Tennis: Pay's the Thing

Q. How do you tell an amateur tennis player from a pro?

A. The amateur makes money.

The caustic old joke is fast losing its bite. True, top amateur tennis players still make a comfortable living—up to $1,000 per tournament in "expense money"—but few any longer refuse to turn pro on the grounds that "I can't afford to." Long a disorganized gypsy sport, pro tennis finally has gone big time. In 1964, the "pro tour" consisted of only eight tournaments worth a total of $80,000 in prize money; this year the pros will play 42 tournaments in the U.S. and abroad, and $600,000 is up for grabs. If he plays in each of those tournaments—even if he is eliminated each time in the first round of both the singles and doubles—a touring pro stands to earn $23,000 in 1967.

The Rocket. With that kind of money at stake, it is no wonder that the competition is fierce. Current king of the pros is redheaded Rod ("Rocket") Laver, 28, the Australian left-hander who five years ago became the only player since Don Budge in 1938 to achieve a grand slam of amateur tennis' four top tournaments—the Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S. championships. Laver turned pro in 1963 and learned quickly how much tougher it was to play for pay: he lost 19 out of his first 21 pro matches. Last year Laver was the tour's No. 1 moneywinner (with $45,000), and two weeks ago, in the finals of Manhattan's $25,000 Madison Square Garden Invitation Tennis Tournament, he polished off Fellow Aussie Ken Rosewall, 6-4, 6-4, to boost his 1967 winnings to $31,827.

Laver's own rugged initiation into the pro ranks makes the performance of two 1967 rookies seem all the more remarkable. As an amateur, California's Dennis ("The Menace") Ralston, 24, was noted mainly for his flaming temper and his inexplicably bad play in crucial matches. More mature and confident now, Ralston, according to Rosewall, "has the potential to be one of the top players on the tour"—and so far he already is: with $27,230, he ranks No. 2 in money winnings, and he has beaten Laver six times in 16 matches. The other hot rookie is Australia's Fred Stolle, 28, winner of the 1966 U.S. amateur championship, who last week shocked Laver, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the $19,000 U.S. Professional Hardcourt championships in St. Louis.

Both Ralston and Stolle have worked hard at improving techniques since they turned pro—Ralston has added more spin to his service, Stolle has shortened his backswing on ground strokes. Both agree that they are playing better tennis now because they are working on an above-the-table cash basis. Simply enough, says Ralston: "It's worth a lot more money to go all the way than to be eliminated before the final round."