Wimbledon 2018

walshb · 17-07-2018 4:40pm

The Golden Miller wrote: »

I guess tennis has more appeal in Ireland, due to our association with Britain

Same with Rugby and soccer.....golf too...

England and Britain having such a major influence on Irish society.

Joe_ Public · 17-07-2018 5:11pm

I know Lindsay Vonn because I am partial to watching a bit of downhill and always get really into the Winter Olympics when its on. The others I'd never heard of because I have zero interest in ice hockey or any sport that happens on any kind of board. Just personal preference.

I find it sad that we dont produce more good tennis players, male and female. There was a very good tennis club in the town I grew up in, but hardly any coaching or any coordinated activity. Most people seemed to treat it more as a social outlet than a serious sporting facility. In school I could look out my classroom window at the tennis court below but could count the number of games i ever saw played on it on the fingers of one hand. I remember the small stir that was created when McEnroe came to play Davis Cup in Dublin and then again when Ivanisevic came a few years after. It showed that there was a public appetite here for the game but not sure enough was ever done to tap into it.

Chivito550 · 17-07-2018 5:26pm

I did tennis in school (a school in Dublin which had its own courts) and we'd get professional coaching, and the coaching was an utter farce. 99% of the time we were just playing games (lose all your lives, you go to the other end and try to catch a ball to go back in). Granted games are fun, but not when its the same game for 6 years, and not when we are not being taught how to play certain shots, how to improve our footwork etc. We learnt topspin and that's pretty much it. I pretty much went for 6 years as a social outlet, but in terms of tennis, it could barely have been called coaching.

Only time I recall any kind of big event held in Ireland was a seniors competition in the Point with Borg, McEnroe etc. It was live on RTE and the crowds looked really big. It only happened once from memory. Maybe somebody recalls it better than me. Sad that we couldn't bring a proper ATP event here instead, but I suppose the average punter is more interested in seeing washed up legends than a ATP 250 type event with guys they have never heard of.

The Golden Miller · 17-07-2018 5:53pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

I did tennis in school (a school in Dublin which had its own courts) and we'd get professional coaching, and the coaching was an utter farce. 99% of the time we were just playing games (lose all your lives, you go to the other end and try to catch a ball to go back in). Granted games are fun, but not when its the same game for 6 years, and not when we are not being taught how to play certain shots, how to improve our footwork etc. We learnt topspin and that's pretty much it. I pretty much went for 6 years as a social outlet, but in terms of tennis, it could barely have been called coaching.

Only time I recall any kind of big event held in Ireland was a seniors competition in the Point with Borg, McEnroe etc. It was live on RTE and the crowds looked really big. It only happened once from memory. Maybe somebody recalls it better than me. Sad that we couldn't bring a proper ATP event here instead, but I suppose the average punter is more interested in seeing washed up legends than a ATP 250 type event with guys they have never heard of.

The only tennis I got to play was in my mates house. They were wealthy and had a proper tarmac court set up out the back, but still rubbish by comparison to real courts in clubs. Used to spend hours playing. Would have loved to have been in a real club, same with snooker. Was better at the snooker though, p!ss poor at tennis.

Used to work on a farm growing up for an old fella who was a big tennis fan. He would of been a "castle Catholic", part of the educated class when only a select few went to college, family had connections to the British aristocracy etc. Had a croquet set and the works, used to play tennis in Blackrock until they bought a big farm out here in Meath. Big fan of Pancho Gonzalez and the Aussie's from that period. Said he always went into a big tournament either before or after Wimbledon when the biggest tennis stars came to play in Dublin. Fitzwilliam I think they played?

Joe_ Public · 17-07-2018 6:33pm

Most people probably wont remember how big a deal the Irish Open used to be here, when the likes of Rod Laver and Virginia Wade were regular annual visitors. I have vague recollections of it as a kid. Open to correction but I think it was one of the main ATP events back then but it just seemed to die a death for whatever reason. Our history of hosting major sporting events in this country is nothing short of shocking. I used to adore the Goffs Irish masters, one of the best events on the snooker calendar, but that shuffled off into oblivion as well. Even the Irish Open (golf) would probably be gone had McIlroy and a few others not stood up to rescue it from almost certain death.

Wimbledon 2018

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