U.S. OPEN

August 29, 1994

Paulene Betz

Frank Parker

PAULENE BETZ: I play all the time. Still teaching, still playing. Playing in all the different leagues.

FRANK PARKER: Likewise, me too.

PAULENE BETZ: I played the semifinals of a doubles tournament not long ago when it was the Mid-Atlantic Championship. When I added up the age of my 2 opponents and my partner, I still was a little ahead.

FRANK PARKER: I marveled this morning, I was watching them practice, especially the girls. They hit tremendously hard and, of course, we used wooden rackets when we were playing. I doubt very much whether they could do the same thing with our equipment. But today, I find even playing with the graphite much faster and do more with the ball and get more speed, and more control.

FRANK PARKER: Play against them?

PAULENE BETZ: Of course.

FRANK PARKER: Sure, we could, yes. Definitely.

FRANK PARKER: I think today I hit much harder than I did in the past. I never was much for speed. I was more of a control player and, like, hit and run like a boxer and hitting to a certain point was my main thing on the tennis court.

FRANK PARKER: Only to shake hands with my opponent. No, I didn't go to the net too often. But I was able to volley all right. I mean, it wasn't my strength and my backhand.

PAULENE BETZ: I play with a hammer, wide body, and now-- I mean, it seemed when we played, the equipment seemed fine, but now if you pick up a wooden racket and try to hit with it, you realize what a tremendous difference there is. So they definitely can get more power with today's equipment, no question about it.

FRANK PARKER: Welcome, Bud Collins. How are you?

BUD COLLINS: Welcome Paulene and Frank.

FRANK PARKER: Nice to see you, sir.

BUD COLLINS: Thank you.

FRANK PARKER: 78.

FRANK PARKER: I was 28 when I won it in 1950. No, wait a minute. 1944, I was 28 years old then. Yeah, this is the 50th anniversary.

FRANK PARKER: Good bless his soul.

FRANK PARKER: With the equipment?

FRANK PARKER: He was one of the fellows who he had his racket strung like 40 pounds, which was unbelievable. It was like a fish net. Every time he hit it, you couldn't quite feel, on the other side, the speed of the ball coming at you. And he was very dextrous. I mean, he could maneuver the ball left to right and get tremendous angles and he always had you jumping at the time, you know, you were off balance. But he didn't hit very hard.

FRANK PARKER: With him, I doubt if the equipment would make much difference.

FRANK PARKER: He had talent, yes. But it was -- it was a different kind of talent. He didn't hit hard at all. It was amazing that he could control the ball the way he did.

FRANK PARKER: First prize? You must remember we were amateurs at the time. We played for the love and the glory. Dollar signs didn't exist the way they do now.

FRANK PARKER: I doubt if it can get any better prizewise. They can raise the -- yesterday I noticed that the golfer won the championship, he got prize money of $360,000 for the first place. I think now the winner here gets, what, about a $500,000?

FRANK PARKER: And when we played, I mean, we played --

PAULENE BETZ: Paid entry fees.

FRANK PARKER: We had to pay entry fees, that is true?

FRANK PARKER: I am sorry you brought that up.

FRANK PARKER: '46, I think.

FRANK PARKER: Yes.

FRANK PARKER: Yes.

FRANK PARKER: I won the first two sets. Then he won the next three. And he turned professional right after that and Jack Harris was in the stands and he was the promotor putting on the pro matches and you can imagine how nervous he was, and I don't know what actually happened. The third set, I sort of let go because I won the two and I had played Bromwich the day before. I had played Segura the day before that and they were all tough sets and matches and I was getting a little weary, but that is no excuse. Jack, he just upped his game and he prevailed.

FRANK PARKER: You had a what?

FRANK PARKER: Really? You knew more what was going on than I did.

FRANK PARKER: Ask her a question.

PAULENE BETZ: I like to watch Becker, I think, because he throws himself around so well and among the women, I like most of them. Davenport, now, I really enjoy. She blasts that ball. I would love to see Seles again.

FRANK PARKER: Yes.

PAULENE BETZ: I hope she is going to make a comeback.

PAULENE BETZ: Such power. I just love-- she really just can blast the ball past somebody which I never really did. I had a little more finesse .

FRANK PARKER: I like to watch Lendl play.

PAULENE BETZ: Not with that hat that he wears.

