I am big tennis fan…started playing in the early 1960s…in the mid to late 70s, I was a linesman for the Canadian Open, now known as the Rogers Cup, in Toronto. I actually got paid to watch the best tennis players in the world play…$2.50 per match, or about $1.25 per hour…didn’t matter…I had the best seats in the house…my game improved without touching a racquet. I stopped calling the lines in 1979, but usually go to the Rogers Cup every year.
Some of the names that I officiated for are: Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ilie Nastase, Guillermo Vilas. On the women’s side, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Margaret Court, Gabriella Sabatini.
Have some great memories and even greater stories from those days. During my European vacation , while my wife went shopping, I took the train from London to Wimbledon…for a tennis fan , this is like a cathedral.