Wimbledon? No, it's Wilander at Dunham Woods
Wayne resident Chris Thoms made sure he took the day off from work Wednesday to hit around with tennis legend Mats Wilander.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion rolled into the Dunham Woods Riding Club in Wayne with Cameron Lickle, who was the No. 1 tennis player at the U.S. Naval Academy and plays smaller pro events.
Their Wilander on Wheels tour offers tennis players a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rally with the pair and get tips from the tennis hall of famer. Instead of traveling to a resort for top-notch tennis instruction, private clubs and sometimes individuals pay the duo to come to them.
Wilander and Lickle make between 70 and 100 appearances each year and drive to them all in a Winnebago. Club members thought the pair would be perfect for Dunham Woods. The duo's next stops are tennis clubs in Hinsdale, Wilmette and Chicago.
Thoms, 47, dressed in his tennis whites as is tradition at the 77-year-old club, was one of 32 lucky members picked (on a first-come, first-served basis) to hit with Wilander Wednesday on its green clay courts.
He was about the same age as Wilander when the Swede won his first Grand Slam singles title at 17. Wilander's victory at the 1982 French Open inspired Thoms to keep playing tennis — at the time, Wilander was the youngest man to have ever won a Grand Slam singles title. He would go on to win two more French Opens, three Australian Opens, one U.S. Open and one Wimbledon doubles title.
“This is a very big thing for me,” Thoms said, relaxing after his session with Wilander. “It was fun, he gets everything, he can hit everything back to you and he has endless amounts of energy.”
Wilander, 46, the No. 1 player in the world in 1988, was scheduled to run four, 1.5 hour clinics at the club with eight players per session. Halfway into his day, he was already impressed with members' ability.
“Lot of good players, lot of good ball strikers so far,” Wilander said. “The talent here is very good.”
Rather than ground strokes, Wilander's drills focused more on footwork.
In his heyday, tennis was a game of mobility and finesse. But today, thanks to racket technology, it's more about how hard you can hit the ball. Because the sport focuses more on power, many players have stopped using their legs because they can now hit winners without moving too much, said Wilander, who lives in Idaho.
“If you play two hours of tennis, you should be tired enough where you can't do anything else right after,” Wilander said. “And too many people stand in the same spot and they stop playing tennis because it's not enough exercise.”
Wilander showed he hadn't lost his touch from his days on the pro tour. During one of the clinics, a ball took him off the left side of the court and he returned it for a screaming backhand winner down the line.
“He was so down-to-earth, being such a great player,” said 17-year-old Taylor Yavari of Wayne, who captained the tennis squad at Elgin Academy before graduating this spring. “It was surreal being able to hit with someone who has won so many tournaments.”