A Farewell to One of the Off-Court Tennis Greats
Hey, everyone …
• Congrats to Coco Gauff on the biggest title of her career. And Dan Evans on the biggest one of his.
• Take the LIRR. Go to the qualies. Get lunch at Flushing Chinatown in Queens, N.Y. We’re refreshing the annual U.S. Open hacks and tips column. Here’s an open invitation to contribute and fire off any suggestions.
• A quick column this week, starting with a tribute to a retiring legend.
Onward …
We operate on the assumption that Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play on. And, still, we can report, with sadness, that tennis will lose one of its titans this year. An ATP stalwart since 1986, Greg Sharko announced this will be his last season on tour. While this departure won’t impact the rankings or any tournament entry lists, it will have a profound impact on the state of play.
Known to all as “Shark” (yes, the inevitable shortening of his name, but also a nod to his heroic appetite), he came to the ATP after working in more mainstream sports. He had not played much tennis. He had not been a hardcore fan. Still, Sharko quickly picked up on the appeal and subtlety of this niche space. And he quickly became both a tennis search engine and one of those irreplaceable cast members who don’t get top billing, but still hold the entire production together.
As director of media relations and information for the ATP, Sharko took his title seriously. He related to and with the media; and he informed. From his hovel in press rooms from Memphis to Melbourne—and always available by phone and text and email—he proposed stories, confirmed facts, lubricated access and dropped “Shark Bites,” his trademark statistical and informational nuggets.
Sharko has spent 37 years working in tennis.
Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports
If you heard a curious bit of tennis arcana, odds were good Sharko had found it and passed it on to the broadcast booth or the writer on deadline. If you read an offbeat story about a player, odds were good Sharko had coordinated it. If you saw an NFL or NBA player at a tennis match, odds were good Sharko had brokered the passes. In a congenitally divided and fractured sport, Sharko alienated no one. Though perhaps they didn’t always grasp just how devotedly he helped spread the ATP gospel, the players didn’t just appreciate him; they liked him.
When news leaked last week, former and current players shared fond recollections—and a hope that Sharko truly was retiring and not being pushed out by the ATP’s Monte Carlo–based overlords. Here is a text from John Isner: “[Sharko was] a staple with the ATP for so long and it’ll be hard to imagine the tour without him front and center anymore. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn’t think the absolute best of Shark.”
For all his old-school and analog sensibilities, Sharko was, in his way, skilled at seeing around corners. Starting in the early 1990s—a time when analytics were as foreign as robots calling lines—Sharko saw the value in data and began harvesting and unearthing stats that helped tell stories. Long before the term “crossover appeal” infected the vocabulary, Sharko saw how much tennis benefited when, say, Terrell Owens or Steve Nash attended matches. Sharko would invite the cool kids from other sports and gently tip off the media. Early to see tennis’s aging demographic, he was particularly skilled at placing tennis stories on platforms like Sports Illustrated Kids.
There was also plenty Sharko didn’t do. He didn’t disparage colleagues or players. He didn’t angle for promotions. He didn’t lie. He didn’t put on cologne and hair goop and hit the town with the players. He didn’t need to be celebrity-adjacent. He didn’t cringepost on Instagram. He’d sooner position himself before a plate of ribs in Cincinnati than hop in Andre Agassi’s limo or aboard Roger Federer’s jet or onto Rafa’s yacht. He knew who he was. Besides, there was too much honest work to be done. Maybe it’s the law of unintended consequences. Sharko wasn’t into playing look-at-me. Instead, an entire sport looked to him.
No statistical deep dive required. Tennis benefited immeasurably from his presence. With his departure, tennis—as if bitten by a shark—is left with a gaping hole.
Jon, a few months ago you mentioned Zendaya was in a tennis movie. What happened to it?
Charles, NYC
• I had heard that it was a casualty of the writers’ strike, and without Zendaya able to promote the film, the studio chose to delay the release. Here’s a piece with more info.
