Wayback Wednesday, birthday quartet: Venus, Paes, Dell, Collins

It’s one thing to mark a tennis icon’s birthday. But imagine if four share that day. Such is the case for June 17. Perhaps, nine months earlier, mid-September, there was something dancing in the air following America’s Grand Slam event that triggered the spirit of conception and, eventually, the ascent of an impressive quartet. Here now, four notable tennis Geminis:

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Tennis’ first multi-media personality and arguably its preeminent historian, Collins was born in Ohio and then made a name for himself in Boston. He began in the ‘50s as a general sports reporter, covering the full gamut—baseball stars like Ted Williams, basketball great Bill Russell, boxers such as Muhammad Ali. But tennis had been his true love. Collins created an incredible career, first at the Boston Herald, then at the Boston Globe. Back in those days, the US national doubles championship was played in the Boston area, giving Collins a chance to become quite familiar and connected with such greats of the ‘60s as Billie Jean King, Rod Laver and many more. He was also the tennis coach at Brandeis University, his most notable player being future left wing leader, Abbie Hoffman. Said Collins, “He played more like a conservative, very much a steady baseliner.” Collins himself was an excellent player, winning the U.S. National Indoor Mixed Doubles title in 1961 alongside Janet Hopps.

In 1963, Collins began work in television for Boston’s PBS outlet, WGBH. Once the Open era began five years later, he was unquestionably America’s premier tennis journalist and segued smoothly into work as both a writer and nationally renowned broadcaster, most visibly for NBC, where he was the staple of that network’s debut of “Breakfast at Wimbledon.” Through the ’70s, ‘80s and beyond, everything from Collins’ colorful custom-made pants to such nicknames he created as “The Ice Maiden” (Chris Evert), “Belleville Basher” (Jimmy Connors), “Fraulein Forehand” (Stephanie Graf) and many more kept him at the forefront as a major font of wisdom and, even more notably, inclusion. This was a man who never big-timed anyone. In 1994, Collins was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It was fitting for the US Open in 2015 to name its media center after him.

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A skilled enough player to once be ranked number five in the U.S. and play on the Davis Cup team, Dell scaled even greater heights off the court, keenly parlaying his law degree in a great many ways. Throughout the ‘60s, Dell was a close confidant of the Kennedy family, including work as an advance man for Senator Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign and Kennedy brother-in-law Sargent Shriver’s 1972 vice presidential effort. He would recall vividly the time he brought his close friend, Arthur Ashe, to the streets of Washington, D.C. to hit balls with Robert Kennedy.

At the same time as he was engaged in national politics, Dell was on the ground floor of tennis’ early Open era. In 1968 and ’69, he was the captain of America’s Davis Cup team, squads that won the championship both years. Two notables on those teams were Ashe and Stan Smith.  In short order, each became the first clients of Dell’s law firm that rapidly morphed into tennis’ first sports marketing agency. Among Dell’s notable early deals was Smith’s shoe contract with adidas for what has proved one of the most popular pieces of footwear in history. Ashe too greatly benefitted from Dell’s counsel on a wide range of activities in business, social causes, and beyond.

As tennis’ popularity soared in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Dell was involved in just about every imaginable aspect of the game, representing players, sponsors, and events, as well as serving as legal counsel for the newly formed ATP.  For a number of years, on PBS and NBC, Dell was also a television commentator, working with Collins; Dell often the straight man alongside Collins’ wit. By the ‘80s, his firm, now named ProServ, continued to grow, serving such clients as Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Pam Shriver, Yannick Noah and, more recently, Andy Roddick and the Bryan brothers. ProServ also made a mark in other sports, most notably when it served as the first agent for the young Michael Jordan. Dell was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009 and remains a thoughtful statesman.

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Unquestionably, Leander Paes has been one of the more successful doubles players of recent times. His resume includes eight men’s Grand Slam doubles titles and another ten in mixed, earning a career Slam in both disciplines. Paes’ 2010 Wimbledon mixed doubles title made him only the second man besides Rod Laver to have won Wimbledon titles in three different decades.

But numbers hardly do Paes justice. Throughout his entire career, Paes has thrilled fans with remarkable doubles skills. He has an unsurpassed sixth sense for team play, highlighted by off-the-charts reflexes, dart-like movements and the ability to hit one incredible shot after another.

The child of a sports-focused family—Paes’ parents were both Olympic athletes—he also followed a line of notable, elegant fellow Indian tennis players. These included Ramanathan Krishnan, his son Ramesh, and Vijay Amritraj. In 1985, the year Paes turned 12, he was selected to join the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy. He went on to win the junior singles at Wimbledon in 1990 and the US Open a year later. Paes’ major singles highlight came at the ’96 Summer Olympics, when he earned a bronze medal in the singles event, becoming the first Indian to win an Olympic medal as an individual in 44 years.

Though last December Paes announced that he would retire at the end of 2020, perhaps recent events will change his mind. The many doubles lovers who have flocked to his matches for years certainly hope so.

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Still active, eager, and seeking to improve, Venus Williams is one-half of what’s arguably the most amazing story in sports history. Take it at a glance: A man sees a tennis player holding up a big check. He decides that he and his wife will bring a girl into the world that will become a champion. Better yet, why not two? So it goes that Richard Williams commands the direction of Venus and Serena, raising them in rough-and-tumble Compton, California, teaching them tennis, inspiring them conquer the world.  And that they did, each becoming number one in the world, each winning numerous Grand Slam titles, each becoming that tennis rarity: a global, crossover icon.

Venus was the older sister. She turned pro at 14. Three years later, at her US Open debut in 1997, she made it all the way to the finals. As a new century began, Venus commenced her glory years—Wimbledon and US Open titles in 2000 and 2001. There followed three more victories at Wimbledon (’05, ’07-’08).

But even beyond those great achievements, Williams has proven both engaged and enduring.  She crusaded ardently for equal prize money, launched her own line of clothing and started an interior design business. On the tennis front, a potentially major setback occurred in 2011, when Williams announced she had been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease whose symptoms include joint pain and fatigue. She was 31 that year, had been a professional tennis player for more than half her life.  Surely, perhaps, a reasonable time to retire. Instead, she persevered. In 2017, the year Williams turned 37, she reached the finals at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. More recently, she has spoken thoughtfully about recent events: “I am deeply saddened that it has taken multiple acts of police brutality to make people painfully aware of the racism that still pervades America. It shouldn’t.”

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