Richard Dunn
NEWPORT BEACH - Pat Cash admits that every now and then on the
worldwide men's senior tennis circuit, the good-ol'-boy network comes
through as players keep a match a bit more interesting.
"We lie a little bit on line calls," Cash said at the Success Magazine
Champions Tour at Newport Beach Tennis Club, where he appears to be a
contender for the finals.
Cash's tongue-in-cheek statement seems to truly represent the
Champions Tour, which is part showmanship, part nostalgia and part
competition.
But he praised the tour's old-court styles and ripped the game's
status-quo player on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour.
"I consistently hit with the pros (on the ATP Tour) and they're all
one-dimensional players. There aren't a lot of different styles," said
Cash, who won Wimbledon in 1987, becoming the first Australian to win
there since John Newcombe in 1971.
Cash said "variety" is lacking in men's tennis, and, while the nature
of the game promotes consistency, junior players are being lined up on
the conveyor belt and shuffled through a system of confusing and
sometimes questionable rankings.
And, because of the way today's players are being groomed, with an
emphasis on hard ground strokes and less attention to the
serve-and-volley game, Cash said "it's like rankings by numbers."
Cash, who twice in his career reached the Australian Open final, said
the courts have changed and he has "never believed that equipment" is the
culprit for the baseline game that dominates tennis.
He added that players on the ATP Tour today, while touted as bigger,
stronger and faster by the media, are not in better condition than during
his prime in the 1980s.
"I have no doubt that players 10-15 years ago were fitter than now,"
said Cash, " ... but they're also six inches taller. The game of tennis
has improved in that players hit ground strokes harder, but I'd say there
are only a half dozen players (on the ATP Tour) who know how to
serve-and-volley well ... we're a dying breed."
A typical throwback on the senior tour, Cash is a classic,
hard-fighting serve-and-volleyer.
And, while Cash has recently announced his retirement from full-time
duty on the circuit to spend more time with his family and pursue some
business interests, he looked in top shape Thursday afternoon in his
round-robin singles victory over Guillermo Vilas, 6-1, 6-3.
Cash, whose highest singles ranking on the ATP Tour was No. 4 (1988),
said it's good for the senior tour to feature "old-court style" players
