|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ROGERS CUP MENAugust 11, 2012Lorne MainTORONTO, ONTARIO SARAH GROSSMAN: Lorne Main is a Canadian tennis legend. He is being inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame tonight. He has won two Rogers Cup doubles titles in 1951 and 1954 ‑ in was then known as the Canadian Open ‑ and then was the finalist in 1949. He has since become the winningest seniors tennis champion in the history of the International Tennis Federation. We'll open it up for questions. Q. We had also lots of players here, and let's say they took also some finals. So how do you see today tennis between your period and today, how it's working? LORNE MAIN: My period and the period now? Incredible. It is so fast and so tough. There is really no comparison. I watched a match on television about a month ago. I was in Europe at the time. It was Borg playing Jimmy Connors. I just watched some of the actions and the play and the movement and everything else. Tennis has progressed so far. I mean, it's not just the racquets. It's the fitness and the stroking of the ball. It's so heavy now. Unbelievable. So I don't think there is much comparison. I love all the old‑timers, like when I played Gonzalez and Sedgman, Dick Savitt, Vic Seixas, Tony Trabert. But I hate to say that the players of today would be so far superior right now that it would be very hard for any of those players, to me, to win a set off Federer or Djokovic, Nadal, or Murray right now. Q. Congratulations. Tell us a little bit about what it means to be inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame. LORNE MAIN: This is the Rogers Hall of Fame. It's a great honor. Just looked at the names that are ahead of me. This year going in with Martina Hingis and Jim Courier, that's pretty nice company to be in. It's a great honor. I'm a Vancouver boy, but I've lived in Toronto a lot. Just to come out here and have this honor again at Rogers is terrific. Thank you. Q. Do you still play tennis? LORNE MAIN: Do I what? Q. Do you still play tennis? LORNE MAIN: Do I play tennis? (Laughter.) Well, I am the world champion right now 80 to 85. I'm going back to Croatia to defend my title in September. I've won 13 of these world singles, 13 doubles, and 13 team championships, so they gave me a senior award in Paris during the French Championships I guess because I've won more gold balls or gold medals than any other player. They have never honored a senior before. Again, I love being Canadian in tennis and getting the first senior award from the ITF. I think it's a pretty good honor. As I say, I'm a very proud Canadian. I played seven years Davis Cup and five years as captain, and now I played 26 consecutive World Championships in the seniors. Not a bad record. (Laughter.) Q. Can you share with us a few ways you have given back to the sport throughout your career? What did you give back to the sport? Being so fortunate to get where you are, how do you give back to the sport? LORNE MAIN: How do I give back? Q. Yes. A few ways you helped the sport of tennis. SARAH GROSSMAN: Have you done anything over your career that you've given back to the sport? LORNE MAIN: I've been a tennis coach. I ran a tennis academy. You maybe know Pierre Lamarche. We started the All‑Canadian Tennis Academy in London back in the '80s. I've coached quite a few juniors. I've been a tennis pro at Timberlane near Aurora, so I've coached quite a few juniors and given them some tips along the way, yeah. Q. Can you tell us which is your best game in your life in the tennis? LORNE MAIN: The best game I played? Q. Yes, which one you remember. LORNE MAIN: The best tournament was Monte‑Carlo. Q. The best game and the best rival. Who's the most hard rival to defeat? LORNE MAIN: My biggest rival? Oh, I didn't get the rival bit. Well, in seniors there has been a few as I've gone along the line. Everybody understands how we play the world seniors every five years? Well, in '55 my first world senior was against Frank Sedgman, who's a great Australian Wimbledon champion. I can't call him a rival. He beat me in Davis Cup. I'll always remember, in 1952 he came over from Wimbledon and he was a Wimbledon champion. We had to play them in Davis Cup, and he beat me very handily, something like 2‑1‑2 or something. 34 years later I'm playing him in my first World Championships in the finals, and after I beat him 7‑5, 6‑4, I told Sedge, I says, I've waited 34 years for this match. (Laughter.) So there is a little bit of a rival. But he said, Nobody waits that long. And anyway, seniors aren't important. But he really didn't mean it. He was a gentlemen. He congratulated me. All the Australians, to me, are one of the great nations in tennis back in the '50s and '60s actually. Now I'm actually traveling with a beautiful Australian girl. She's won a couple World Championships, and so we are going Croatia together. We've been traveling across the United States together. She's just a great gal. She's a little younger than me, but that's all right. We won the National Australian Mixed Doubles Championships. I have to drop down to the 60s to play with her, but we did and we won the National Australian. It's a great life I'm having in my older age. I guess everybody knows I'm 82 now. Anyway, I feel good. Tennis has been my life and has really kept me fit. Okay. Q. You spoke a little bit about how the game of tennis itself has changed. Talk a little bit about how this tournament in particular has changed from when you used to play to what you watched today. LORNE MAIN: How the tournaments have changed? Q. Rogers Cup itself has changed, playing in Toronto. LORNE MAIN: Well, yeah, it's still a bit Super 9 tournament. It's one of the big... SARAH GROSSMAN: Masters 1000. LORNE MAIN:  Masters 1000. I better get that straight. That's what it is. Anyway, it's come a long ways from what the other tournaments were. Monte‑Carlo was a Masters 1000 I guess, so I guess I'm the only singles winner Canadian. I think Milos will make it one day. To me, Danny Nestor, he's the best Canadian we've ever had. I've always said that winning all the Grand Slam doubles. I remember when Dan Nestor or beat Stefan Edberg. I don't know if anybody remembers that. He did in Vancouver there in a Davis Cup match. He has played some good singles also, but what a credit to Canada and what he's done in tennis. Danny Nestor is our best Canadian tennis player ever. Q. You just spoke about the success of Daniel Nestor. Talk a little bit about what the future holds for tennis Canada with players like Milos and Eugenie Bouchard? LORNE MAIN: We've never had a singles player like Milos come along so quick and at that age now, so I think that's the future of Canadian tennis. We needed that one good tennis player. I like Vasek Pospisil too. He's come along well. Now to have those two‑‑ I wish Danny Nestor, we could just bring him down about ten years. We could be a pretty exciting Davis Cup team then. Like when we played, the nation had challenges. I mean, Australia held the trophy in the '50s, naturally. They didn't have to play. Then we always drew Mexico or British West Indies or Cuba. We could usually defeat them, but then we got the U.S. Then when the U.S. had the trophy, well then Australia would be traveling and they would come in our zone. So we've always had a tough match that way. It was never like the way it is now, which I think is great, the 16 nations going for the Davis Cup. I just think it's still the best thing in the world to represent your country. We do it every year in seniors now. We have all these 20 cups. The women have ten Cups and we have ten Cups in the men. This Is 35 up to 80, so it's like we're playing Davis Cup in seniors every year. It's a great thing to have and for me to still compete like that. Representing your country is always the number one thing for me. (Smiling.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|