Anna's Army

Kournikova brings out a wide array of fans to Ferncroft CC

Wearing high top sneakers, camouflage shorts, and testing every square inch of fabric of a well-worn 1997 Patriots championship T-shirt, Salem’s Rick Pisani stood out almost as conspicuously as the person who had lured him to center court at the Ferncroft CC on this sultry July night. Quick clue: It was not Pisani’s girlfriend, Heather Larkin.

“I’m OK with it,” Heather said reassuringly with a laugh as Pisani took one more tour through a digital camera about to overheat after three hours of rapid-fire action.

“He just had to get this out of his system and hopefully he has. ”

Testing every square inch of fabric in her form fitting black sweat top and with her trademark French braid swinging in symphony with each ground stroke, Anna Kournikova does indeed take some time to get out of your system.  

The most photographed tennis player of her generation and her St. Louis Aces took the court in Middleton at 7:05 for their appointed showdown with the Lobsters and the cell phone cameras did not stop clicking until her Kournikovaness left the court some three hours later.  For Boston Lobsters owner Bahar Uttam, who has to pay a sizeable appearance fee to get stars like Kournikova to come to Middleton, the night proved to be a win-win.  First, he was rewarded for his largess with a near capacity crowd rivaled only by Serena Williams’ visit a year ago. Second, Kournikova, who looked a tad rusty, lost both of her doubles matches as the Lobsters trumped the Aces and gained a pivotal win in their 2010 playoff push.

More important, however, her appearance helped draw in a whole new group of casual tennis buffs to the exciting and spectator- friendly world of World Team Tennis where they play all the let serves and fans are not told to quiet down, but often to pipe up.

“I didn’t realize how entertaining this format was,” Larkin, a 3.5ish player herself, continued after watching the Lobsters dispense with Kournikova and her St. Louis Aces with relative ease. “We’ll definitely come again.”

With the likes of Jeff Blake, Martina Hingis and John “Marathon Man” Eisner all making their way through the center court at Ferncroft this year, there’s been plenty of buzz this summer in Middleton, but Lobsters coach Bud Schultz had to agree that the crowd dynamic felt a little different for this one.

“One of the things that World Team Tennis is trying to do is bring more casual fans out and get them more engaged in tennis,” said Schultz. “It was a little bit of a zooie atmosphere and maybe a few more cocktails were consumed than usual, but I thought Anna did fine. We’ve got a big tent. We want everyone to come out.”

After playing on some pressure cooker center courts found in London, Roland Garros, Melbourne and Forrest Hills, to name a few, Kournikova, clearly relishes the more relaxed atmosphere the WTA exudes.

“It’s really great to engage the fans and involve them,” said Kournikova who is in her eighth season in the WTA. “I love the music and I like that it’s a very friendly family. It’s totally different (from the WTA), but it’s still very competitive. All the players still fight for each point and you want to get to the playoffs. It’s still about winning at the end of the day.”

Kournikova got as high as eighth in the world in singles and made it to No. 1 in doubles where she won a grand slam with Martina Hingis at the Australian Open. Ultimately, a cranky back, not to mention some very lucrative modeling and magazine money, curtailed her career before she ever won a WTA singles title. It’s a chapter that has been closed but certainly not forgotten.

“It’s playing in front of 10,000 people, it’s the adrenaline, it’s the night match at the U.S. Open that’s a five-all score in the third set and walking off the court with a great feeling,” she said with a wide-eyed grin of what she misses most. “It’s the actual on court stuff that I miss. I don’t miss the off court stuff.”

As far as the off court stuff in Middleton that appears to be another story.  Kournikova closed out her night behind an autograph table on the baseline with a line that stretched nearly to the other baseline. Clutching their pens they came in all sizes, ball boys, old men, and yes, one guy in a worn out Patriots shirt and high tops.