Deep Tennis with Steve Tignor
Steve, in the true spirit of No Mas, who's the coolest tennis player of all time that no one ever talks about?
Who's the coolest tennis player nobody ever talks about?
While he's well-remembered by some old-timers, I think that honor falls to Denmark's Torben Ulrich, the father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Torben, a mystic, longhair, jazz musician, journalist, and total original, was the freest of the globe-trotting free spirits who were drawn to tennis during its amateur and early pro years.
Ulrich was a journeyman as a player - he was never a threat to win a singles Grand Slam - but he was a champion weirdo. He was often described as "seeing everything upside down." His practices might consist of booking a court for dusk and then going out alone and sitting on it for an hour to feel it as the sun went down. Or getting a better sense of the ball by moving it around the court with his nose. He also liked to practice his errors.
His first love was jazz, and his tennis grew from that. Ulrich may not have been the most intimidating tennis player in the world, but opponents hating playing him because of his creativity - he could make a ball do just about anything. During the 1950s, Ulrich's nights were spent playing clarinet in jazz clubs. In the morning he would file music reviews at a paper, and in the afternoon he would play a match. "During all those years when [Australian great] Frank Sedgman was dominating the tour, I was up listening to Persian music," he said.
In typical Ulrich fashion, he became a better tennis player as he aged and began to focus on the game. Always in tune with his body, he might wake up in the middle of the night and feel the need for a five-mile run - "not because I needed the exercise" - he was fitter than ever in his 40s. He became a senior tour champion, beating some of the legends who had owned him in the past.
My favorite Ulrich story comes from a friend of his and fellow player, Gordon Forbes, in his memoir of the amateur tennis tour, Too Soon to Panic:
"I see, as if it were yesterday, Torben walking on the court at Wimbledon to play a very and eager Tony Roche; Tony getting ready to spin his racquet, saying, "Would you like to call, Mr. Ulrich"? And Torben saying, "You know, Tony, they say you have a very beautiful service. I would like very much to see it, so why don't you serve first?" and really meaning what he says!"
For Ulrich, tennis wasn't just wins and losses - there was so much more to the game worth appreciating and celebrating. Today's ultra-professional sports world would have no room for him.
PS: I haven't seen the movie, but Ulrich appears in the Metallica doc, Some Kind of Monster.
Steve Tignor is the executive editor of Tennis magazine. For more of his writing, check out his weekly column, The Wrap, on the Tennis website.
Who's the coolest tennis player nobody ever talks about?
While he's well-remembered by some old-timers, I think that honor falls to Denmark's Torben Ulrich, the father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Torben, a mystic, longhair, jazz musician, journalist, and total original, was the freest of the globe-trotting free spirits who were drawn to tennis during its amateur and early pro years.
Ulrich was a journeyman as a player - he was never a threat to win a singles Grand Slam - but he was a champion weirdo. He was often described as "seeing everything upside down." His practices might consist of booking a court for dusk and then going out alone and sitting on it for an hour to feel it as the sun went down. Or getting a better sense of the ball by moving it around the court with his nose. He also liked to practice his errors.
His first love was jazz, and his tennis grew from that. Ulrich may not have been the most intimidating tennis player in the world, but opponents hating playing him because of his creativity - he could make a ball do just about anything. During the 1950s, Ulrich's nights were spent playing clarinet in jazz clubs. In the morning he would file music reviews at a paper, and in the afternoon he would play a match. "During all those years when [Australian great] Frank Sedgman was dominating the tour, I was up listening to Persian music," he said.In typical Ulrich fashion, he became a better tennis player as he aged and began to focus on the game. Always in tune with his body, he might wake up in the middle of the night and feel the need for a five-mile run - "not because I needed the exercise" - he was fitter than ever in his 40s. He became a senior tour champion, beating some of the legends who had owned him in the past.
My favorite Ulrich story comes from a friend of his and fellow player, Gordon Forbes, in his memoir of the amateur tennis tour, Too Soon to Panic:
"I see, as if it were yesterday, Torben walking on the court at Wimbledon to play a very and eager Tony Roche; Tony getting ready to spin his racquet, saying, "Would you like to call, Mr. Ulrich"? And Torben saying, "You know, Tony, they say you have a very beautiful service. I would like very much to see it, so why don't you serve first?" and really meaning what he says!"For Ulrich, tennis wasn't just wins and losses - there was so much more to the game worth appreciating and celebrating. Today's ultra-professional sports world would have no room for him.
PS: I haven't seen the movie, but Ulrich appears in the Metallica doc, Some Kind of Monster.
Steve Tignor is the executive editor of Tennis magazine. For more of his writing, check out his weekly column, The Wrap, on the Tennis website.
2 Comments:
torben is totally amazing in some kind of monster, he has some priceless quotes and a scene in which lars is talking about their relationship while he strikes some weird gandolf pose on one leg and curls into a ball.
ulrich the younger sees things upside down too, he thought napster would ruin the music industry!
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