Question, when did we change referring to any of the 4 majors as Grand Slams? For decades I thought the Grand Slam was winning the titles of all 4 majors in the same calendar year. If each major is a Grand Slam, what is it if a player wins all 4 the same year?
@rdamanofleisure
• A Denny’s breakfast? Yeah, it’s not as grievous as confusing “game” with “match.” But yes, we should use “major” for a single reference to one of the Big Four events. And “Slam” for the four-major box set. “Djokovic has won two majors, and Alcaraz has won one major in 2023; but no player will win a Grand Slam.”
• Anyone else struggle with how to respond when people misuse tennis jargon? Correct them, or let it go? It’s the verbal equivalent of your lunch date having something in his teeth. I go nonconfrontational and let it slide, perhaps a dereliction of duty. But sometimes fantasize about an exchange, taking the mistake literally. That is:
Q: Wow, those guys had some long, long volleys out there!
A: True, but few caught the line.
Q: Were you there to watch the Alcaraz-Djokovic game?
A: Fortunately, yes. All 46 of them.
In the not-too-distant future, there will be a tennis betting scandal that will shake the foundations of the sport. It’s inevitable.
@dhender499
• I don’t disagree. But here’s a hot take: This scandal will NOT involve a player. Billions of dollars have been wagered on sports in the past few years. There have been surprisingly few allegations of fixing and dumping and point shaving. And the few reports have come in college sports. Why is that? Two reasons: (1) We are creatures of incentives. The unpaid college athlete has a different risk/reward calculus than the pros making seven- and eight- and nine-figure salaries. (2) Apart from the usual digital trail—phone records, google searches, geotagged accounts—athletes leave visual evidence. Their (compromised performance) is there for the world to see. A tennis player who dumps forehands into the net likely will be detected. Maybe that’s not the case at some Podunk Challenger. But match-fixing at that level isn’t going to “shake the foundations of the sport,” as the reader suggests.
Athletes, though, are not the only corruptible parties. (Which is why tennis policy and who can and cannot get in bed with sportsbooks and online services is so flawed.) Imagine a decision-maker on the take, scheduling a player prone to heat illness for a match in the middle of a day. Imagine a locker room attendant realizing that Player X can’t push off with her right foot. Or a trainer with access to players’ injuries status trafficking in that information.
“Give me [Rod] Laver’s forearm and [Stan] Smith–[Bob] Lutz against anyone today, Bud’s jacket calling the match, unpaid linesmen like my Dad and his buddies getting cursed out by [Ilie] Năstase in KC and coverage in the next SI issue thx to the subscription Grandpa always gave me.” —Nostalgic me
@gadambrubns
• You had me at “next SI issue.”
Hi Jon,
A silver lining of the pandemic is the elimination of the constant toweling off in tennis [...] After a period of years of attempts to boycott watching tennis (I admittedly failed with an absolute boycott), I am back to watching as much as I can and the lack of shrieking and toweling off is a huge reason.
Jim Yrkoski, Silver Creek, Neb.
• Um, you may want to check the column on your device. (Maybe you’re watching the right matches.) Totally with you on the toweling. Apart from the hygienic upgrade, we are seeing how unnecessary and excessive so much past toweling was. If you’re sweating like Albert Brooks in Broadcast News, grab your linen. If you’re just reflexively taking a break, get up to the line and play!
Shots, Miscellany
From Randy Walker: “Tennis fans who are missing Roger Federer don’t have to miss him as much with my new On This Day In Roger Federer History book, where every day of the year features anniversary stories and anecdotes of Federer’s career. It can be purchased where books are sold and here via Amazon.com.
The USTA Foundation, the charitable arm of the United States Tennis Association Incorporated (USTA), has awarded grants totaling more than $4 million to 148 National Junior Tennis & Learning chapters (NJTL) in 41 states and the District of Columbia—the largest amount awarded to date. The grants are intended to support under-resourced youth through tennis and education programs designed to give them the opportunity to improve their health, build their character and help them achieve academic excellence. In addition to these NJTL grants, the USTA Foundation awards individual player grants, scholarships and additional funding throughout the year.
