“He knows tennis the way very, very few people know."
That was how Chris Evert described Steve Flink in presenting him at his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., last summer. It was a fitting introduction from one of tennis’ greatest champions about one of tennis’ most respected writers and knowledgeable historians.
Flink had his first article published in World Tennis in 1973 — on Evert reaching her first Grand Slam women’s singles final in Paris, no less — and has since spent the past four-and-a-half decades informing, educating and delighting tennis fans with his incomparable prose.
Flink wrote for World Tennis Magazine until 1991 and then was a senior writer Tennis Week the next 15 years. Since 2007, he’s contributed to Tennis Channel’s website, where he remains one of the most informed guardians of the sport’s rich history. His previous work also included stints as a statistician for national telecasts and as a commentator for ESPN.
The Hall of Famer's first exposure to the US Open, then the U.S. National Championships, came in 1965 when he was taken to Forest Hills by his father, Stan. He started running stats for fellow Hall-of-Fame journalist Bud Collins at the US Open at New York’s West Side Tennis Club in 1972 and has since been a regular fixture in the media room of tennis’ grandest Slam.
“I wasn’t covering when Arthur Ashe won in ’68, but I was there. ... I was still a fan, but I knew where I was headed."
With a photographic memory and encyclopedic knowledge, Flink knew as a teenager that tennis reporting was his calling. And while Flink was just 15 years old when he watched Arthur Ashe win the first US Open of the Open era in 1968, he remembers the importance of the moment.
“I wasn’t covering when Arthur Ashe won in ’68, but I was there,” Flink said. “I consider those years my developing reporter-in-training years. I was still a fan, but I knew where I was headed.
“That was pretty memorable to have the first Open to go to Ashe so unexpectedly as the No. 5 seed when so many people thought it’d be [Rod] Laver or [Ken] Rosewall or perhaps John Newcombe. Then there’s Arthur stepping into the forefront and winning the first Open.... I thought that was a big shot in the arm for American tennis and for the game, just because of the way he carried himself.”
Among Flink’s fondest memories of covering the US Open is the first-ever Super Saturday — which began with the senior men's final and featured the women’s final sandwiched between two men’s semifinals — all of which went the distance. That day stands out to Flink as one of, if not, the most important days in tennis history.
He said that while some fans thought the notion of two semifinals and a championship match in one day was overkill, he saw it as something spectacular, a fine menu from start to finish.
Stan Smith defeated John Newcombe in the men's senior final; Ivan Lendl saved a match point in beating Pat Cash; Evert took a set off Martina Navratilova before ultimately losing for the 13th consecutive time; and John McEnroe edged Jimmy Connors 7-6 in the fifth set in a match Flink described as one of the best they ever played.
Flink also highlights Super Saturday in 1995 as another personal favorite, with a schedule of play that included a battle of current and former world No. 1s in Pete Sampras against Jim Courier; Monica Seles making her return to the Grand Slam stage after more than two years away from the game facing Steffi Graf in the final; and Andre Agassi’s grudge match against Boris Becker in a replay of their Wimbledon battle earlier that summer.
“I would package the two [semifinals] together because that was the most important match Sampras ever played and one of the most important Agassi ever played,” Flink said.
Other US Open moments that stand out for Flink are Laver completing his second calendar-year Grand Slam in 1969, witnessing Connors’ breakthrough win in 1974 and the improbability of Novak Djokovic saving two match points against Roger Federer in both 2010 and 2011.
In the women’s game, there are three specific matches that are particularly memorable: Hana Mandlikova beating Navratilova in the 1985 final, Navratilova topping Graf in the 1986 semifinal and Billie Jean King rallying to beat Yvonne Goolagong at Forest Hills in 1974.
“The crowd that day was euphoric,” Flink said of the Graf-Navratilova match. “There were kids up on their feet, high-fiving and not knowing who to root for. They loved this new face in Graf yet Martina was someone they were so familiar with, they admired her grit. It was a beauty.
“The ‘74 final was really spectacular stuff. That crowd was maybe even more emotive, if it’s possible, than the crowd during Graf-Navratilova. It was a smaller stadium, 14,000 at Forest Hills, packed in there, and it just brought out the best of both players on the grass and they had one astonishing point after another.”
Over the span of 50 years, Flink has had the opportunity to see the game -- and the personalities who highlighted their respective eras-- change and evolve.
In the infancy of the Open era, Flink enjoyed watching veterans like Laver, Rosewall and Pancho Gonzalez cross paths with the young wave of Americans like Ashe and Clark Graebner, both of whom made the semis at that first Open in 1968.
“Laver, Rosewall, Gonzalez, a lot of these pros that people have been following, they were put into obscurity,” Flink said. “Now they were back and you had this pack of young amateurs who were on their way to becoming professionals. … It was a pretty dynamic time for the game.”
Then there was what Flink calls “The Greatest American Generation” era of the '90s, with Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Michael Chang.
“Sampras won 14 majors, Agassi eight, Courier four, Chang one, it all went back to Chang winning the French in '89,” Flink said. “Sampras winning the US Open in ‘90 to become the youngest man to do it, Agassi winning Wimbledon in ‘92 and eventually wins two Opens and Courier two Australian, two French and a US Open final. As an American reporter, that was a very exciting time to see these guys thrive.”
That bridges the gap to the present day, to Serena and Venus Williams and to the trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“We haven’t seen the full effect of it yet, but Venus and Serena’s enduring success will bring in a lot of these young kids into tennis,” Flink said of the Williams sisters. “That’s their legacy.
“[In the men’s game], American fans have appreciated this big three, they’ve had great reverence for Federer, Nadal and Djokovic and they have their favorites among that trio. I think it is probably never going to be replicated. Their enduring greatness is pretty remarkable stuff.”
“I think this is more of an American sporting festival and I think the fans have become increasingly educated over the years. The fans here reflect New York and it reflects a big American sporting event."
The appreciation for players, and the sport in general, has improved over the past decade, said Flink, who said only fans at Roland Garros could rival those at the US Open in terms of the combination of energy, excitement and knowledge.
Between that rowdy-but-informed fan base, the late-summer sunshine and uniquely US Open evening schedule, Flink said the US Open was unlike any other tournament. Now with a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, two new arenas in Louis Armstrong Stadium and the Grandstand and completely redesigned field courts, he said the US Open is bigger and better than ever before.
“The personality has changed some,” the Hall of Famer said. “It went from this private club at Forest Hills over to Flushing and it’s had a different identity because of the three surfaces which none of the others have done.
“I think this is more of an American sporting festival and I think the fans have become increasingly educated over the years. The fans here reflect New York and it reflects a big American sporting event. I also think it stands out because it’s the last major of the year and therefore there’s a certain urgency on the part of the players [knowing] that it’s not going to be until the Australian four months later that they can pull off one of these big titles. There’s a lot that makes it distinctive.
“[The US Open] has grown by leaps and bounds. It’s fascinating to see the growth, especially the recent changes. These changes have added dimensions to the tournament. They all reflect the immense popularity of the event and the sport that you can have so much demand. I think that speaks for itself.”
