The Old Era vs The New Era, money, sponserships, and fame

Money, Sponsorships, and Fame.

A huge difference between the Old Era and New Era is the amount of money, sponsorships, and fame that the pros nowadays get.  Big companies such as Nike, Adidas, and Lacoste have been around for some time now and have sponsored tennis players are paid more, have more clothing types, and are famous amongst many countries.  When a person hears the name Roger Federer, they think of the Greatest Of All Time.  He has the biggest prize money coming in each year, along with sponsorships.  Comparing his total 70 million dollar prize money vs Bjorn Borg’s 3.7 million dollar prize money, people can see how much the pay has changed.



 
Another thing that has changed is the fan base of tennis.  At the left are pictures of the big tournaments each year, US Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon, and French Open.  Pictured are the largest stadiums of each tournament, Armstrong stadium, Chattelier stadium, Main court Wimbledon, and Rod Laver Stadium.  They all house close to at least tens of thousands of seats for the finals of each tournament.

 

The Old Era vs The New Era, a cummulative analysis

A Cumulative Analysis

Looking at all of the differences between the Old Era and the New Era of tennis players, one can conclusively say that there has been some evolution between the two.  Can we really say if it has made the game more appealing and fun?  No because the two games both offer different styles and playing strategies.  All audiences of the tennis fans will enjoy both styles, because they both offer different points of interest, the Old Era concentrated on getting the point over away fast, while the New Era made it so that they had to work the point out in order to win it.  Though the racquets and other improvements in technology and training made it so that the pros nowadays have more endurance and stamina than the past, it still has the same principle, making it so that players can play how they want.

One thing that will never change in tennis is craftiness and artistry put into each shot, its like a battle on a court.  The stronger the mentality and body of the professional, the more likely they will win.  Another similarity that will always stay the same is the angry American tennis players.

 John McEnroe early 80-90's                                             John McEnroe 2010

The Old Era vs The Open Era, the stroke dynamics

The Stroke Dynamics

In today's game the forehand, backhand, serve, volley, and slice have not changed, but the way they are hit has.  In the past tennis pros basically hit forward more than up against the back, causing it to land nearer to the baseline.  They played a very aggressive hit a winner on the next point approach, some hit with a lot of accuracy while some not so much.  In today's game the stroke dynamics have changed drastically, they tack on what is called the windshield wiper technique on to the ball, which causes the strings to brush up and over the ball.  This improved the consistency of the pros and allowed them to play longer points, introducing the unforced error counter into the game.  Today's game has it so that the player with the most consistency will win more points vs a player who goes all out on his stroke.  Look at the picture of Bjorn Borg on the right, he is hitting a backhand about shoulder height and will most likely drive it down the line or go cross court with it.  On the bottom Nadal demonstrates how the modern pros hit the forehand, with extreme racquet head speed and brushing up the ball.

The table on the bottom shows the average speed and spin of the top pros, though the tables a little outdated now, it shows how Pete Sampras only generated about 1,800 rpm's on his forehand, vs what nadal does with his 3200 rpm rating.

The Old Era vs The Open Era, The all important shoe

 The all important Shoe

Another thing that has changed in the equipment of the top pros are their shoes, which is a very important change.  In the past flat non-marking shoes were fine on all courts, but in today’s game durability and comfort are necessities.  Players are now sliding more, changing directions faster, and moving their feet more than the past pros.  Players feet are their most important parts of their body in tennis, because without the protection they could easily injure themselves and have to drop out of tournaments.  The durability of shoes is a must especially on hard courts, look at the picture on the right side of this page.  It depicts Rafael Nadal being stretched out wide at the 2012 Australian Open Final this year against Novak Djokovic.  He has a professional made shoe by Nike especially made for him, on hardcourts.  Though the retail version is considered to be one of the toughest shoes on the market available today, he can burn through the bottom in about a few practice days and matches.  Another slider, as well as the number one seed currently Novak Djokovic also slides a lot in his game.  The picture depicts a hardcourt tournament earlier this year, he also burns through his shoes in a few matches and practices.

The Old Era vs The Open Era, Racquets, equipment and the sort.

Racquets, Equipment, and the sort.

A tennis player's closest ally is his/her racquet, which allows them to actually play the game in a efficient way.

Another difference between the two eras were the availability of modern aged racquet technology and other equipment.  In the past the top pros used string made from cows intestines and wooden racquets that weighed almost a pound.  They played with a very flat style, trying to outhit the other opponent and go for winners.  Looking at the present game the idea is still the same, but with the more conservative playing styles, i.e. topspin.  Topspin is generated from brushing the racquet strings up the ball, which is done in order to put spin the ball causing a force to be applied to the ball and bring it down back into court, i.e. Magnus Force.  The past pros used topspin as well, but could not produce the amount the present top pros are able to put onto their balls.  This is due to the evolution of racquet technology and other equipment. The introduction to almost full graphite constructions has put wooden racquets away from the game.  With the torsional stability, along with the added stiffness on the racquet, pros can hit as hard as they want without over hitting the ball, as long as they use proper technique.  In order to add more control to their strokes they use new polyester and mixed polyester blended strings in their racquets, allowing them to brush up the ball more. 

The Old Era vs the New Era, Comparison between fitness and practice.

Comparison between fitness and practice.



In the past, tennis greats such as Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, etc.  were regarded as some of the most influential and talented tennis players.  They all had the usual tactic of the Serve and Volley, and were very successful winning many grand slam titles between them all.  In the old era only forward movement and shutter steps(small adjustment steps when approaching a ball) were concentrated on during practice sessions.  All of the players ate like they normally would, and with the exception of John McEnroe who drank Coke while practicing, ate and drank healthy whole foods.

Now stepping into the present, players are more careful with what they eat and how they exercise and practice.  Tennis greats like Raphael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are in the top two seeds in the ranking, all do to their amazing work ethic and talent.  Roger Federer, the other contender in the the top two seeds also has this but with more talent than the rest, being called the greatest man to ever play Tennis.  The three along with the other top players in the big events all compete for the coveted prize of winning the prize money and the trophy, as well as the ranking points.  To even begin to compete in big tournaments, top tennis athletes have to train at least five hours a day in order to keep up with the ever evolving game of tennis.  Looking at the previous Australian Open tournament, the finals match between the top two seeds Nadal and Djokovic lasted a little over 6 hours, with a few five minute breaks in between each set.  This staggering on court playing time, along with the 15-18 miles they ran each throughout the match shows how physical tennis has become.  

Comparing the two eras, one can see that the time spent on matches is about the same, but the mileage each player has to cover in a match is definitely different.  In the past pro players did not have the luxury of advanced training techniques and nutrients and vitamins; however they did have everything else.