Chasing Points: A Season on the Pro Tennis Circuit by Gregory Howe

Author:Gregory Howe [Howe, Gregory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sports & Recreation, Racket Sports, General
ISBN: 9781785314155
Google: b8pHEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2018-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

9

The Challenger Tour

Manchester

DURING WEEK 29 of the tennis calendar, there were 14 professional tournaments scattered around the globe. Ten Futures events commenced in locations as exotic as Armenia, Iran and…Joplin, Missouri.

The elite ATP tour had three options to choose from: after Wimbledon, the Europeans could resume their clay-court season in Germany or Holland; in the States, the hard-court swing began in Los Angeles as the tour headed towards the US Open.

My choice was a Challenger level event in Manchester, England. These Challenger tournaments were the bridge between the low-level Futures and the glamorous ATP tour. With U$25,000 as prize money and free hotels for the main draw, Manchester would mix fast-rising young players heading for the big time with ATP journeymen trying to hold on to their careers. For serve and volley specialists, it was a final opportunity to compete on grass after Wimbledon.

The number one seed in the entry list was the giant Belgian Dick Norman, who was flitting in and out of the world’s top 100. I had seen him push Carlos Moya at the Australian Open one year. Now at 36 years of age, he was a good example of the kind of player who frequented the Challenger circuit.

The Manchester event was a relic from a bygone era. Since 1880, when it was called the Northern Lawn Tennis Championships, it had been part of the traditional British grass court season. It had survived the change into the Open era, continuing as a major tournament until 1994. In a seven-year period up to that year, its champions’ roll call contained household names: Stefan Edberg, Goran Ivanisevic, Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter.

After their Manchester titles, every one of them became a Grand Slam champion. The winners’ names gradually become more obscure as the event lost prestige. It had now grown comfortable in its Challenger status – not big – not small – but at least still present on the tennis calendar.

Unexpected issues began the moment I prepared to leave my flat in London. Walking past the mirror on the way to the front door, I realised that I was wearing a t-shirt with ‘ATP’ stencilled across the front. Was I trying to suggest that I was an ATP tour player…around real ATP tour players? I changed to a plain black t-shirt instead.

At the Manchester Challenger, there appeared to be a small army running the tournament. From my seat in the Virgin train, a phone call to Madelyn, the transport officer, got me a pick-up at the train station. I was then transferred to Peter who booked me a room. Did I need a physio or practice court? Not yet, thanks. I could get used to this: I was so used to doing everything myself on the Futures tour.

The tournament also had a press officer – perhaps the worst job. For the previous three weeks, since Wimbledon had begun, British tennis had taken a bashing at the hands of the British press. This was nothing new. Laying into the Lawn

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