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"Tennis, Everyone*f Tennis Doubles H AS I SEE IT,., To Begin tn H BY DICK CHIUTON im The Scotch Plains Tennis being a major league manager is like chain smoking in a dynamite Association announces that its itory. It is only a matter of time until the whole thing goes up in In an awesome display of baseline power, Guillermo Vilas of Z Doubles Round Robin loke. Yet with all the insecurity of managing there are people Argentina routed American Brian Gottfried 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 in the finals m competition will begin June 27 mding in line to take on the job if one is offered, of the French Open at Paris. and this is the last weekend for With his victory over Gottfried, Vilas finally captured a "major" jWith the naming of joe Torre as manager of the Mets this past registration. There are two spots ';ek, replacing Joe Frazier, a man who seemed over his head in his championship. Although he was a winner in the Grand Prix Masters left in the Men's Doubles and Tournament at Melbourne in 1974, Vilas has been plagued with the and without the ability to control and earn the respect of his men, any Scotch Plains resident over 'new face comes upon the managerial scene. Torre, a dependable and reputation of choking in important matches, the age of 18 may register by Tsvo years ago he lost to Borg in the French, and in the last year has did ballplayer all his 18 years in the majors, seems like a good choice calling Grace Bischofl (233- skipper of the floundering ship. He has always seemed to have been a losing finalist in the Italian and Australian Opens. His most 8829), The Women's Doubles famous "choke" came two years ago at Forest Hills when he blew a ^nted to become a manager and Bob Gibson, the old fire balling has already been filled. Twenty two set advantage and nine match points while losing to eventual i'ght-hander and ex-teammate of Torre when they both were having teams have registered and will be champion Manolo Orantes. Uper years with the Cardinals, has reported to have been accusing him divided into two Divisions - each But Vilas' stunning victory in this most grueling of championships j'f secretly managing for the last ten years. He certainly has coveted consisting of ten teams. has announced his arrival as one of the top two or three players in the at role since the time it looked like Yogi Berra was out as manager of Matches will be played over game. ,e Mets back in 1975. the period June 27 to August 20. Normally the only "Winner" in the French is the tantalizingly slow j! Torre, a Brooklyn boy, svas always popular here as an opposing Each team will play each other red clay courts of the Stade Roland Garros. This slowest of surfaces ilayer and when he came to the Mets on October 13, 1974 in the deal team in its Division one time. nullifies the serve and volley, and is the ultimate test of a player's lat sent pitchers Tommy Moore and Ray Sadecki to the Cardinals, Matches will consist of a pro set strokes, stamina, concentration, and will. Outright winning shots on •as looked up to by all the players. In fact, his value to the Mets since - whichever team wins eight any other surface are easily retrieved on the red clay, and the points ;cn has been more with helping the young players than with his games first, wins the match. become almost physical chess as the two players manuever and ilaying time, although his timely hitting has been instrumental in a However, a team will receive one outmanuever one another, lumber of Met victories, He should instill the leadership and discipline point for each game won. Yet this year Vilas was the true champion. With his prizefighter's io sorely needed by the Mets through his ability to communicate and Standings will then be build he has been dubbed the "Young Bull of the Pampas," and his no "& and the players of today, He is a solid man for the job. Unfor- determined by the total number devastating groundstrokes are his knockout punch. He bludgeoned his tunately it is still the same old Met team and it will take more than of points per team over the ten way through the two week tournament with the loss of only one set. It orre's able managing to make it an exciting ballclub capable of week period. inning ballgames to the degree that people will again think of the must be noted that all matches in the French are three out of five sets. lets as Eastern Division contenders. In the quarterfinals Vilas routed his old nemesis Wojtek Fibak 6-0, 6-3, 6-0. Vilas then whipped Mexican star Raul Ramirez 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 in One thing puzzles me, however, and that is how the Mets can offer Tennis Coach the semis. Both of those opponents are standout clay court players iTorre less money to manage the Mets than they are paying him to be a making the scores even more shocking. part-time 180 hitter. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. Here Needed {.the Mets, desperately needing a leader to revitalize their ball club on Yet the final promised to be an exciting match featuring two con- [the field, want to pay Torre less money to manage every day than they trasting styles. Gottfried, who has been one of the hottest players on the circuit this year, plays a serve and volley game, while Vilas is a were to have him sit on the bench and occasionally pinch hit. The The Scotch Plains Recreation counterpuncher, content to hit winners from the baseline. terms by which Torre accepted the manager's job of the Mets calls for Commission is in need of a [• him to finish out the year at his current salary being a player-manager volunteer to help with the But Vilas was the aggressor even from the baseline, Gottfried's plan until the Mets can find a suitable replacement for him on the playing Summer Tennis Team. The team was to be patient, waiting for a short ball to approach the net in order to utilize his precise volleys. However Vilas' heavy topspin shots were ]'. roster. With the way the Mets have attempted to bolster their hitting is selected during the summer to too much for Gottfried. Once at net Gottfried was passed on either over the past year this should take quite some time. However, when compete with other towns in the side or almost obliterated by rifling Vilas shots right at him. they do Torre will give up his playing days and take a substantial cut in area. The team consists of boys salary to become the new scapegoat for Met misfortune through front and girls 10-16. If interested For over a year Vilas has been coached by Rumanian Ion Tiriac, who guided Hie Nastase through his formative years on the pro circuit. office ineptitude. please call Scotch Plains Tiriac is the master of tennis psychology and has steadied Vilas' mind, The Mets are not the only management to reduce an active player's Recreation at 322-6700 ext 29- 30. Tiriac actually coaches him during matches, which is legal at the pro- salary upon his acceptance of a managerial spot. Frank Robinson had fessional level. the same thing happen to him. If managements think that little of their During the past year Tiriac has been slowly changing Vilas' game, field leaders, maybe they deserve all the headaches bestowed on them Tennis Assoc. forcing him to come to net more often where he is effective and by inadequate leadership, managing a team of twenty-five players growing more confident. Both his serves are more consistent making from all walks of life, all with different problems, different egos and Meets Tuesday Vilas a threat now on any surface. meshing them into a winning combination is a very difficult job. It has Following this outstanding showing in the French, I am convinced been said that a good manager is probably responsible for his team's The Fanwood Tennis Associa- tion meets on Tuesday, June 14 this will be Vilas' year. Watch for him at Wimbledon, but at this winning only about ten games a year. But that figure happens to moment I'm calling him the prohibitive favorite at Forest Hills. represent what is usually the game spread between a team that wins the for its regular monthly meeting pennant and a team that comes in third or even fourth. That's what at the Community House, Rail- Instruction- the owners are buying, that intangible ability to win those few extra road Station, On the schedule So you don't like to go up to net. You realize you should when the games that could mean the pennant that a quality manager can give for the evening will be a discus- opportunity presents itself, but you're still hesitant. The easy part of them. sion of the new fund-raiser, correcting this situation is by practicing your volley or taking some community play for the benefit How do owners expect the players of today to have any respect for lessons from your favorite teaching pro. But the toughest part is of the Rescue Squad, and films their manager when he may make one-fourth of the salary of some of mentally having confidence to use that volley.

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