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Maria Bueno Tries to Put Fun Back Into Tennis

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Associated Press

Maria Bueno, whose grace and artistry on the tennis court spanned a decade, is trying to put fun back into a sport she says has become too money-minded and serious.

“Today, too many players are just thinking about how long it will take to become a millionaire. It’s a totally different approach to how we did things in my day,” the elegant Brazilian said.

“What I’d like to do is show everybody that tennis can still be fun.”

Bueno’s three Wimbledon and four U.S. Open singles crowns between 1958 and 1966, plus nine doubles titles, marked her down as one of the great champions of all time.

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Now 46, she retired in 1969 after five operations on an arm injury but still travels the world promoting tennis at clinics and seminars.

The emphasis is always on enjoyment.

“I don’t call it coaching. What I do is play an exhibition with the local pro, then give a talk to both children and adults and have a hit with them.

“A lot of the fun has been taken out of the sport. Children are being pushed too young to do unbelievable things. You can’t possibly enjoy the game at age 9 or 10 if the emphasis is always on winning.”

In an interview during a brief visit to Britain to help launch a new program of indoor clinics, Bueno compared the modern, professional game with her amateur status back in the 1960s.

“I read that Ivan Lendl recently earned almost $1 million in Antwerp. Do you know, in one year I remember ending up with $3,000 after winning Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the Italian championships and being runner-up at the French?

“I sometimes worry where the sport is heading when you hear people complaining that the prize money is not enough. What possible incentive can you have after winning a million dollars in one day?

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“Boris Becker has done magnificently well to win Wimbledon at 17 years old. But what incentive from the game will he have at 20 when he is still young? Thank God, I never had that problem.”

Ranked in the top two in the world for seven years from 1958, Bueno won 588 tournaments during her career and wished she could have won more.

“I only have the use of 30 percent of my arm but otherwise I’m in perfect shape physically. I was not tired or fed up when I retired. Maybe that’s why I’m still so keen on playing,” she said.

Bueno, whose touch play thrilled a generation, has little time for today’s baseline style.

“I know it takes a lot of effort to be a good baseliner. Chris Evert Lloyd, for example, deserves everything she earns for playing as much as she does and making so few mistakes.

“It’s very close to perfection but it’s not the way I like. I like players who take risks and make their own shots, not wait for others to make mistakes.”

She prefers the styles of Evonne Goolagong of Australia and Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia, the U.S. Open champion.

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What about Martina Navratilova?

“I like her style, too. I don’t share the criticism sometimes leveled at Martina, that she is too powerful. She just works damn hard and is always trying to improve. Listen, I used to practice with men players, too, just like she does. It’s nothing new.”

What tennis needs is more adventure.

“I went to this year’s French Open final between Lendl and (Mats) Wilander. It could not have been more boring. They just stood there hitting forehand to forehand, backhand to backhand, for hours, without any emotion,” she said.

Given a chance, there is one rule she would change -- penalties for gross misconduct on court.

“Some players are getting away with it. Fining a millionaire $2,000 for swearing and shouting on court is the same as fining me $1,” Bueno said.

“I would impose more serious fines, make players pay an amount they’d remember.”

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