From: donna@attic.bae.bellcore.com (Donna Feliciano)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis
Subject: Re: Tennis Players' Education (Was: ESPN tennis)
Date: 18 Dec 92 15:34:25 GMT
Organization: Bellcore

In article <1992Dec18.025426.25637@mcshub.dcss.mcmaster.ca>, yu@physun.physics.mcmaster.ca (Fan Yu) writes:
|> In article <1992Dec17.232341.11697@cbis.ece.drexel.edu> arijeet@lorelei.ece.drexel.edu (Arijit Das) writes:
|> >
|> >In article <18432@borg.cs.unc.edu> ponamgi@cs.unc.edu (Krish Ponamgi) writes:
|> >>
|> >>Sampras did **NOT** play college tennis at Stanfurd.  He didn't complete
|> >>high school last time I heard.  There was an interesting article in the
|> >
|> >That's what I thought, the guys from Stanford I think were MacEnroe 
|> >and Connors (I doubt if either of them completed the program).

Connors did not attend Stanford.

|> >---
|> >arijit
|> 
|> I am wondering what is so hot about this Stanfurd. Is it a Californian
|> tennis school? Are there any pro tennis players who graduated from Cornell,
|> Princeton, or Harvard? 

As a Stanford graduate, I'll try to answer.  Stanford has historically
had a very strong tennis program.  Not including 91-92 school year (for
which I don't know), the men were NCAA champions 12 times -including
1980,81,83,86,88,89,90; and the women won 8 times
1978,82,84,86,87,88,89,90.  (I happen to have this information on on a
big plastic cup on my desk that I got at my reunion last year!).  Some
big name players have played at Stanford, including McEnroe(s) - John
1 year, Patrick 4 years, Tim Mayotte, Jim Grabb, Scott Davis, Derrick
Rostagno, David Wheaton, Alex O'Brien and a few more young ones who
are after my time.  Women I can think of include Patty Fendick,
Elise Burgin, Linda Gates, Kate Gompert, Kathy Jordan, and, once
again, some young ones whose names slip my mind right now (my memory
is really slipping... i must be approaching 30!).  Not all of these
players played all 4 years - a few left after 1,2, or 3 years to turn
pro.  And at least one who I know returned to graduate after playing
on the tour for 5-6 years.

Part of Stanford's strength is its coaching.  The tennis coaches are
pretty well known for their successes, and thus, can attract top
players.  Also, Stanford has some of the strictest academic
requirements for all students, including athletes, and tennis players
seem to be more likely to meet the standards than say, basketball
players.  Stanford is also in California, with outstanding facilities
including a real tennis stadium, so I assume that helps it attract top
players.  A few of the above players were friends of mine in school,
and one of the things they cherished about attending college after
grueling times in the juniors was to live a "normal" college student
life for a while at a place where being a great tennis player was not
going to make them stand out (since there are so many other great
scholars, athletes, musicians, etc).

There are pro tennis players from other colleges, but for some reason,
Stanford seems to stand out.  Last year  at the U.S. Open, I remember
counting a very large number of Stanford players in the draw (at least
20-25 total men/women).

Hope this helps.

Donna

|> 
|> The pro players obviously feel that life is too short and they should
|> play hard and earn more. I don't think the first pro on the tour with a
|> Ph.D. will appear until 3000, when human life span approaches 200yrs.
|> 
|> Frank
|> 

-- 
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Donna V. Feliciano                 email: donna@bae.bellcore.com
Bellcore                           Phone: (908) 699-2161
444 Hoes Lane Room RRC 4A741       FAX:   (908) 336-2828
Piscataway, NJ 08854
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Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis