Learning Life's Lessons on Falls Tennis Courts a Vanishing Scene

I hit my first tennis ball when I was 12 years old. The year was 1975, and tennis was to the American sports scene what golf is today. It was the cool, hip sport to play if you were somebody or wanted to be somebody. The sport had great personalities, like fiery Romanian Ilie Nastase, stoic Arthur Ashe, brash Jimmy Connors and cool and calculating Bjorn Borg. On the women's side there were stately Margaret Court, feminist Billie Jean King, sultry Chris Evert and the relentless Martina Navratilova. Even the biggest celebrities of the day--people like Johnny Carson, Bill Cosby and Dustin Hoffman--were avid tennis players who routinely held tournaments bearing their names and likeness.