Wimbledon was special for Messmer

Almost 30 years ago, Steve Messmer played in the greatest tennis

tournament in the world and lost, but he won a lot more because of

the experience.

The year was 1973 and the Wimbledon Championships had a depleted

field because the Assn. of Tennis Professionals was boycotting the

event. A player from Yugoslavia named Nikki Pilic was not being

allowed to play because he refused to play in the Davis Cup for his

country that year.

Messmer, a 24-year-old from Glendale at the time, was trying to

earn a berth in the tournament through the qualifying rounds. He

advanced to the fourth round in the qualifying and made it to the

main draw of Wimbledon, where he fell to Clay Isles from Great

Britain in the first round.

“Looking back at it, it doesn’t seem that long ago, but it was one

of the highlights of my tennis career and certainly something that

was a memorable experience,” Messmer said.

“I was almost out of tennis at that stage in my life, but I was

able to resurrect my game after joining the Army in 1972, and that

led me to play several clay and grass court events before Wimbledon

the following year.

“Losing and being out of the tournament in the main draw was no

fun, especially after I came back from being down, 5-0, in the third

set only to lose, 7-5. But I redeemed myself in the consolation round

and that was quite a story as well.”

Following his loss to Isles in the first round of the main draw,

Messmer competed in the All-England Plate Competition for early round

losers and advanced to the final before losing to John Clifton from

Great Britain.

Wearing his Army sweatshirt as part of his warm-up gear and

carrying what little equipment he had, Messmer and Clifton’s battle

took place on Wimbledon’s fabled center court immediately following

the men’s championship singles match, where Jan Kodes defeated Alex

Metreveli in the final.

*

Wimbledon is a long way from Glendale. So is Forest Hills in New

York, where Messmer competed in the U.S. Open Tennis Championship in

1976.

But Messmer credits Glendale and particularly the coaching he

received former Hoover High and Glendale College men’s tennis Coach

Chuck Gibson with helping him achieve as much as he did in tennis.

Gibson, who was inducted in to the Glendale Community College

Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 10, said that Messmer was a wonderfully

talented player and a pleasure to coach.

“We were fortunate to have a good core of players in the 1960’s at

Hoover that included Steve, Dan and Dave Bohannon and my son Dave

Gibson,” Gibson said.

“Steve and Don Bohannon were a tremendous doubles team that won

the CIF title in 1966. Steve was not very big but was tremendously

quick and a very talented player. He was very determined and just

seemed to have a natural affinity for playing tennis.”

“Following his success at Hoover, Messmer joined Gibson at

Glendale College in 1967 and won the Western State Conference singles

title in 1967 before transferring to San Fernando Valley State

University in 1968, now known as Cal State Northridge.

Messmer won the conference title in 1969 and then rode that wave

of momentum all the away through the NCAA tournament before capturing

the division II singles title.

But while his success in high school in college might have given

Messmer reason to believe playing on the pro tour would be a natural

transition, trying to compete for spots in main draws with small pay

days and traveling without a sponsor was not something he was always

willing to do.

“It worked out for me a little in the Army, but otherwise, pro

tennis in those days could be a grind,” Messmer said. “When I was in

England for example, I stayed with a family once that had little food

and almost no water where I could take a decent shower. I had to take

a train, then a bus and then walk just to get to the tournament site

and repeat that process after my matches were over to get back to

where I was staying.

“But despite the struggle at teams, playing Wimbledon, the

greatest tournament in the world, was worth the effort. They had

record crowds in 1973, despite the boycott. It was the best run

tournament I have ever played in, down to the two-minute warm-up

sessions and the balls refrigerated at exactly 62 degrees.”

*

Sitting at a table at Billy’s Delicatessen recently, the

53-year-old Messmer mused about growing up in Glendale and other

things, like winning the city championship as an 11-year-old Little

Leaguer playing for the Glendale Realtors, coached by Gibson in 1960.

When the talked turned to tennis in the 21st Century, Messmer

shook his head and said he almost prefers the women’s game with it’s

longer rallies to the men and their big serves and quick points.

“I played and taught tennis for many years and was pleased that

two of my daughters got scholarships to play the game in college, but

I don’t have a lot of time to play or watch it on television these

day,” he said.

“I might watch some of the big matches at Wimbledon over the next

two weeks, but my wife is a bigger fan of that tournament now than I

am and I’m pretty happy to leave the past in the past.