Grand Slam
Allen Fox: The Ph.D Candidate Who Played In The First Grand Slam Of The Open Era
On the 50th anniversary of the Open Era in grand slam tennis, one former player speaks about his experience at the 1968 French Open.
The entire month of May, in Paris, fifty-years ago was a memorable and perplexing time. The local civil disturbance led by university students and workers eventually enveloped the entire country and nearly brought France to a virtual standstill. The police used heavy handed tactics in an attempt to clear the Paris streets of all of those who were seeking “individual rights”. (In truth, the reasons for the uproar were much more complex.) French President Charles de Gaulle stood strong and refused to resign. He finally decided to disband the National Assembly and hold elections on June 23rd. Though the voting made his Gaullist Party even stronger as it earned 353 of the 486 legislative seats that were available, de Gaulle lost. The French people made it clear that they believed the World War II hero had grown too old, too ego-centric and much too out of touch with the times to continue as their leader.
While the riots were raging, tennis history was being made. Roland Garros, contested from May 27 until June 9, 1968, was equally revolutionary. It was the first Grand Championship of the Open Era. Allen Fox took a break from completing his Ph.D. in psychology at UCLA in Westwood, California to play the tournament. (It is ironic that the tumult in the work places provided the people of Paris with free time and looking for a diversion, they came in record numbers to Stade Roland Garros.)
The recollections of Fox, a regular U.S. Top 10 performer, offer “looking back” insight on a period when the game, much as the world as a whole, dramatically changed its course.
In his first-round match at Roland Garros, Fox routed Alfredo Acuna of Peru 6-2, 6-1, 6-0. “Alfredo was a great guy and became a good friend of mine”, he remembered. “He actually became the best player in Peru, but he was young then, and I was especially tough on young, inexperienced players. I don’t think I realized how good he was, so I was loose and confident. I always played matches at 100%, so I wasn’t about to ease up on him in a major championship.”
John Alexander was Fox’s next opponent. Soon to be 17, he was an Australian star in the making. “He was young and talented, and though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was slightly over the hill by 1968. But, I thought I would beat him anyway because the clay slowed his attacking game down.”
As a UCLA undergraduate, Fox was a three-time All-American, between 1959 and ‘61. He won the NCAA doubles title with UCLA teammate Larry Nagler in 1960 and was the singles champion in 1961. While these are impressive tennis statistics, he was more fulfilled by his academic accomplishments. As a senior, he earned All-UCLA and All-University of California Athlete of the Year honors, which were presented to the Best Scholar-Athlete in the University of California system.
With all his “educational smarts”, Fox made a critically bad choice the night prior to his match with Alexander. He recalled, “I had never played him before. But, I went out the night before the match and ate sausages and sauerkraut for dinner. Then I was up all night with diarrhea and vomiting. It was a hot day, and by the fifth set I was starting to cramp. I played ‘within myself’ to avoid the cramps, but when I got an easy volley and put it away for double match point, I got excited and really cramped. I was up 40-15 on my serve and laying on the court with cramps all over my body. Alexander was kind enough to give me five minutes to work them out, which I barely did. When I was finally able to serve, I ‘pushed’ it in. He returned it and came to net, and I choked on a backhand passing shot. On the next point, I came to net and he lobbed. I couldn’t jump, so I just stood there as the low lob simply went over my head. At 6-6, I finally had to retire”.
The score that went into the Roland Garros record book was 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 11-9, 6-6, Retired. Fox added, “I was lucky I didn’t end up in the hospital. I was so dehydrated.”
He made his Roland Garros debut in 1965, and explained, “That was the year I traveled with Donald (Dell, who would go on to found ProServ, the agency that represented players like Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith and Jimmy Connors to name just a few of his clients). We spent six months in Europe and six months in Africa.”
In his first match, Fox played Billy Knight of Great Britain in the second round, (because both players had first round byes). After winning the first set 6-0, Knight took control and closed things out, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. “I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember that he had a big topspin forehand, flaming red hair, and moved fast around the court. As an aside, I generally liked playing lefties (as Knight was) because they served into my backhand which was my best side, and they tended to slice their backhands (which Knight did) and I could get to the net attacking that side. Clearly, it didn’t do me much good against him.”
