BBaker Fred Perry Key Biscayne

01-14-2013, 03:45 PM	#3
Gonzalito17 Professional Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Bradenton, FL Posts: 1,008	Agree with you Urba, it's one of the most entertaining and riveting tennis books I've ever read. So many highlight moments in there. __________________ Dolgopolov Marcelo Rios Volkl Yonex NB atptour.com Guga Djokovic Radwanska Serena Bradenton Tennis-prose.com Woz Tomic BBaker Fred Perry Key Biscayne

01-15-2013, 04:45 AM	#5
Gonzalito17 Professional Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Bradenton, FL Posts: 1,008	PC, I emailed with him too but then he passed away before I could set up a chance to meet and get together. Underrated writer IMO. Topspin is a modern classic. Tough Draw is excellent too. __________________ Dolgopolov Marcelo Rios Volkl Yonex NB atptour.com Guga Djokovic Radwanska Serena Bradenton Tennis-prose.com Woz Tomic BBaker Fred Perry Key Biscayne

01-15-2013, 05:17 AM	#7
forzamilan90 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: The Black Lodge Posts: 3,992	Fred Perry's alright. Great sneakers line. __________________ The Black Lodge Military Visionary at your service...

01-15-2013, 05:24 AM	#8
Gonzalito17 Professional Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Bradenton, FL Posts: 1,008	Tennis is show biz! __________________ Dolgopolov Marcelo Rios Volkl Yonex NB atptour.com Guga Djokovic Radwanska Serena Bradenton Tennis-prose.com Woz Tomic BBaker Fred Perry Key Biscayne