Good sportsmanship - back for good in tennis!

With every tournament that passes we have memories of the good sportsmanship now shown by many of the players in defeat. Warm ‘mates’ handshakes and even hugs seem to be the norm and it is most definitely un-cool to not be a really generous loser. Gone are the days of the finger tip handshake with a turned head and tennis as a sport is way better for it! This is particularly evident in the men’s game but the women are learning fast.

Maybe it was like this in the days of Laver and the close bunch of touring Aussies - but that was before my time and so I can’t comment. Of course there were the odd matches over the ensuing years and the one match that particularly springs to mind was Borg’s victory over Nastase in the 1976 Wimbledon final. Nastase climbed the net and hugged and kissed Borg as he won his first of many Wimbledon titles.

Hats off to Andre Agassi!
I really think that Andre Agassi is the person who should take the credit for the emergence of the ‘good loser’. Andre was always particularly generous in defeat and humble in victory.

It’s fantastic for all the youngsters playing the game to see this trend and long may it continue.

Andre Agassi, Bjorn Borg, good sportsmanship in tennis, Ilie Nastase