In 1966, a year later, Fox accomplished a never to be equaled triumph. Having just begun graduate school at UCLA, he rode his motorcycle each day from the university to the Los Angeles Tennis Club, in West Los Angeles, to participate in the Pacific Southwest. Eight of the world’s top 10 players were in the draw, and he scored a “personal Grand Slam” defeating Wimbledon champion Manuel Santana, Roland Garros titlist Tony Roche, U.S. National winner Fred Stolle and Australian titleholder, Roy Emerson. (The tournament was held annually the week following the U.S. National Championships in Forest Hills, New York, and Los Angeles served a stop-over for Australian and other international players who had played at Forest Hills and were on their way home.)
“In the round of 16, I played Santana,” Fox said. “It was a hot and smoggy day. I had grown up in Los Angeles, so I had ‘leather lungs’. I won a close first set, and Manuel didn’t have much left in the second. I look on it as a ‘cheap victory’.”
Roche was next up. “I started very well and began feeling I could play with these guys,” Fox noted. “I won the first set and was up 4-1 in the second and serving, when ‘the incident’ took place. On the first point, I hit the best backhand passing shot I had ever hit. On the next point, he hit a return and I scraped a backhand volley off my shoestrings. I hit it up the line and it was just in. Roche got to the ball and hit it two yards wide. In those days, the linesmen called the line through the length of the court. The guy making the call went into some sort of ‘psychic trance’ and signaled my shot was good. He forgot to call Roche’s out. The umpire, thinking the lineman had called Roche’s shot good, said the score was 15 – 15. I went crazy. I started jumping up and down in protest. Roche, who is one of the classiest guys you will ever meet, walked up to me and said, ‘I’ll throw you the next point’. I said, ‘next point, I want the next two, I should be up 30 – 0’. I really wanted to win the match because the semifinal was going to be on television and it would be seen in Los Angeles.”
After downing Roche in straight sets. Fox, who was half way through his own Grand Slam, faced Stolle in the semifinals. He remembered, “For whatever reason, I used to beat him regularly. Though the public considered me the underdog, I was confident. I had defeated him the year before at the Southwest, and felt I was the favorite. Because I was so confident, I didn’t play well. I played safe. It was a ‘hold on’ win.”
With another straight set victory in hand, Emerson was his final round opponent. “Prior to the start of the match, I would have bet a lot of money he would beat me,” Fox admitted. “He won the toss and elected to receive, figuring I would be tight. I won the game at love. In a short time, I realized I was playing very well. He had a tough serve, yet I would hold mine at 15 and would take him to deuce or have ads. The ball seemed to be coming ‘so slow’ I could do whatever I wanted. Years later I realized I was in what people have called ‘the zone’.”
Fox won the first set 6-3 and was up 5-3 with Emerson serving in the second. “I did get a bit nervous in this game,” he recalled. “I got the score to deuce and he served wide. I was outside the doubles alley and bunted back a chest high return that he volleyed into the open court. Ordinarily with Emerson, on a shot like that, the point was over, and you just moved to the other side to receive his next serve. But, I ran it down, my legs were moving with lightning speed, and threw up a very high lob. He was on the sunny side [of the court] and missed it.
“On my first match point, he ran a serve off the line and I hit the return into the net. On the second deuce, he served wide again, I just got my racquet on it, ran his volley down, tossed up another very high lob and he missed the overhead again. After missing his first serve, he played it safe spinning the second one in. It was short, and I really hit it. He ran wide, just got to the ball and floated a ‘duck’ back to me at mid-court. I remember running to the ball thinking I will never, in my life, have an easier shot to win the Pacific Southwest. I also remember not being able to feel my arm. I was so tight, but I hit the ball as hard as I could with as much top spin as possible. Thank God it went in.”
Fox remembered, “The crowd went wild. I got a standing ovation because I was such an underdog.”
After he completed his education, Fox became a widely recognized sports psychologist, and has worked with a host of players on the tour. He authored a number of highly respected books including “Think to Win: The Strategic Dimension of Tennis”, “If I’m The Better Player, Why Can’t I Win?”, and “The Winner’s Mind: A Competitor’s Guide to Sports and Business Success.” He also served as the men’s tennis coach at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, for 17 years. Among the performers he guided were Brad Gilbert, Kelly Jones and Martin Laurendeau, former Canadian Davis Cup team captain and current coach of Denis Shapovalov.
