By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
On the 50th anniversary of his triumph at the 1971 U.S. Open, Stan Smith was celebrated by the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills at the club’s annual “Heritage Day” celebration where a banner in his honor was raised on the rafters of the club’s stadium, the site of Smith’s triumph. Smith and his son Ramsey Smith, who introduced his father at the ceremony, both told interesting tales and anecdotes, two in particular that showcased a more casual and “loosey goosey” U.S. Open.
Ramsey Smith, now the men’s tennis coach at Duke University, discussed circumstances around his birth during the 1978 U.S. Open where his parents were staying with Arthur and Jeanne Ashe and his mother Margie was three weeks away from her due date. Stan was preparing to play in the U.S. Open doubles quarterfinals with partner Bob Lutz as the fourth scheduled match on the Grandstand against John Alexander and Phil Dent. Appropriately on “Labor Day,” Margie Smith, unexpectedly, went into labor.
The U.S. Tennis Association decided to postpone Smith’s quarterfinal doubles match, with U.S. Open Tournament Director Bill Talbert appearing on court to inform fans of Smith’s situation. It’s hard to imagine this happening in the modern world of tennis. Famously, eight years later in 1986, John McEnroe and Peter Fleming were also scheduled to play a U.S. Open doubles match on Grandstand, but were stuck in traffic, were only minutes late for their start time, but were mercilessly defaulted. Smith and Lutz went on to defeat Alexander and Dent in a rescheduled match and went on to win the title defeating Marty Riessen and Sherwood Stewart in the final.
Smith also discussed his singles win at the 1971 U.S. Open and how the singles final was played on a third Wednesday due to constant rain and how another “loosey goosey” tournament decision caused for one of the most unusual circumstances in major tournament history that prevented the tournament from being extended into a third Thursday!
After Smith won the singles title defeating Jan Kodes 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (5-3) he then had to return to the court to play the doubles final with Erik van Dillen against John Newcombe and Roger Taylor.
Said Smith in his August 27 Heritage Day speech, “So after that match, I came back to the locker room. I took about 20 minutes, had a shower, met with the press…and then had a bite to eat. I then had to go out and play the doubles final. And so we were up two sets to one, and now it’s getting dark… No one wanted to stay for the third Thursday or the third week on the Thursday. So we got together and chatted about it while it’s getting darker and darker. And so it was Erik van Dillen and myself against John Newcombe and Roger Taylor. And we decided to come up with a plan. We’re going to play a nine point tie-breaker. Anybody that’s played a nine point tie-breaker know it is like Russian Roulette. Anything can happen. And we’re going to play a nine point tie-breaker instead of the fifth set for the title and split the prize money, which is about $400. It was significant to me but it wasn’t when you think about it. So we ended up playing a tie-breaker and, as you remember if you ever played a nine pointer, one team played two serves and the other team two serves. First team played two serves and the second team got to play three serves. But if you went by serves you’d be down 4-2, but you’ve got to serve three points, which is supposed to be an advantage, and we got ahead. We were at 3-all, van Dillen serving, and we lost the next two points. So, that was the title that got away. And it would have been nice to have five U.S. Open by this time.”
Another interesting story told by Smith was when he was entangled in dog-fight first-round match with Jaime Fillol at the 1974 U.S. Open at Forest Hills.
“I was dating this young girl, she’s now my wife, and we started dating and she was a tennis player so she knew how tough it was,” said Smith. “It was a hot day…and she realized that I was going into the fifth set. So I waved to her and I said, ‘You know, can you get some Gatorade?’ I had no Gatorade. So she literally runs down Queens Boulevard to a 7-Eleven, gets the Gatorade, hitchhikes back to the club, gets there when the fifth set started and I won the match because of her.”
It’s hard to imagine there not being some sort of Gatorade, Powerade or other drinks courtside in modern-day tennis. All of these stories certainly add to the charm of pro tennis in its developmental years.
