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Volleys With the Pros
Players Trade Shots With the Legends of Australian tennis at a Texas Fantasy Camp
Joel Drucker
From the Print Edition:
Bo Derek, Jul/Aug 00
(continued from page 4)
On the camp's final day of competition, the teams led by Newcombe and Emerson play lively tennis. Attempting to derail Emerson's best doubles player, Newcombe urges the duo of Marc Segan and Glenn Bergenfield on after every point. "I could feel the spirit of John Newcombe trying to beat me," Emmo's player, Jimmy Miller, would say later. "It was as if this will was entering me through them." Nevertheless Miller and his partner, Tom Sansonetti, hang on for a straight-set victory.
By day's end, Emmo's team is winning, and needs only one more victory to earn the championship. On Court 9, Bob Horning and Mike Lawhon are in control. Having been in at the creation of Tennis Fantasies with Contardi, Lawhon has never missed a session of Tennis Fantasies and lives for the camp's big moments, whether it is crooning "Love Me Tender" at the karaoke bar to one of the ranch's hostesses or scrambling all over the court. When Horning strikes a sharp return, Lawhon crosses for an easy volley, thumping it for a winner.
It is all over. Lawhon and Horning hug each other and begin cheering with their teammates. As they have on so many continents in so many cities on so many courts, Emerson and Riessen shake hands with Newcombe and Anderson.
That night, Contardi and the legends preside over an awards banquet. Plaques and photos are given to every camper, along with special honors for such categories as "Most Improved" and "Charlie Hustle." Save for a set of early-morning drills and rallies before airplanes whisk them off, the fantasy is over for these campers. They will go home with a treasured memory of the week when the legends of the game let them into the inner circle. But that's what they pay for. The astonishing thing is that the warm feeling of the experience is also shared by the professional side of this tennis equation.
"This is a very special week for us, too," Davidson tells the campers. "We've spent our lives in this sport, and to see how much people like you love it, that excites us."
Oakland-based Joel Drucker writes frequently about sports and popular culture for Tennis, Biography and HBO Sports.
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