“Looking back for players like (Rod) Laver, (Ken) Rosewall and (Richard “Pancho”) Gonzalez, Roland Garros in 1968 was very important,” Fox concluded. “It was significant because they had been excluded for so long. Now, all the good players could compete. The reaction of the amateurs was simple. With Open Tennis, there were more good players to worry about.”
Fifty years may seem like a very long time when one is young and hopeful. Looking back on those years is a curious mix of eye opening reminders of a life well lived and every step that it took to arrive at today. The Terre Battue of Roland Garros was the red carpet that opened the door to countless players who spent years perfecting their skills and now, today’s players are able to take full advantage for their labors. Open Tennis provided that platform, and it all began fifty years ago.
Focus
Wimbledon Daily Preview: Novak Djokovic Plays Carlos Alcaraz for the Gentlemen’s Singles Championship
Day 14 at The Championships hosts the championship matches in gentlemen’s singles and mixed doubles.
One year ago, Novak Djokovic was on a 34 match Wimbledon win streak, playing for his fifth consecutive title, and had not lost a match on Centre Court in a full decade. But in a spectacular five-hour five-setter, Carlos Alcaraz upset the all-time great to win his first Wimbledon title. On Sunday, we get the rematch, as Djokovic looks to avenge that painful loss, and Alcaraz looks to defend a Major title, and win back-to-back Majors, for the first time.
Carlos Alcaraz (3) vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – 2:00pm on Centre Court
They followed up last year’s championship match here with another fantastic final just a month later in Cincinnati, where Djokovic saved championship point to eventually win in a third-set tiebreak, and after nearly four hours of play. Novak would go on three weeks later to win the US Open, while Carlitos was not the same player for some time. Alcaraz would not reach another final at any event for over six months, until this past March in Indian Wells.
Despite a few surprising losses, and an injury that disrupted his season, Alcaraz is now a strong 32-6 on the year, and a superb 17-1 at Majors. Carlitos has been able to quickly rebound from upsets at smaller events, like his loss to Jack Draper a few weeks ago at Queen’s Club, and up his level for the big events. He’s dropped five sets through six matches, most of which have contained some sloppy play at times, yet Carlitos has played his best when it mattered most to reach his fourth Major final. And he’s 3-0 thus far in Major finals.
Novak Djokovic after winning his semifinal on Friday (twitter.com/wimbledon)
2024 has been a surprisingly subpar season in the illustrious career of Djokovic. Not only has he not won a title to date, he hadn’t advanced to a final until now. Playing a more limited schedule, he’s just 23-6 this season. And it was just a month ago that he was forced to withdraw from the Roland Garros quarterfinals after suffering a knee injury, which required surgery and put his Wimbledon status in doubt. Yet Novak has recovered almost miraculously, dropping only two sets to this stage, though he did receive a quarterfinal walkover of his own from an injured Alex de Minaur.
Overall Djokovic is 3-2 against Alcaraz, and they’ve split two meetings at Majors, both of which took place a year ago. In the 2023 Roland Garros semifinals, Carlitos started cramping after just two sets of play, and provided little resistance in sets three and four. That made his five-set victory in this final a month later all the more surprising.
Alcaraz earlier this week (twitter.com/wimbledon)
Novak has not appeared to be significantly hampered by his surgically-repaired knee, though there’s no way it can be 100%. So if another five-setter takes place on Sunday, that has to favor Carlitos, especially since he is an amazing 12-1 when pushed to five sets in his young career.
But the Djokovic CV at this tournament, and at this stage of Majors, is beyond formidable. Since the start of The Championships in 2014, he is 59-3 at SW19. And during the same span at all Majors, he is 42-8 in semifinals and finals. Novak just very rarely loses matches like this, especially on Centre Court.
On a that surface usually favors the aggressor, Djokovic has been able to change that narrative with his stifling defense and court coverage. However, Alcaraz is one of the only players Djokovic has ever faced who can match him defensively, and at times dictate play against him with his risk-taking style. We saw here a year ago just how frustrated Novak became by Carlitos’ game, damaging the net post by breaking his racket against it after getting broken in the fifth set.
Djokovic earlier this fortnight (twitter.com/wimbledon)
Yet as many have mentioned these last two weeks, Djokovic “has that look about him,” meaning the steely determination and confidence that he was lacking during the first six months of this year appear to be back. He is extremely motivated to reassert himself atop the game, in a season where the new generation of Alcaraz and Sinner won the first two Majors.
