Shriver Sincere--Almost to Double Fault

Maybe Pam Shriver, despite towering potential, a gift from God, will never win a major tennis tournament. It’s not incumbent she do so because there’s more to life than applause, partaking of championship celebrations and making eloquent acceptance speeches.

Pam Shriver is far above all that. Her human qualities, especially her concern for others, surpass where she is in the world rankings and what happened at the last tour stop.

The talented Shriver is constantly putting the accelerator to the floor, asking too much of herself and with this comes painful frustration. Pam Shriver, for the first time in what has been an exciting and exceptional career, is beating Pam Shriver. She needs to relax, forget about goals and be content to just keep the ball in play. She should minimize game plans and the development of new and involved techniques and rely on what brought her this far--pure natural ability.

She’s losing to some opponents who ordinarily don’t belong on the same court. Shriver drives herself in an unending mental quest that only succeeds in tying up the physical process of hitting a tennis shot, scoring points and putting away rivals. It’s known as a slump.

She can’t escape the dilemma, this untold pressure that refuses to ease and compounds itself when she thinks about a solution. There is an answer. She must play her way out of the problems that have caused her to slip six notches on the international tennis ladder; she’s now the 10th-ranked women’s tennis player in the world.

It seems only yesterday--but it was more like 11 years ago--that Shriver, bearing one of the illustrious names in Maryland history, was the sensation of Wimbledon. A real Yankee Doodle sweetheart who was literally born on the Fourth of July. The English were excited, enthralled and enthused about the tall girl from Lutherville, not much more than a soft lob out of Baltimore, who was so richly endowed with exceptional skills and had such verve.

Her smile and presence were a joy to observe. She was always genuine in speech and manner. Refined and respectful but, again, always herself. It was said that one so equipped with her power and stamina would climb the highest mountains. She did, too.

But now she continues onward attempting to find herself and put away this demon known as “unlimited potential.” It’s still there, but it’s more important she relax and enjoy what’s going on around her and not create such inner turmoil for herself.

Pam Shriver, although playing an individual game, is never selfish or self-centered. She’s always doing for others. One of her elementary school teachers is in a rest home now, but Shriver, coming off the road, or back from the Orient or Europe or Australia, goes to see her. The aged and infirmed are often put on the shelf and forgotten, but not in her perspective.

She’s always available for charitable causes, looking to give something back. Shriver realizes life has been good to her, and she wants to repay. Elise Burgin, a competitor but more importantly a friend, plays all the tournaments with Shriver. The personal respect they hold for each other buoys the human spirit.

When Burgin’s mother was killed in an automobile crash this past winter, Shriver came rushing home to give the trophy she won to her grieving friend. “Pam Shriver is an incredible person,” Burgin said. “If you don’t know her, you have missed one of the great experiences of life.”

At the funeral service, Shriver was seated behind the Burgin family. When moments seemed more trying for Elise, there was Pam reaching over the bench in the synagogue to offer a comforting touch on the shoulder and a consoling word. She is, indeed, a remarkable woman with deep feeling and sensibilities.

Driving along a highway, she’ll see a motorist -- man or woman, black or white -- having trouble with an automobile. More frequently than can be counted, she stops to lend assistance or even goes so far as to personally seek help from a towing service or a mechanic.