Former world No.1 players Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters will be two of the five people officially elevated to the International Tennis Hall Of Fame this weekend.
Roddick won 32 ATP titles during his career, including the 2003 US Open. He is one out of only six American men to ever reach the top of the ATP rankings in the Open era and the last one to do so back in 2004. During his career, he played in 43 grand slam tournaments and finished ever season inside the world’s top-10 between 2002-2010.
Roddick’s influence in the world of tennis has been hailed by John Isner, who is only two years his junior. The world No.21 said he learnt a lot from his compatriot whilst playing in the Davis Cup together. Isner is currently participating in this week’s Newport Open, where he is the top seed.
“I saw how hard he worked,” Isner told providencejournal.com. “I spent Davis Cup weeks with him. I saw how he practiced, what he did off the court, how composed he was on the court — I saw everything he did. I learned from afar, watching him, and it helped me a lot.”
Clijsters’ induction celebrates her highly successful career. The Belgian won four grand slam titles and became world No.1 in both the singles and doubles. At the 2009 US Open, she won the title 18 months after giving birth to her daughter, becoming only the third mother in history to win a grand slam title. She was also the first unseeded player and wild card entrant to win the tournament.
“I feel very honoured,” said Clijsters, who has won a total of 41 WTA trophies. “It’s a huge honour to be amongst a list of so many great tennis players who I admired when I was growing up and some great players who I played with in my tennis career as well.”
Steve Flink among other inductees
Tennis Channel journalist Steve Flink is another figure of the tennis community that will be inducted this weekend. Flink has covered tennis since the early 1970s, when Bud Collins hired him as a researcher during Wimbledon and the US Open. Since then, he has become a prominent media figure in tennis and have worked for numerous publications. Including a 25-year stint as tennis correspondent for CBS Radio. Flink is also a regular contributor to Ubitennis, featuring in numerous videos alongside founder Ubaldo Scanagatta.
“I have been so fortunate to have built an entire career around something I love so deeply. It has been my honour to transcribe to the world through my work the great moments and the remarkable personalities of tennis,” said Flink. “Across all these years, I never could have imagined that I would someday be recognized as a Hall of Famer and as a part of this sport’s history. I am so very humbled and honoured to be recognized.”
Other entrants include tennis instructor, Vic Braden, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 85, and multiple Paralympic medallist Kalkman-van den Bosch.
The International Hall of Fame was founded in the 1950s by Jimmy Van Alen. His aim was to create a place to celebrate the ‘idols of the game.’ The museum is located in Newport, Rhode Island and is said to be the biggest tennis museum in the world. It has been officially recognized by the International Tennis Federation since 1986.
The induction ceremony will take place on Saturday.