If Carlitos gets off to another slow start on Sunday (he’s lost the first set in three of his six matches thus far), or suffer lapses in his level again, Novak will take advantage of that better than any of the defending champion’s previous opponents. And while he’ll surely do so at some point in his career, until Alcaraz defends a Major title, or wins back-to-back Majors, it’s hard to favor him to do so. I’m backing Djokovic to win his eighth Wimbledon title, and his historical 25th Major singles title, the most of all-time.
Other Notable Matches on Sunday:
Santiago Gonzalez and Giuliana Olmos vs. Jan Zielinski Su-wei Hsieh (7) – The Mexican team of Gonzalez and Olmos are playing for their first Major title, as Olmos is 0-1 in Major finals, while 41-year-old Gonzalez is 0-4. Zielinski and Su-wei won this year’s Australian Open as a team, the first Major title of Zielinski’s career, while Su-wei has now won eight between women’s doubles and mixed, and is 8-1 in Major finals.
Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.
Focus
Wimbledon Daily Preview: Jasmine Paolini Plays Barbora Krejcikova for the Ladies’ Singles Championship
Day 13 at The Championships hosts the championship matches in ladies’ singles, ladies’ doubles, and gentlemen’s doubles.
It’s cliché, and usually untrue, to say “No one expected these two finalists.” But in this case, it is absolutely true. Prior to this fortnight, Jasmine Paolini had never won a match at The Championships. And Barbora Krejcikova arrived at SW19 with a losing record on the year. Yet both will play in their second Major singles final on Saturday, after inspired play during this tournament.
Barbora Krejcikova after winning her semifinal on Thursday (twitter.com/wimbledon)
Barbora Krejcikova (31) vs. Jasmine Paolini (7) – 2:00pm on Centre Court
After failing to advance beyond the second round in her first 16 appearances at Majors, Paolini is now 15-2 in her last three, and is the first WTA player to reach the final of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2016. Jasmine is 30-12 on the year, and has won 14 of her last 16 matches. She has been taken to three sets twice during this event, most recently outlasting Donna Vekic in a third-set tiebreak during Thursday’s semifinals.
Krejcikova has also required three sets in two of her six matches to this stage, upsetting 2022 champion Elena Rybakina in the semis. That was the third win in a row for Barbora over a higher-seed, after ousting two other big hitters, Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko. She’s accomplished all this despite being just 7-9 this season before this tournament began. Injuries have plagued her career since her 2021 Roland Garros singles title, including a back injury earlier this year.
Paolini is 2-4 lifetime in singles finals at WTA level, while Krejcikova is 7-5. However, when you consider their appearances in Major finals between singles and doubles, Paolini is 0-2, having lost both the women’s singles and doubles finals last month in Paris, while Krejcikova is an amazing 11-1. That’s a huge contrast in success at Grand Slam level.
These players also possess contrasting styles. Paolini has been crushing her forehand, using it to come forward and show off her great hands at the net. Krejcikova has a good serve, as well as both power and guile on her groundstrokes. She loves using her slice to keep her opponents off-balance. However, that will be more difficult to do against such a great mover like Jasmine. And Barbora’s forehand has become unreliable in some crucial moments during this fortnight, which the Italian can target.
But on this surface, and considering her history in Major finals, I give the edge to Krejcikova to win her second Major singles title. Plus, Barbora has already won two ladies’ doubles titles on this same court. And she would surely cherish the chance to honor her late coach and mentor Jana Novotna by holding the Venus Rosewater Dish aloft on Centre Court, just as Jana did in 1998.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson (15) vs. Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten – This is a fourth Major final in men’s doubles for Purcell, who won this title two years ago alongside another Aussie, Matthew Ebden. Thompson had never advanced beyond the fourth round of a Major in either men’s singles or doubles until this run. Patten is also a Major final debutante, while Heliovaara won last year’s US Open in mixed doubles.
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend (4) vs. Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe (2) – Siniakova is playing for the ninth Major title in women’s doubles, while Townsend is playing for her first, after going 0-2 in previous finals. Dabrowski and Routliffe are the reigning US Open champions, and Routliffe will become the new World No.1 in women’s doubles on Monday, regardless of Saturday’s result.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
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