Beppe Merlo...

[gzhpcu]

Probably not too many of you remember Beppe Merlo, one of the top Italian players in the 1950's. Beppe was a pusher. He strung his rackets with only 30 pounds! They said he played with a fishing net. Merlo was very eccentric. When a string would break during a match, he would pull gut out of his bag and repair it himself right on court! When someone served to him, the ball would disappear into his racket. Eventually, it comes out and floats back to his opponent. He was tough to beat on clay. This could never happen today...

Yet on Round 1 of Wimbledon in 1952, he gave Lew Hoad a run for his money. Hoad d. Merlo, Giuseppe (Beppe) (4-6 7-5 2-6 6-2 6-2)

Here is an old video: (be patient, he shows up in the middle of the newscast)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CBCOHtC6Uc

[stotty]

Beppe Merlo...rare footage indeed.

Probably not too many of you remember Beppe Merlo, one of the top Italian players in the 1950's. Beppe was a pusher. He strung his rackets with only 30 pounds! They said he played with a fishing net. Merlo was very eccentric. When a string would break during a match, he would pull gut out of his bag and repair it himself right on court! When someone served to him, the ball would disappear into his racket. Eventually, it comes out and floats back to his opponent. He was tough to beat on clay. This could never happen today...

Yet on Round 1 of Wimbledon in 1952, he gave Lew Hoad a run for his money. Hoad d. Merlo, Giuseppe (Beppe) (4-6 7-5 2-6 6-2 6-2)

Here is an old video: (be patient, he shows up in the middle of the newscast)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CBCOHtC6Uc

Nice find. I have been looking for clips of Merlo for quite some time. Gordon Forbes wrote affectionately about him his book A Handful of Summers.You did well to find a clip with such good quality footage.

He must have been a substantial player to have taken Hoad to five sets on grass. Merlo was a clay court player in the main from what I have heard. Save for a few clips here and there, players like Merlo are consigned solely to the memories of those who saw him play.

[stotty]

Connecting dots....Merlo to Santoro

Interesting how at 1:47 Merlo hits a two-handed backhand with the right hand at the top of the handle, then on the next shot shifts the right hand even higher up the handle to hit his one-handed forehand. Off both wings he is eccentrically different to the norm.

Many photos also bear this out:

http://www.tennisarchives.com/player.php?playerid=2351

The last anomaly to leave the game was Santoro. Santoro restored and maintained my faith that things could be done another way...that the game still had a place for someone self-styled and with eccentric technique. Beppe Merlo and Santoro aren't that far apart in many ways.

Santoro was the last Mohican in tennis.

[worldsbesttenniscoach]

Thank you for the footage of Beppe Merlo. One thing I noticed in the short video is his no-backswing approach to forehands & backhands. He would literally put his racket out to contact point, & then shovel the ball forward. It would be fun to view him for longer.

Another eccentric player on the world stage was Whitney Reed. The present-day women's doubles champion, Hsieh Su-wei hits many unusual, outstanding shots. On the men's open & age-group circuits in the Pacific Northwest, a special artist named Berry Kessinger used to astound all comers with shots & strategies that were almost unheard of. In many ways, Kessinger could control the ball better than any of the players on the world circuit.