FRANK PARKER: Oh, that Australian neck warmer. In Australia you have to wear something like that because the sun is so strong. We played Davis Cup there and Christmastime it was like 103, 104 degrees, but that was on grass which made it much cooler. But now they play in the new stadium with the hard courts in 120 degrees; the heat rises from the court. I don't understand how the players do it today except they have --

PAULENE BETZ: They have an incentive.

FRANK PARKER: Well, yeah, and also the fact that they can rest 30 seconds between every point. We didn't. We just continued right on playing and changed on odd games.

PAULENE BETZ: 20.

FRANK PARKER: 20 seconds, time flies.

PAULENE BETZ: It was nice, we got all the better -- it was practically like it is now with two separate tours the men were sort of down there, so we enjoyed it.

PAULENE BETZ: I always drove. That was the only thing I could afford.

PAULENE BETZ: Yeah.

PAULENE BETZ: We seemed to be able to get enough.

FRANK PARKER: On Tour with you was Gussie Moran.

PAULENE BETZ: Pro Tour with Gussie.

FRANK PARKER: Who else was on, Bobby?

PAULENE BETZ: Bobby promoted it and Jack Kramer played Segura.

PAULENE BETZ: I was suspended for negotiating to turn pro and I remember coming home from Europe to meet my fate. I read -- Time Magazine had an article on one side was "Exit Leo" and one was "Exit Paulene;" - Leo being Leo Durocher at that time. We were both kicked out but actually I wasn't -- I was suspended, but if I had won it, I am sure I could have been reinstated, but at that time I was tired of playing as an amateur, really was ready to turn pro.

PAULENE BETZ: Well, not by today's

PAULENE BETZ: When I toured with Gussie, I think I got something like 500 a week.

FRANK PARKER: That is the same with me, when I turned pro with Gonzalez, Kramer and Segura, about 500 a week.

FRANK PARKER: That is correct. Yes.

PAULENE BETZ: Seemed like pretty good money at the time.

FRANK PARKER: Not bad at all.

FRANK PARKER: I am in Chicago.

FRANK PARKER: Same courts.

FRANK PARKER: Yes, we have three indoor courts. I am the sports director there and we have all the facilities, aerobics and swimming and anything you -- except a track, but they run in the summertime outside along Michigan Avenue.

PAULENE BETZ: Well, I have been for about 25 years at an indoor tennis facility that we own, but we lease the land, so we have lost that now and I work for Park and Planning there at the same facility, Cabian John in Bethesda, Maryland. I ran a kids tennis camp for about 25 years down at the school in Washington D.C., so. . .

PAULENE BETZ: Oh, yeah.

FRANK PARKER: Yes.

PAULENE BETZ: I am trying to play -- get back to playing golf now. I thoroughly enjoy tennis again because my golf is so bad.

FRANK PARKER: I had a triple bypass in the summertime.

FRANK PARKER: Leather; wasn't it?

PAULENE BETZ: I was determined that I wasn't going to be outdressed, so I put away all that white stuff and I had all of these fake fur shorts made up. Actually for the opening at Madison Square Garden I had silver lamay (Phonetic) shorts and a shocking pink sweater and Time Magazine then had a little article called "Switch" and Gussie appeared in white.

FRANK PARKER: Must have had expensive dry cleaning bills.

PAULENE BETZ: Deductible.

PAULENE BETZ: Right.

FRANK PARKER: Yes, I wish I hadn't because the doctor prescribed dark glasses. I am nearsighted, and I wear contacts when I play tennis now. I don't wear them just -- I can read a telephone directory close up, but it is far away that I can't did --

FRANK PARKER: Yes, Mr. Even indoors it made it much more darker. I tried to explain it to him. He said, no, you wear the dark glasses.

FRANK PARKER: Just think how many matches I would have won if I had lightened my glasses.

FRANK PARKER: I remember.

FRANK PARKER: 15 for boys.

FRANK PARKER: I won it when I was 15, the boys, and then I graduated into the juniors which is under 18 and I won that. Then I had two more years to play in the juniors, but I went into the men's division. I didn't go back to Culver for the last two years.

FRANK PARKER: And 16 as a junior and two years -- then after that I was ranked No. 8 in the top 10 and continued for 17 straight years in the top 10.

FRANK PARKER: Thank you very much. Enjoy.

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