Tennis Hall of Fame Journalist and Author Steve Flink Talks US Open Superstars

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**Tim Stenovec** (0:07)
Well, Steve Flink has seen some tennis. He's been covering the sport since 1974, so it's more than 50 years, we should know. For some context, Molly, this was the era of Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Chris Evert, Billy Jean King, Martina Navratilova.

**Molly Smith** (0:23)
And back into the era that I grew up with, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Venus and Serena.

**Steve Flink** (0:30)
Now hold it a second, you're giving away your youth.

**Molly Smith** (0:33)
I'm just saying, I've got a big poster of Andre Agassi back in my childhood bedroom.

**Tim Stenovec** (0:39)
This is who I grew up with. The 90s version of him?

**Steve Flink** (0:42)
It's a crossover.

**Tim Stenovec** (0:43)
Okay, so it's like long hair versus short hair, right? There's a little of both in there. All right. He's also the author of multiple books, The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time, Pete Sampras, Greatness Revisited and The Immortals of American Tennis. We are joined by the author and tennis journalist, Steve Flink. Welcome, welcome.

**Steve Flink** (0:58)
Welcome. Thank you for having me.

**Tim Stenovec** (1:00)
How many US Opens do you think you've been to?

**Steve Flink** (1:02)
Well, I mean, I started coming when it was still the US Championships in 65, but I've been to every Open except for 1970, where I was studying in England that year and I couldn't, I was unable to make the 1970 Open.

**Tim Stenovec** (1:17)
Is the Open, in your view, and we're going to dive right into it, okay? Is it still enough about tennis?

**Steve Flink** (1:26)
Well, that question, you know, we would be here until about midnight on September 13th.
So I can't really adequate it. I think it's a great question, seriously. And from my standpoint, not enough, but I understand why it's occurred, because it's become an American sporting extravaganza. And to a lot of people, it's the idea of being out here and seen here and being a part of an entertainment capital. But I wish it were more strictly about tennis. I think a lot of people, I think that has changed a lot in the last 10 to 20 years.

**Molly Smith** (2:03)
Talk to us about how you remember it and more, whether it was the US Championships or how it is now, the glory days, however you would define that, and what your happiest memories here are like.

**Steve Flink** (2:16)
Well, the happiest memories were those initial years as a fan, because I became a full-time reporter. I mentioned 1974 I was starting to watch it in 1965 So those years in the 60s leading up to Open Tennis and in the early stages of Open Tennis, it was much easier to wander around the grounds and get close on any outside court you wanted. There was more of an innocence to it. I think particularly of that first Open Year, 1962 and 1968 when Arthur Ashe won the tournament.
I have so many vivid memories of that period, as I was growing up and as the game was growing.

**Tim Stenovec** (2:54)
Were you in Cincinnati this year?

**Steve Flink** (2:57)
No, I mean, I watched it. I was not on site.

**Tim Stenovec** (2:59)
Molly and I both went to Cincinnati separately to see Tennis this year. I went for the first time. You were there for the first time?

**Molly Smith** (3:05)
For the first time, yes.

**Tim Stenovec** (3:06)
We haven't gotten too much of a chance to talk about it, but I'll just share. I was just struck by the intimacy of it, and the feeling of actually getting so close to some of these players. I'm wondering as we see, and we'll talk more about the American players, but as we see more and more American players and the interest grow among young people if that tournament becomes increasingly popular for people to go to.

**Steve Flink** (3:28)
Cincinnati?

**Tim Stenovec** (3:29)
Yeah.

**Steve Flink** (3:30)
It's hard to say. Look, you're talking about a very prestigious event, the Masters 1000 I mean, obviously, those tournaments are in prestige, just a step below the Grand Slam. So, and it's a popular event for the players. It's in a tricky timeframe, though, because sometimes players are pulling out because they've got...

**Tim Stenovec** (3:47)
Yeah, dinner wasn't there. Alcaraz wasn't there.

**Steve Flink** (3:49)
And they're thinking about the open, and in some cases, they are debilitated because of what happened in Canada.

**Molly Smith** (3:54)
The schedule is, that's a whole other thing we could go into.

**Steve Flink** (3:57)
That's right. But I know that I think your view is shared by many of those who have been to the event, how much they enjoy it.