Dibbs-Solomon

[El Diablo]

Anybody remember watching these two forerunners of the modern game (endless baseline play, albeit at 2/3 speed) go at it against each other? Is either of them still involved in tennis? I seem to recall Solomon had become a follower of Werner Erhard's various incarnations.

 

[JW10S]

I saw them both play and would not call either one 'forerunners of the modern game'. The modern game features powerful, aggressive, offensive baseline play. 'Powerful', 'aggressive' and 'offensive' are three words that would never be used to describe either Dibbs or Solomon. They sometimes played doulbles together and the 'moonball' was their big ploy. Solomon is still very much involved in the game as a coach.

 

[El Diablo]

Yes, that's what I meant by "2/3 speed." It was their avoidance of the net that presaged today's miserably boring tennis.

 

[kiki]

Nice guys, boring players.Dibbs was a bit faster and smarter than his close friend Harold, so he won most of their encounters.

 

[robow7]

One writer wrote that when these two were scheduled to play that none of the journalists that were supposed to call the match in would show up at the beginning but rather wait a couple hours before heading over. He said they strongly lobbied that these two should play a best of one sets and not a best of three, better yet, a single tiebreak to decide the match and that could still take hours.

 

[kiki]

One writer wrote that when these two were scheduled to play that none of the journalists that were supposed to call the match in would show up at the beginning but rather wait a couple hours before heading over. He said they strongly lobbied that these two should play a best of one sets and not a best of three, better yet, a single tiebreak to decide the match and that could still take hours.

But they were great when facing better players, their passing shot was truly efficient.

Oh¡¡ there was an EVEN WORSE MATCH to see that Dibbs-Solomon: Higueras-Barazzutti, with the agravattion that it should be on european clay...

 

[Tshooter]

They were not so different to watch than Borg v. Vilas. Just not as popular. All four of them could and would stand back and hit the ball endlessly, looping it over the net.

I looked up the head to head and not surprisingly Dibbs had Solly's number which is about what I remember.

Dibbs was marginally more aggressive than Solly. Certainly had a better serve but so did most of the tour.

Solomon hit a semi-Western forehand but Dibbs I believe was Eastern. Dibbs has a strange wind up to his backhand where he would rock (replace the "r" with a "c." Filtering system doesn't like the word when used with a "c") his wrist back whereas Solly just took it straight back and low.

Donald Dell used to talk about the fact that Dibbs never practiced much and never hit the gym.

 

[Limpinhitter]

I saw them both play and would not call either one 'forerunners of the modern game'. The modern game features powerful, aggressive, offensive baseline play. 'Powerful', 'aggressive' and 'offensive' are three words that would never be used to describe either Dibbs or Solomon. They sometimes played doulbles together and the 'moonball' was their big ploy. Solomon is still very much involved in the game as a coach.

I would, to the extent that they're games were circumscribed by their equipment. Baseliner's with semi-Western, heavy topspin, high looping shots. That's the epitome of modern tennis.

 

[kiki]

They were not so different to watch than Borg v. Vilas. Just not as popular. All four of them could and would stand back and hit the ball endlessly, looping it over the net.

I looked up the head to head and not surprisingly Dibbs had Solly's number which is about what I remember.

Dibbs was marginally more aggressive than Solly. Certainly had a better serve but so did most of the tour.

Solomon hit a semi-Western forehand but Dibbs I believe was Eastern. Dibbs has a strange wind up to his backhand where he would rock (replace the "r" with a "c." Filtering system doesn't like the word when used with a "c") his wrist back whereas Solly just took it straight back and low.

Donald Dell used to talk about the fact that Dibbs never practiced much and never hit the gym.

Both still were able to make a major final, although both lost it.However, you must credit them for being 5-6 years at the top 10.Dibbs was pretty good to see when opposed to an attacking player.His game had a slight more variety than Solly´s.

 

[kiki]

Solomon was the best moonballer and one of the fittest through the 70s. I first saw him when he was at Rice U when I was a kid and I remember him being the shortest (not smallest as he was stout) guy out there. Pretty good doubles player as well and had good volleys - guy would run down everything and just moonball it back again and again -

Solomon today run the Solomon Tennis Institute Tennis Academy based at the Lauderdale Tennis Club in Ft Lauderdale.

When I remember Eddie Dibbs I think of Cigerettes (guy smoked like a chimney !) and gambling - he was always running a card game and on tour would bet anyone on anything, loved the horses. In 78 or 79 at an WCT event I was ballboying I remember Dibbs payed another kid to run out to Queens Blvd and get him the days racing sheet so he could go place his bets......funny funny guy and one of the nicer ones to the ballboys.

Fast Eddie, right? He loved big bikes.He was so small seating in a big superbike¡¡¡.

 

[kiki]

Connors says that his only real friend on the tour was Eddie Dibbs.He got along well with Nastase,Panatta and Gerulatis, I didn´t know he was that close to crazy eddie...

 

[Tshooter]

"you must credit them for being 5-6 years at the top 10."

Is crediting them even an issue ? They were two fixtures in the tennis world in the mid/ late-70s.

It's like asking in 25 years anyone remember Berdych or Verdasco or Ferrer.

 

[kiki]

"you must credit them for being 5-6 years at the top 10."

Is crediting them even an issue ? They were two fixtures in the tennis world in the mid/ late-70s.

It's like asking in 25 years anyone remember Berdych or Verdasco or Ferrer.

They were tweens, played the same, looked the same, achieved more or less the same, were born almost the same day...two exact point guards in the same team¡¡¡

 

[kiki]

Both Bagel twins have 22 titles each in about 10 yrs on tour and made it to the finals of another 15 or 16 events........Bredych, Verdasco nor Ferrer all on tour 10+ yrs (12 for Ferrer) are anywhere close to that.

...true.But you shouldn´t have said that...teens will retaliate that Dibbs and Solomon are the examples of a weak era¡¡¡

 

[kiki]

If Solly and Eddie, winning more titles than Ferrer , never got higher than 7 or 8, and Ferrer is fixed at 5...which is the weak and which is the tough era?

Dibbs and Solomon are living examples of a tough era and Ferrer the living example of a weak one.