What year did you start watching tennis?

MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Just thought it would be nice for everyone to know where we all come from as far as when we got into tennis. If you started watching at a different time before you followed it RELIGIOUSLY, list both please. For me I started watching in 2002. The first tournament I remember watching start to finish was 2003 Wimbledon, I remember after each round, the commentators kept mentioning "Federer" was still in it, beginning of an era, we had no idea. I started watching religiously in 2006 (Nadal got my interest), though I did watch the AO in 2005 and a few other tournaments in between. What about you?
 
SystemicAnomaly

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
One of my earliest childhood memories is seeing Pancho Gonzales playing (on a small black and white TV back) in the mid-1950s (perhaps 1956 or so). Did not pick up the sport and start watching in earnest until 1973 (in color). The primary tennis commentator back then was Bud Collins.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
2011 Australian Open,Novak is the best player I've ever seen.I didn't even know why was there such a big fuss about that Swiss Tarantino lookalike(Novak was spanking him in straights so I just didn't get it)until RG SF,then I realized that he might have actually been a solid player long time ago.
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
1990 Queen's Club was the proper start for me. I tried to find out as much about the history of the sport as I could after that, which was rather difficult in that pre-internet age. Getting Sky TV in the weeks before the 1991 French Open was a huge help. There was only one Sky Sports channel back then. Sue Barker was on Sky in those days with Des Lynam on the BBC.
 
Satch

Satch

Hall of Fame
zagor said:
2011 Australian Open,Novak is the best player I've ever seen.I didn't even know why was there such a big fuss about that Swiss Tarantino lookalike(Novak was spanking him in straights so I just didn't get it)until RG SF,then I realized that he might have actually been a solid player long time ago.
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ahahahaha lol

bravo matori :)
 
E

Emet74

Professional
To answer straight:

When I was a kid in the 80's. Remember cheering Hana Mandlikova's win at the US Open; I always liked the talented but somewhat nervous players like her which explains a bit why I am a Fed fan, though he went on to be successful way beyond my wildest expectations . . .

First wimby I watched through was Boris Becker's surprise win in 1985, got hooked and watched religiously every year since :)
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Mustard said:
1990 Queen's Club was the proper start for me. I tried to find out as much about the history of the sport as I could after that, which was rather difficult in that pre-internet age. Getting Sky TV in the weeks before the 1991 French Open was a huge help. There was only one Sky Sports channel back then. Sue Barker was on Sky in those days with Des Lynam on the BBC.
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How old are u bro?
 
GOAT BAAH!!!

GOAT BAAH!!!

Professional
1996....was a kid and the Sampras/Agassi nike ads really peaked my interest. I followed the sport loosely till about 2001 then got bored with the interim period and it's meh champions...

Really got into it and started playing in 05.
 
Hood_Man

Hood_Man

G.O.A.T.
My earliest tennis memory is seeing Cliff Richard singing at Wimbledon during a rain delay, which I think was 1996.

Mostly I watched it to see how Tiger Tim was doing, and believe it or not I wasn't really aware of who Pete Sampras was (seriously). It wasn't until 2003 that I started watching more regularly, and it wasn't until 2006 that I was able to watch the whole tournament from start to finish, having finished my A-Levels about a week before it started.

I do remember a few matches from 2005 though, one of them I think was Federer's match against Kiefer, where Federer double faulted twice in a row through nerves. It could have been in the tiebreak because I remember it was on an important point.

And of course Murray's progress to the third round. I was so disappointed to see him lose to Nalbandian after being 2 sets to 0 up, but of course he was young then, and had already had a terrific tournament.

My first non Wimbledon tennis match was the 2008 French Open final. Considering how invincible Federer looked like to me up until that point, you can imagine how I must have felt...

2008 was when I really started watching all year round though. It was that year when I discovered live streaming sites on the internet.

So yeah, not as long as some of you guys certainly, but that memory from 1996 is such a nice one that I don't mind :)
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
MichaelNadal said:
How old are u bro?
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I'm 27. I was 6 at the time of 1990 Queen's Club. I've always been into watching a lot of sports, especially tennis, football (soccer), darts, boxing and snooker. I was into sport as much as children's programmes when I was a kid and always remember being annoyed when my parents and grandparents wouldn't know an answer to some of my questions about some rules of the game or the history of the game.

