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fuTure of Tennis is aT hand by marcel Goodman p The men's American Association of Tennis Professionals Tour is paving a new road for a sport no longer considered a game. As each new generation of players raises the bar of excellence ever higher, it is doubtful that legendary alphas like Rod Laver could win a single set. What has changed? The balls are the same size and color. The court dimensions are the same. The system of umpires and lines keepers continues unaltered. Advances in equipment technology and court construction beneft all players equally. Why, then, has the level of competition risen so noticeably? Indeed, while the game itself has endured the passage of time virtually unchanged, the players themselves have not. Tennis players today are lighter, faster and stronger than their predecessors. They are more physically developed than players from 20 or 30 years ago. The conditioning routines have grown tougher, longer, and more consistent to ensure that the players never lose a step from their peak condition. While Pete sampras and Andre Agassi once gained competitive advantage by pushing the limits of conditioning, now everyone does it. Constantly touring, every day is a micromanaged marathon: meal time, sleep time, pre and post-match workouts, acupuncture. The e FROm LeFT: ALJO DURKOVIC; RICK DAY players travel with an entourage of coaches, trainers, nutritionists, friends and others whose jobs range from ensuring the players' physical well-being to their mental health. Back in the days of sampras and Agassi, viewers would be thrilled to see a fve-set match go three or four hours. There were few memorable points until near the end of each set, along with the tension and realization that every point counted. By the time the matches ran down, the players were exhausted shells of their earlier selves, stretching to reach shots that would have been easily returned in the earlier sets. Often, the outcomes of these matches were determined by attrition: the last player standing won. Bjorn Borg was a master of this strategy, exhausting his opponent before lowering the cudgel. Boring, perhaps, but efective. Today, matches often exceed fve hours, punching holes in the ceiling on physical requirements, as did the one at Wimbledon between John Isner and nicolas mahut. It was once rare for a player outside the top 50 to defeat one ranked in the top ten. Today, no player is immune from upsets. The globalization of the sport has also been aided by the internet. Young tennis acolytes everywhere have easy access to videos of their heroes, which they can view repeatedly as they strive to emulate their styles and techniques. They often see tennis as a way out of poverty, or as a means of acceptance to top universities. The superstars of this generation, like Roger Federer and Rafael nadal, can rip a tennis ball past their opponent at a hundred miles an hour, on the full run, from any location on the court, in the ffth set just as easily as in the frst set. Their mantle has been assumed by novak Djokavic and others. The next generation of champions, like Donald Young, Ryan sweeting, Tim smycek, sam Querrey, milos Roanic, Kei nishikori and Jesse Levine, has collectively raised the bar even higher. I have toured with them, practiced with them, competed against them. I have seen the future of tennis. It will arrive sooner than you might imagine. v er rf e ct s e The Above: Marcel Goodman, who models and acts when he isn't playing tennis, strikes a pose for famous photographer Rick Day. Left: Goodman smashes the ball over the net. Marcel Goodman is a professional tennis player, model and actor. FAIRWEATHER | SUMMER 2013 | 33