Cincinnati Open Honors Hall of Famer Tony Trabert

by Joel Drucker

A saying goes that behind every tennis player there is another tennis player.  In my fortunate case, that player happened to be a legend.  His name was Tony Trabert.  Start off by noting that in 1955, Tony was ranked number one in the world – singles winner at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Championships (now the US Open).  He was also a Davis Cup stalwart, including a lead role on America’s ’54 championship team.  Further honors included five years as Davis Cup captain, serving as CBS’ premier analyst for more than a quarter-century, and a decade as president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF).

Tony died in 2021.  This year, on Sunday, August 9 – one week before what would have been his 96th birthday — Tony was honored in his hometown, Cincinnati, at an elegant event held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, home of the Cincinnati Open.  As the longest running tournament in the U.S. still played in its city of origin, the 127-year-old Cincinnati Open has done a fine job moving in two parallel but potentially disparate directions.  One way points to the future, highlighted by $260 million worth of improvements that have made the facility sparkle more than ever.  Then there was a recent look to the past, the tournament naming its Stadium 3 court after Tony.

Hosted by the superbly smooth Andrew Krasny, the event featured remarks from many who’d known Tony, including tournament director Bob Moran, former ITHF chairman Chris Clouser, ITHF inductee and fellow broadcaster Pam Shriver, and Tony’s widow, Vicki.  Also in attendance – Tony’s son Mike, daughter Brooke, Mike’s wife Dinny, Tony’s grandchildren, and dozens more who knew and valued Tony’s incredibly classy and gracious manner.  I was there too, joined by my girlfriend, Angie.     

My journey with Tony goes back more than 50 years, to the summer of 1972.  I was 12 years old and had just started to play tennis.  That July, I showed up to attend what proved to be the first of four annual three-week long treks to his tennis camp.  Located in Ojai, a quaint village town 85 miles northwest of Los Angeles, one major camp selling point was Tony’s round-the-clock presence.  Over many a warm summer morning, into even hotter afternoons, ably aided by such skilled counselors as Mark Winters and Dave Engelberg, Tony oversaw instruction, giving crystal-clear commands on all the tennis fundamentals certain to make us lifelong players and lovers of the game. 

Supremely logical, Tony’s wisdom included such insights as:

+ “Give yourself plenty of net clearance when hitting your groundstrokes.  It’s much better to hit the ball long than into the net.”

+ “Lob a lot early versus netrushers.  If you put them on alert that way, you’ll have a few more inches for your passing shots.”

+ “Early in the match, get in a lot of first serves.  Don’t worry about hitting it too hard yet.  Let the other guy show you how well he returns.”

It was amazing to hear Tony tell us campers something one day and then weeks later, listen to him deliver that same insight on CBS when discussing US Open matches.  As a lefthander, I particularly savored Tony’s nuanced views on such fellow southpaws as Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, and John McEnroe.  Aided by Tony’s example and direction, I learned my one stroke that has even been called pretty – a moderately elegant one-handed backhand that I can hit with both topspin and underspin. 

Even more notable: Tony’s strong emphasis on character:

+ Show respect for your opponents no matter the circumstances.

+ Be it in victory or defeat, display gracious sportsmanship. 

+ Put in time to prepare – for a match, a school assignment, a job interview.

The latter proved particularly helpful in the fall of 1979, when, four years after last attending the camp, I applied for a job to be a counselor at Tony’s camp.  I was 19 years old then and, as part of the interview process, was scheduled to hit with Tony at a private court in Beverly Hills.  One day prior, I warmed up with a friend, reminding myself to keep my knees bent and drive through the ball.  Fortunately, I did that well enough for Tony to see I was a plausible tennis player and also had enough teaching experience (thanks to many concepts learned from Tony) to become a counselor. 

Working for Tony over the course of two summers was fantastic.  The same level of devotion and class that made him a champion were present every day as he ran the camp, gave us counselors kindly marching orders, and even took time to hit some with us too.  

As the years went on, I maintained frequent contact with Tony, from interviews for various stories, to working together for CBS during the US Open, to a variety of projects connected with the International Tennis Hall of Fame.  In December 2019, as part of my work as historian-at-large for the ITHF, I flew to Tony’s home and conducted a three-hour oral history interview.  What a treat that was, particularly given the length of time we’d known one another. 

So when Brooke and Mike invited me to Cincinnati, the choice to attend was a no-brainer – as easy and natural as it was to hit that one-hander Tony taught us how to hit.  From Ohio to Ojai, from Wimbledon to Newport, Tony Trabert touched the lives of many.  How great it was to see him honored by the Cincinnati Open.     

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Longstanding tennis writer Joel Drucker most recently collaborated with International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Pasarell to write Pasarell’s newly released autobiography, “Serving First: Dreams Realized and Lessons Learned from Family, Friends, and a Life in Tennis.” 

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