Muster became my favourite player after Sky Sports showed a tennis programme which featured the 1990 Davis Cup match between Muster and Agassi. It was a beatdown :)
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Mustard said:
I'm 27. I was 6 at the time of 1990 Queen's Club. I've always been into watching a lot of sports, especially tennis, football (soccer), darts, boxing and snooker. I was into sport as much as children's programmes when I was a kid and always remember being annoyed when my parents and grandparents wouldn't know an answer to some of my questions about some rules of the game or the history of the game.

Muster became my favourite player after Sky Sports showed a tennis programme which featured the 1990 Davis Cup match between Muster and Agassi. It was a beatdown :)
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Oh cool, I wish I got into it earlier. Im 25 so I suppose I was 14 when I first started watching and 20 when it became an all the time/religious thing.
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
MichaelNadal said:
Oh cool, I wish I got into it earlier. Im 25 so I suppose I was 14 when I first started watching and 20 when it became an all the time/religious thing.
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It helps that my family regularly watched tennis, although they weren't huge fanatics or anything. They always got engrossed in Queen's Club and Wimbledon and I was hungry for more tennis, but the BBC only cared about those tournaments. Those Brits who criticise Andy Murray and Tim Henman don't know how lucky they are, as Jeremy Bates was the big British hope at Wimbledon in the early and mid 1990s.
 
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L

ledwix

Hall of Fame
I started watching in 2000. I was 9, and the first tournament I followed was Sampras's last Wimbledon title. I followed gradually more and more closely since then, and now I follow more closely than ever.
 
G

Great Uncle Bulgaria

New User
Don't remember the year but was c1985, don't remember the match either but the trophy was a racket encrusted with diamonds come to think of it, I might be making this up.

However the i was hooked from 1987 Wimbledon - I was nine. I don't really remember the tournament but they showed a load of old matches from the 60s and 70s during the rain delays. I was amazed by the athleticism, grace and also how genteel everything was. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those days.
 
PSNELKE

PSNELKE

Legend
1989 As a 6 yo I started to follow Boom Boom Boris where he went on to win Wimbledon.
As a German I was very excited about it and the hype back then in Germany was incredible on tennis.
Then I started to watch tennis regulary as a kid and never stopped watching.
It was definately awesome to follow the whole progress of tennis in the last 20 years. :)
 
egn

egn

Hall of Fame
First match I watched in full was Stefan Edberg vs. Pete Sampras US Open 1992. Was very young, rooted for Edberg cause he hit the in my young words "cool pretty shots". Then somewhere around 94-95 started regularly watching it using my library card to rent out old tennis videos to watch when it wasn't on TV. As earlier posters starting a very young age and growing up with tennis has been incredible.
 
T

TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest
Mustard said:
I'm 27. I was 6 at the time of 1990 Queen's Club. I've always been into watching a lot of sports, especially tennis, football (soccer), darts, boxing and snooker. I was into sport as much as children's programmes when I was a kid and always remember being annoyed when my parents and grandparents wouldn't know an answer to some of my questions about some rules of the game or the history of the game.

Muster became my favourite player after Sky Sports showed a tennis programme which featured the 1990 Davis Cup match between Muster and Agassi. It was a beatdown :)
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A Nadal-fan over 20 years??
Treason! Utterly proposterous!
 
D

Deleted member 21996

Guest
MichaelNadal said:
It really gets old that you can't have one serious thread on this board.
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MichaelNadal said:
Just thought it would be nice for everyone to know where we all come from as far as when we got into tennis. If you started watching at a different time before you followed it RELIGIOUSLY, list both please. For me I started watching in 2002. The first tournament I remember watching start to finish was 2003 Wimbledon, I remember after each round, the commentators kept mentioning "Federer" was still in it, beginning of an era, we had no idea. I started watching religiously in 2006 (Nadal got my interest), though I did watch the AO in 2005 and a few other tournaments in between. What about you?
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on a serious note, even though you dont deserve it, my first memories of tennis go back into my childhood when my older brothers were massive Borg fans. (they even used Lois jeans). i got into tennis more seriously by the early nineties, with mullet Agassi... became religious about this sport by Lisbon Masters 2000 (for obvious reasons). i only started playing on a more serious and regular basis less than 5 years ago, despite being a casual player every odd chance!
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Gorecki said:
on a serious note, even though you dont deserve it, my first memories of tennis go back into my childhood when my older brothers were massive Borg fans. (they even used Lois jeans). i got into tennis more seriously by the early nineties, with mullet Agassi... became religious about this sport by Lisbon Masters 2000 (for obvious reasons). i only started playing on a more serious and regular basis less than 5 years ago, despite being a casual player every odd chance!
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You know absolutely nothing about me other than what I type on this board, so let's not even take it there.
 
heftylefty

heftylefty

Hall of Fame
It was the spring/summer of 1982. I was 18 years old. I remember Mats winner Roland Garros. I just started becoming interested in tennis. Been hook ever since.
 
