Retro time: Charlie Pasarell serve

[gzhpcu]

[gzhpcu]

Always loved his serve. Charlie had the epic encounter against Pancho in Wimbledon...

[gzhpcu]

From the side...

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[worldsbestcoach]

thank you

Thank you for sharing Pasarell's service motion. A long time ago, he used to be my favorite player. The first time that I ever saw pro tennis was in 1968, in an exhibition in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park stadium, on har-tru. It was Ashe vs. Pasarell in singles, then Ashe-Pasarell vs. Smith-Lutz in doubles. Pasarell (then ranked #1 in USA) barely beat Ashe, and Smith-Lutz won the doubles. In years thereafter, starting in 1969, Washington would host a men's outdoor pro tournament at Rock Creek Park. The tournament is still held annually, but of course, the courts are now hard court.

In one of the first years of that pro tournament, Pasarell was playing an early round match against the great Mexican player, Antonio (Tony) Palafox, who later would coach J. McEnroe. Palafox was truly a magician. (I can remember that Pasarell smashed an overhead hard right at Palafox, who had moved forward in the court . . .but Palafox off that smash lob-volleyed the ball over Pasarell's head for a clean winner.)

The match was on a side, non-stadium court, with not enough linespeople, so Pasarell & Palafox were calling theri own lines. It was the hottest, most humid day of the summer . . and like an idiot, after Pasarell had won a long marathon & was exhausted, I went up to him for an autograph. I could tell from his expression that it was not the proper time to ask . .but he signed, anyway. . .he was so nice. Again, like a jerk, I have lost the autograph. Oh well.

[charlieinneedham]

Always loved his serve. Charlie had the epic encounter against Pancho in Wimbledon...

In that long Sports Illustrated biogragraphy on Pancho Gonzales http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...6099/index.htm Passeral is called Pancho's "protege" when describing a 1964 incident in which Pancho went ballistic after Charlie had the nerve to beat him after stopping play to correct a "a hitch in Pasarell's backhand volley."

Do you know if Pancho had a big influence on Charlie Pasarell's serve motion, or was it already well established by the time they started to work together? (Charlie's parents were "tennis pros" in Puerto Rico, and apparently he had a pretty complete game at a young age.)

[EdWeiss]

Charlie's teacher

Charlie was taught how to play by Welby Van Horn in Puerto Rico. Charlie had his first tennis lesson with Welby and worked with Welby exclusively until Charlie went to UCLA after winning Kalamazzo. Welby taught Charlie his service motion (and all of his other strokes).

[gzhpcu]

It was Ashe vs. Pasarell in singles, then Ashe-Pasarell vs. Smith-Lutz in doubles. Pasarell (then ranked #1 in USA) barely beat Ashe, and Smith-Lutz won the doubles.

I went to high school with Bob Lutz. He and his brother were on the school team and won the Camino Real League championships... I posted a couple of photos of Bob earlier in this forum...