Samprasfanz

Rawalnda Hercules just wanted to hit the tennis ball as hard as she could, even if it meant chasing it down herself.

“I only know a little about tennis,” Hercules said. “I can’t hardly hit it.”

She and her two sisters, Briana and Seychelle, spent a cold hour hitting foam tennis balls out in the parking lot of the Columbus Civic Center on Saturday afternoon courtesy of the Columbus Regional Tennis Association’s block party.

Using the Quick Start format of teaching tennis, CORTA members and various other volunteers gave several hundred area youth a chance to warm up for the Pete Sampras-Todd Martin exhibition match by playing on small, improvised courts.

Seychelle Hercules said she played tennis at the Girls, Inc., tennis camps and at her school, Clubview Elementary.

None of the Hercules sisters knew anything about Sampras — once the No. 1 tennis player in the world — but they were eager to see the match, as was their mother, Marilyn.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Marilyn Hercules. “I’ve never seen a pro match.”

Added Seychelle Hercules, “This is going to be exciting.”

Sampras and Martin lived up to the billing, putting on an entertaining show for a crowd of about 1,500 at the civic center. The exhibition match included an amusing running commentary between the players, as well as good tennis.

At one point, after a slow start, Todd commandeered the umpire’s microphone, telling the crowd, “I will make a shot before the night is over.” He did, pushing Sampras to a tiebreaker in the first set before losing it 7-6 (3).

Sampras opened up the match with a feast-or-famine style, mixing a couple of double faults with aces and unreturnable serves in winning the first game. The two players hit their stride late in the first set with longer rallies. Sampras won the exhibition match 7-6 (3), 6-4 behind his famed booming serves. He closed the match with an ace, one of many on the night.

Sampras and Todd used the match as a warm-up for bigger things. Martin will play in a tournament on Wednesday.

“If I can adjust to his power, I’m in pretty good shape,” Martin said.

Sampras is slated for an exhibition match in New York City with the current No. 1 tennis player in the world, Roger Federer. That match will be Monday at Madison Square Garden. Sampras cited being competitive as a goal for the match.

“I still enjoy playing,” Sampras said. “I’m still competitive. Todd is one of my top rivals and a good friend. I still want to play well.”

The 36-year-old Sampras, who won a record 14 Grand Slam events, has been in retirement for the last five years. He said he knows he made the right decision to walk away from the game. He said listening to the retirement press conference of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre reaffirmed it.

“That’s exactly how I felt,” Sampras said. “I felt I could still play. But physically, you get tired. I won everything I wanted to win and left on my terms.”

Martin said he noticed all the children playing on the makeshift courts before the match, something he called, “great.” Sampras expressed similar thoughts.

“Hopefully my presence will inspire kids to want to play tennis and grow the game here,” Sampras said.

Tennis players from the Columbus State men and women’s teams, along with Shaw High’s tennis team, helped CORTA with the block party instructions.

“They were conducting some of the games, and then played with them,” said Cheryl Smith, a CORTA board member. “We just wanted to give them a taste of tennis and maybe they’ll say, ‘I like it and want to play.’ “

The Quick Start format features teaching players on 32-foot courts instead of 90-foot courts, and employing smaller rackets and foam balls, said Nita Perry of CORTA.

“Everyone in Europe grew up on mini courts,” Perry said. “You progress from foam balls to low-compression balls. Then, once they are 11 or 12, they can play on regular courts.”

Even though some of the younger children, many who weren’t alive when Sampras won the U.S. Open in 1990 as a 19-year-old, weren’t aware of his stature in the tennis world, the adults were.

“For my age group, Sampras was ‘the man,’ ” Smith said. “He was who we watched.”

Saturday night gave tennis fans a chance to see one of tennis’ all-time greats in person.

Source: Ledger-Enquirer.com