T

TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest
heftylefty said:
It was the spring/summer of 1982. I was 18 years old. I remember Mats winner Roland Garros. I just started becoming interested in tennis. Been hook ever since.
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So Sweden played a big part in you hooking up with tennis :)
 
tennis_pro

tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
I've watched every big tournament since Wimbledon 2007 (I remember watching the US Open that year thinking damn this guy Federer is really pis$ing me off, he's winning almost everything) but really consistantly since 2008 AO, the funny thing I've started supporting Federer after his AO loss to Djokovic and missed all his best years, the first half of 2008 was really frustrating

I've seen some occasional big matches way earlier tho, both 2000 FO and Wimbledon finals, 2006 Wimbledon semis and finals, 2005 AO semi (I still think the Fed-Marat match is the best I've seen thus far).
 
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D

Deleted member 21996

Guest
MichaelNadal said:
You know absolutely nothing about me other than what I type on this board, so let's not even take it there.
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Mr. Captain obvious.

i was talking based on you posting so much not serious stuff and suddenly asking for seriousness!!!

but thanks for the comments. makes ownder if i should have just blasted your repetitive thread like you\it deserved!!!
 
TennisFan3

TennisFan3

Talk Tennis Guru
Been watching tennis, as soon as I started playing it when I was a kid in school - in the late 80's -early 90s.

My earliest memories of big matches are watching Edberg-Becker battle it out, and I used to root for Becker.

I became a BIG BIG fan of Pete Sampras, to the point that I was beside myself with sorrow once he retired. I used to watch tennis, but couldn't imagine having the same passion for any other player. How could there be another player who was truly the people's champion? Someone who was the best talent tennis had ever seen, and yet so humble on and off court? The time when Sampras and Steffi used to play - that to me, was the best time of my tennis watching life. I was a big fan of both.

Then I started to back Fed from 2003 onwards once he won Wimbledon, although not in the same way as Sampras. Then I got into rooting for Nadal especially after watching Spain beat us in the Davis Cup and the baby Nadal fist pumping his way to a win. I used to find clay tennis boring, but Nadal got me into that as well, once he started winning F.Os. It was fascinating to see Nadal fight on court with his Borg like intensity.

Then of course the rest is history, and the way Nadal morphed from a dirt-baller to all-surface player in '08 was very exciting. Even If his style is awkward, his competitiveness, mental strength and humbleness reminds me of Pistol Pete..
 
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Kobble

Kobble

Hall of Fame
1981. My aunts were McEnroe and Borg fans. McEnroe was the first tennis player I knew of. After that, probably Agassi. Then Sampras.
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Gorecki said:
Mr. Captain obvious.

i was talking based on you posting so much not serious stuff and suddenly asking for seriousness!!!

but thanks for the comments. makes ownder if i should have just blasted your repetitive thread like you\it deserved!!!
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Nah, i'd like to think im pretty serious with the stuff I post, and I don't troll. I only posts GIFs on silly/troll comments. THEY deserve it.

Also, Nice post TF3, interesting perspective. Post 2003, Federer was basically winning EVERYTHING and there was this one guy that was different than everyone else, and was wearing pirate pants and was somehow beating Federer whenever they played. The intensity he brought to every point, and his grinding style made me a fan.
 
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T

TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest
heftylefty said:
Oh yes!! I have seen Mats play live in a senior event against Noah ten years ago. And had the pleasure of seeing a Prime Edberg in L.A. I saw Mikael Pernfors win the NCAA title (his second) when he was at U of Georgia, via t.v.
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Thats really nice
 
M

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
I'm 27. I was 6 at the time of 1990 Queen's Club
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Now that is surprising, considering some of your posts on Borg, Laver, etc. I wonder how many of the supposed 'oldtimers' who get criticized in Former Pro Player for ranking older players highly(& seem to know more about them than just what commentators say about them) are really just guys in their 20s/30s who couldn't have possibly seen Borg or Laver live, but just care enough about the sport to do some research about them before forming an opinion on them.


