Man emerged from the ocean, and one could say that tennis emerged from gardens – those Victorian lawns in 19th century Britain. So it’s not surprising that tennis and gardens are intertwined, so to speak. Going back decades, there’s been fabulous tennis at Madison Square Garden on the East Coast, and more recently at the beautiful Indian Wells Tennis Garden in the west. The French Open and the Australian Open are right next to beautiful botanical gardens. Wimbledon at its core seems like an English lawn party – its green ambience and floral beauty are a delight.
Plus there’ve been gardeners in the game. The late promoter Jack Kramer seemed to know every possible type of grass. The late Californian John Gardiner pioneered the concept of the tennis resort, which now is so popular. Most recently, there was the news of the passing of the fierce and fine Gardnar Mulloy, at age 102. The Floridian won five doubles Slam titles, three Davis Cups, and was a mainstay on the senior scene for decades. But as much as anything he was known for his athleticism and his spunky intensity.
Michael Mewshaw tells the story of when Gardnar Mulloy, merely in his 60s, was playing a doubles event at Wimbledon. In the pre-tournament warm-up at the Hurlingham Club, he had reserved a practice court. As he and his hitting partner were warming up, the equally combative John McEnroe strolled onto the grass and told Gardnar to get off. Gardnar pointed out that he had booked the court and intended to play for an entire hour. McEnroe said in no uncertain terms that this wasn’t going to happen. So Gardnar put down his racket, squared up to the young upstart and said, “Okay, all you have to do is throw me off the court.” John thought better of it, collected his equipment and retreated.
