Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

Don't shoot the messenger (me)

[meganfernandez]

It's very funny.

Don't shoot the messenger (me)

[ponchi101]

And I suspect she means it in admiration. She reached #24 in the WTA ranking (I had not idea who she was).

[meganfernandez]

And I suspect she means it in admiration. She reached #24 in the WTA ranking (I had not idea who she was).

Yeah, I'm sure she did. I remember her name but didn't know she was ranked that high. Five years ago, I wouldn't have thought #24 in the world was a big deal or a big accomplishment. My perspective has changed so much. Top 25 at any point in your career is amazing. It's all relative but my perspective has shifted from only looking at players as potential superstars/Slam champions or not.

[ponchi101]

We do that a lot (and I don't mean Tatoo'ers, I mean everybody). We are so used to seeing Roger and Rafa and Nole and Pete, that we forget the sort of achievement a top 100 ranking means. Everybody that gets into the top 100 plays tennis at a level that we will never reach, yet we dismiss them. A QF showing at a Slam, a tournament victory at a 250, those are incredible achievements.
Story.
I was once sitting next to Jimmy Simansky, a Venezuelan player that never broke into the top 100. He plateaued around 120. In 1996, he played the qualies of the USO, and told the people at the table this story. He lost in the last round of qualifiers but was the #1 LL. So, he was hanging in the players lounge, waiting to see if he got lucky. And he did. A tournament official came over and told him "Simansky, you are in. Get ready, you play in one hour!". Jimmy was super happy, grabbed his stuff and asked where and against whom. "Louis Armstrong Stadium, you play Sampras".
Jimmy went out there and gave his best. He lost 2, 2 & 2. He told the people at the table that it got the point that he felt that it did not matter where he would hit the ball, Sampras was already there. And then, one of the people said something like "man, what a bummer". Simansky got serious and said: "Man, I played Sampras in Louis Armstrong stadium. That was the greatest day of my tennis career" (he had retired already).
I always remember that when I hear somebody say that Julien Bennetau, or Hugo Dalien, or Donald Young are no good. They are excellent, just not enough for that last little step. Hackers like me should always remember that when we hit one passing shot or one ace against one of our fellow hackers. That same passing shot would have been volleyed for a drop winner if hit against any pro. And we should act accordingly.

[mmmm8]

Yup, imagine being among the top 100 in the world at your profession.

[meganfernandez]

We do that a lot (and I don't mean Tatoo'ers, I mean everybody). We are so used to seeing Roger and Rafa and Nole and Pete, that we forget the sort of achievement a top 100 ranking means. Everybody that gets into the top 100 plays tennis at a level that we will never reach, yet we dismiss them. A QF showing at a Slam, a tournament victory at a 250, those are incredible achievements.
Story.
I was once sitting next to Jimmy Simansky, a Venezuelan player that never broke into the top 100. He plateaued around 120. In 1996, he played the qualies of the USO, and told the people at the table this story. He lost in the last round of qualifiers but was the #1 LL. So, he was hanging in the players lounge, waiting to see if he got lucky. And he did. A tournament official came over and told him "Simansky, you are in. Get ready, you play in one hour!". Jimmy was super happy, grabbed his stuff and asked where and against whom. "Louis Armstrong Stadium, you play Sampras".
Jimmy went out there and gave his best. He lost 2, 2 & 2. He told the people at the table that it got the point that he felt that it did not matter where he would hit the ball, Sampras was already there. And then, one of the people said something like "man, what a bummer". Simansky got serious and said: "Man, I played Sampras in Louis Armstrong stadium. That was the greatest day of my tennis career" (he had retired already).
I always remember that when I hear somebody say that Julien Bennetau, or Hugo Dalien, or Donald Young are no good. They are excellent, just not enough for that last little step. Hackers like me should always remember that when we hit one passing shot or one ace against one of our fellow hackers. That same passing shot would have been volleyed for a drop winner if hit against any pro. And we should act accordingly.

I love that story! Thanks for sharing it. And I'm glad Jimmy sees it that way. This is why I stopped getting upset when my favorite player (always a star) would lose. Those other players deserve a little glory, too. It's just a crumb compared to what the stars have. It's also why I'm not bummed about Roger losing the Slam record - why should one person get everything? He has plenty.

Sometimes you see a pro hit a ball and think, I could rally with that person. Yeah you might be able to. But you couldn't win a point. What makes them great is that they can hit a very good ball 100 times exactly the same way, plus the athleticism and the dedication to hard work. That is nothing at all like hitting one great shot. There was a little mini-movement on Twitter recently to retire the word "journeyman" because it's insulting. I'm not sure I agree that the term is the problem - versus just respecting those players properly - but the point is a good one.

It just took me a long time to get this. What really helped change my perspective was learning from the graduate assistant coaches at the University of Indianapolis, who are elite tennis players themselves. Seeing the sport through their eyes changed a lot for me.

[Suliso]

Yup, imagine being among the top 100 in the world at your profession.

In most professions that would be mighty hard to measure... If I claimed that I am how would you refute?

[JazzNU]

And I suspect she means it in admiration. She reached #24 in the WTA ranking (I had not idea who she was).

I remember Jamie Hampton well, but I also saw her play in person once. She was a player that was hampered by injuries and had to cut her career short. Best on hard and grass courts I believe. I didn't know she reached 24, but not too surprising, she was a good player. Definitely had some impressive wins during her career, including at least a few Top 10 wins in there. It's a shame she kept getting injured.

[meganfernandez]

I played on a court with electronic line calling last night (Playsight). It uses 6 camera angles. It clearly got some calls wrong. Called a serve long that was so clearly in - all of us there saw it inside the service line. Interesting... Hawkeye uses 6 or more cameras but I think some of them are pretty far away from the court. These cameras were right on the court, very close.

Overall, Playsight was super fun toy if you ever have a chance to play on a court with the full system.

[dmforever]

And I suspect she means it in admiration. She reached #24 in the WTA ranking (I had not idea who she was).

I remember Jamie Hampton well, but I also saw her play in person once. She was a player that was hampered by injuries and had to cut her career short. Best on hard and grass courts I believe. I didn't know she reached 24, but not too surprising, she was a good player. Definitely had some impressive wins during her career, including at least a few Top 10 wins in there. It's a shame she kept getting injured.

This is sooooo strange. I was thinking about her the other day and wondering what had happened to her. I couldn't remember her first or last name, but knew what she looked like, but didn't know if I would be able to describe her in a way that others here would know who I meant. I really liked watching her play and am sorry that she has had to retire. Thanks for the post.

Kevin

[ti-amie]

Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Thai-Son has been DMing me and saying as such as well. This is the original story https://e.vnexpress.net/news/sports/ame ... 39046.html Wishing Thai-Son good luck in Singapore and representing the USA in future events!

[ponchi101]

Yup, imagine being among the top 100 in the world at your profession.

In most professions that would be mighty hard to measure... If I claimed that I am how would you refute?

Peer reviewed papers published.
And I want to see your paycheck. SHOW US THAT PAYCHECK!!!
(Even in team sports it is hard to determine who stands where. Tennis? Check that ranking (not this year, I know...))

[mmmm8]

Yup, imagine being among the top 100 in the world at your profession.

In most professions that would be mighty hard to measure... If I claimed that I am how would you refute?

There is no way to definitively measure, of course, but there are ways to gage for a lot of professions... from compensation to academic publications to industry awards, etc. I just don't think most of us are in the top 100, even if we are very good at our jobs.

Specifically for you.... I do have access to compensation data across countries for most professions, even scientist. Salary doesn't directly correspond to quality... but I guess neither does a sports ranking.