Those Brits who criticise Andy Murray and Tim Henman don't know how lucky they are, as Jeremy Bates was the big British hope at Wimbledon in the early and mid 1990s.
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ha, I attended Wimbledon in 1992 for the first time & it was hilarious how obsessed the media & public there were about Jeremy Bates' run that year. Whenever I hear people say American tennis fans are the least knowledgable fans, I think of all the Brits I chatted with that year at Wimbledon who really thought Bates was some worldbeater capable of winning the tournament(because he beat Chang in the first round, I guess), & who had never even seen Pete Sampras play before(I was told the USO got virtually no coverage there back then)
 
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Zildite

Zildite

Hall of Fame
Earliest I can remember is 2004 US Open, especially the double bagel final. Only watched the majors for a while. I knew of only a few guys like Federer.
Last couple of years started watching a lot more thanks to streaming sites. Now I have something like 20 favourite players :)
...and of course, joined TT this year to become a True Tennis Fan™
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Moose Malloy said:
Now that is surprising, considering some of your posts on Borg, Laver, etc. I wonder how many of the supposed 'oldtimers' who get criticized in Former Pro Player for ranking older players highly(& seem to know more about them than just what commentators say about them) are really just guys in their 20s/30s who couldn't have possibly seen Borg or Laver live, but just care enough about the sport to do some research about them before forming an opinion on them.
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Yes, I wonder about that as well. Knowing facts about old tennis matches from the 1970s doesn't necessarily mean that you were around to see the matches live. I've watched a lot of those old matches, either by video or DVD. The slower pace takes some getting used to, but it has its own charm and can be just as enthralling and entertaining.

Moose Malloy said:
ha, I attended Wimbledon in 1992 for the first time(after many USOs) & it was hilarious how obsessed the media & public there were about Jeremy Bates' run that year. Whenever I hear people say American tennis fans are the least knowledgable fans, I think of all the Brits I chatted with that year at Wimbledon who really thought Bates was some worldbeater capable of winning the tournament(because he beat Chang in the first round, I guess)
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I know, the Bates hype was blown out of all proportion. Bates was a decent player and tried hard, but wasn't anywhere near elite level, and he never got into the top 50 in the world during his whole career. Bates had that excellent straight sets win over Michael Chang at 1992 Wimbledon and ended up getting to the fourth round where he played against Guy Forget. Bates had a match point in the fourth set, but somebody in the crowd coughed loudly on the match point and Bates got distracted. Forget came back to win the match in 5 sets, and there was some controversy about it.

Bates beat Boris Becker at 1994 Queen's Club, and that was an impressive victory. It was really hyped up to the moon by the British press. Forget beat Bates again in the fourth round of Wimbledon that year, this time coming from a set down to win in 4 sets.

Moose Malloy said:
& who had never even seen Pete Sampras play before(I was told the USO got virtually no coverage there back then)
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There were US Open highlights on ITV in the early 1990s. Sky Sports had the full-time rights, with Andrew Castle starting presenting in 1994 as Sue Barker had gone to the BBC in 1993 to join up with Des Lynam.
 
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P

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
Ever hear of Pancho Segura? Jack Kramer? They only had REAL live tennis then and you were lucky to have a rare chance to see them.
 
D

dascud

New User
The first match I can recall watching was the Becker vs Kevin Curren Wimbledon Finals from 1985. That match made me a Becker fan for life. It was great watching a 17 year old fling himself around center court and I remember the commentator mentioning how fast Curren's serves were and that his serve had broken the string of the returner in his previous match.
I have some vague memories of watching Borg/McEnroe before that but was probably too young for it to register.

I used to watch tennis regularly in the early mid 90's and was a Becker/Agassi/Edberg fan but kinda tuned off for a few years when Sampras took stage. Regained interest just in time to see Safin thrash Sampras at the US open final. Had never seen or heard of Safin prior to that match and was awestruck with his form on that day. Have been a Safin then Federer and now Rafa fan. Its been a long journey as a tennis fan and I have so many fond memories of the greats over the years and hopefully many more to come.
 
M

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
Bates got to the fourth round of 1992 Wimbledon where he played against Guy Forget. Bates had a match point in the fourth set, but somebody in the crowd coughed loudly on the match point and Bates got distracted.
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I remember. I have my drawsheet for that day, you had guys like Edberg, Sampras, Stich, Goran, Lendl, playing matches on outer courts(where I was) while good old Bates got Center Court. And a ton of people were watching his match on the big screen (later called Henman Hill) instead of watching tennis on outer courts. It was a surreal sight.

lower ranked Americans like Fish, Querrey etc rarely get put on Arthur Ashe during the USO(unless they play a high seed) but there have been a long list of rather lowly ranked Brits & Frenchman who got put on Center Courts at their native events over the years. Querrey complained about this at the USO last year(mentioned Roland Garros' scheduling for its players)
 
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