by Carey Tremaine
(Monroe, Washington, USA)
I was in my 20's, an American and a huge tennis fan, living in England in the summer of 1975. A few pals and I managed to get tickets to Wimbledon through an influential Senior Executive at Lloyds, where we were working. While wandering around the All England Tennis Club grounds I decided to check out the tennis on some of the outer courts. Connors was playing Roscoe Tanner on Center Court but I did not have tickets to get in to see it. There, behind a hedge, was a match going on between Vitas and another player. I sat in the stands right next to the court! There was Vitas playing a Wimbledon match not more then 40 feet away from me. I was amazed and dazzled by his tennis. I saw Vitas Gerulaitis do his "Chip and Charge" several times where he approached the net behind a back hand chip shot. It was the high point of the day for me. Thanks Vitas, we remember you.