Stich, Sukova enter net Hall
NEWPORT, R.I. — When Michael Stich was a teenager, he had to choose a sport — soccer or tennis.
It seems he made right choice now that he has a home in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The 49-year-old German and Helena Sukova were inducted yesterday during a ceremony on Newport’s grass court, the only members of the class of 2018.
“I played till I was 18,” Stich said during a news conference. “There was a little bit of a decision between soccer and tennis, but I preferred tennis because I didn’t have to deal with 10 other guys messing up on the pitch. It was only up to me to mess up.”
Stich captured his only Grand Slam singles title in 1991, beating countryman Boris Becker, also a Hall of Famer, at Wimbledon. He was a U.S. Open finalist in 1994 and runner-up at the 1996 French Open.
He joined Becker to win gold in doubles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
“It was always said that we didn’t get along,” Stich said. “Obviously, as we were rivals, we could get along. I think we benefited a lot from each other because we always wanted to be better than the other player,” he said. “We proved it to ourselves and to everyone else that it was possible to follow our goal.”
Sukova captured a combined 14 Slam doubles titles — nine in women’s and five in mixed. She was runnerup in singles at four majors — twice each at the Australian and U.S. opens.
“For me, the most important (thing) was playing the singles,” she said. “I didn’t really like to practice, so doubles was perfect.”
The 53-year-old Czech reflected on her biggest singles win, beating Martina Navratilova at the 1984 Australian Open to end her string of 74 consecutive match victories, including six straight Slam titles.
“I had like three press conferences every day after that,” she said. “Before that, I barely had one.”
Hall of Famer Jim Courier jokingly told the crowd that he checked his record against Stich before heading from his New York City home.
“I almost turned around when I saw I only won five of 12 matches against him,” he said.
Stich said that when he was 6 years old his family took him to the tennis club.
“They couldn’t leave me at home,” he said. “They had to take me.”
And that’s how his love of the game began.
“I had a tennis wall to play against,” he said. “I got a racket and ball and they said: ‘Spend two hours here and we’ll pick you up later.’”
It was time well spent. “The beauty of his game,” Courier said, “is what really sticks with me.”
Johnson in Open final
There was tennis to be played after the induction. Third-seeded Steve Johnson beat Marcel Granollers, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Hall of Fame Tennis Open final.
The 28-year-old American will face Ramkumar Ramanathan this morning. Ramanathan, of India, topped American Tim Smyczek, 6-4, 7-5.
Johnson, a champion in Houston earlier this season, will be seeking his fourth career ATP title. Ramanathan is looking for his first.
“It’s just being comfortable in finals. This is his first ATP final and that’s new ground for him,” Johnson said. “Maybe he comes out with nerves, maybe he doesn’t. Hopefully I can use my experience to come out, be solid and put the pressure on him.”
Johnson, ranked No. 48 in world, needed just 70 minutes to advance, getting to a handful of tough shots that frustrated the Spaniard.
“I’ve been on the other side of that many times. I know what it feels like,” Johnson said. “Very happy today to be in the driver’s seat of that situation.”