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Gianni Clerici, 72 years old, is an author (he wrote a number of books on the history of tennis) and TV sportscaster in Italy. He was inducted in the tennis hall of fame this year along with Pat Rafter and Gabriella Sabatini.
Hall of fame
Clerici was a tennis player of some distinction, good enough to make the main draw at Wimbledon in 1953. "I lost in the first round because I had bad nose cramps," he jokes. He is a friend of Bud Collins and well known on the tour, since he has written over 6000 articles on tennis.
He is a member of my tennis club here in Lugano, and I now and then play some doubles with him. Even though on in years, and limits his play to doubles, he has a very elegant and clean style: you can see he was a top player. Lots of fun playing with, as he is an extroverted Italian with a roving eye for the ladies (if there are some nice-looking young women on the adjacent court, we invariably lose, as he indulges in latin theatrics on court...).
Very interesting talking to him, since, as a sports journalist, he knew personally all the great players from Laver to Federer.
Hall of fame
Clerici was a tennis player of some distinction, good enough to make the main draw at Wimbledon in 1953. "I lost in the first round because I had bad nose cramps," he jokes. He is a friend of Bud Collins and well known on the tour, since he has written over 6000 articles on tennis.
He is a member of my tennis club here in Lugano, and I now and then play some doubles with him. Even though on in years, and limits his play to doubles, he has a very elegant and clean style: you can see he was a top player. Lots of fun playing with, as he is an extroverted Italian with a roving eye for the ladies (if there are some nice-looking young women on the adjacent court, we invariably lose, as he indulges in latin theatrics on court...).
Very interesting talking to him, since, as a sports journalist, he knew personally all the great players from Laver to Federer.