By Russ Pate
Photography by Kim Kulish

Midmorning on an overcast Wednesday in the City by the Bay finds the San Francisco Tennis Club resounding with thumps and thwacks of crisp overheads and passing shots.

String music, as it were.

Eight of 12 indoor courts constructed with Plexipave, a hard surface with a concrete base known for generating pace, are occupied. By noon, all will be in use as members who work in the nearby financial district quickly negotiate two or more sets of singles before dashing back to the office.

On court three, Janet Standen and Judith Brass engage in brisk rallies from the baseline. They forgo serving, or keeping score, electing instead to polish their forehands. Like many SFTC moms, Standen and Brass avail themselves of the child-care program, which they consider one of SFTC’s major assets.

The two Brits (Standen hails from London, while Brass comes from a village in England’s Lake District) are representative of SFTC’s diversity. The membership roster is a smorgasbord of age, gender, race, nationality, religious preference, socioeconomic status, and occupation. In short, SFTC’s membership encapsulates the city’s reputation for being open, inclusive, multiethnic, and free-spirited — a confluence of cultures and backgrounds too broad to characterize other than by observing that everyone’s welcome and pretty much everybody’s here.

On court seven, a doubles game nears its denouement. Member Yvonne Goddard and partner Sondra De Roulet battle against member Marijane Modena and partner Mimi Iversen in a spirited encounter marked by medleys of angled volleys and deft touch shots. On court eight, meanwhile, Kristina Hansen, who’s taking a lesson, attempts to achieve more extension on her service toss.

Hansen, a member of SFTC’s Board of Governors, works under the watchful eye of instructor Jeremy Askdal-Jansen. Askdal-Jansen is one of seven full-time and three part-time teaching pros on the staff of tennis director Tom Edlefsen, a former U.S. Davis Cup player and a member of the tennis Hall of Fame.

Hansen soon shifts her attention to creating more topspin with her backhand. Askdal-Jansen, standing near the net and punching volleys to keep rallies alive, repeatedly calls out to her, "Brush it. Brush it." A smile spreads across his expressive face as Hansen makes several difficult retrievals. "That’s good," he beams. "You should have an audience every day."

As Hansen towels off during a short break, Askdal-Jansen describes the bond between SFTC tennis instructors and club members. "These people are more than our students, they’re our friends," he says with his lyrical accent (he, too, hails from London). "There’s much more to the relationships than tennis."

In addition to serving as brushmeister, Askdal-Jansen acts as coach, confidence builder, ally, and ego massager. His creed is "tennis should be fun — or why bother playing?" Demand for his services is such that he maintains a waiting list of eager pupils. Askdal-Jansen often instructs eight hours a day. At that, his schedule can’t match colleague Matt Donaldson, perhaps the busiest teaching pro in the West. Donaldson has booked more people than Hawaii Five-O.

Hansen, a transplanted Oregonian, joined SFTC in 1995. The former executive in the office furnishings industry, who recently began a second career in residential real estate sales, has since become a fixture at the club. Her calendar not only includes tennis games, lessons, practice sessions, and interclub matches, but fitness training as well. She’s active in SFTC’s comprehensive athletics program, supervised by Mike Andrews, that each week encompasses as many as 40 classes — yoga, Pilates, stretching, strengthening, toning, spin, the works.

"The reason I belong is because this club offers a great balance between athletics and social activities," Hansen explains. "There’s tennis, of course, and athletics, but really there’s much, much more. For example, many members like to gather for drinks after work. Or we’ll come have dinner and sit out by the ‘rail’ [the third-floor landing] and watch matches. There’s a great deal of energy and excitement around here in the evenings, after people get off work."

Before her lesson with Askdal-Jansen, Hansen put in a 7 a.m. workout with her personal trainer, John Magsanay. She would subsequently depart SFTC for an afternoon appointment, but return later in the day for dinner and a Board of Governors meeting.

To create bonds between members and provide newcomers with the warm welcome so vital to any private club experience, SFTC employs the talents of a facilitator par excellence, Larry Tubelle. From his desk, Tubelle works the phone lines like a virtuoso, pausing only for a quick bite of lunch at the Match Point Bar & Cafe.

"Larry provides a unique service for members," explains SFTC general manager Kim Perino, who uses the term "concierge" to describe Tubelle’s duties. "His primary function is to find playing partners for member’s matches, be it within the next hour or seven days in advance. Larry spends most of his time on the phone, calling members or receiving calls from members asking him to build a match."

Perino also credits Tubelle for innovative tennis programming, everything from a 6 a.m. "Early Bird" men’s group, to the "Nooners" (a lunchtime men’s group) to "The Old Man and the C’s" (in which C-rated women players challenge Tubelle to a singles match). "The greatest benefit, however, is the relationship created among our members through his game arranging," Perino says. "Many of the club’s 1,900 members would not have met each other if not for Larry’s phone calls."

Robert S. Gold, a financial adviser, frequents SFTC thrice weekly, arriving after the financial markets close. Given San Francisco’s three-hour time difference with Wall Street, Gold generally gets on court by 1:30 p.m.

SFTC serves as his sanctuary. "I’m a type A personality and a perfectionist," Gold says with the rapid-fire delivery of someone double-parked on the street (in fact, SFTC has its own parking garage). "I’m driven to succeed at everything I do. Basically, the tennis court is the only place where I relax."

A day earlier, in a game arranged by Tubelle, Gold exhibited no small amount of court craftsmanship, including a cleverly disguised drop shot, to keep his opponent off-balance and on the run. Today, Gold stops by SFTC for a brief business meeting. Tennis will have to wait for tomorrow.

Gold joined in 1991, but surrendered his membership in 1997 after a horrific auto accident. During his lengthy recovery, Gold briefly belonged to another tennis club in the area, but rejoined SFTC because of its proximity to his downtown office. "When I came back, members made me feel right at home," he says. "They welcomed me back like I had never been away. The reception I received from people is something very dear to my heart."

Upstairs, views from any of 12 courts (also constructed with Plexipave, seven with lights) are spectacular enough to cause any player’s concentration to waiver. Or, perhaps cause a foot fault.

Panning across the skyline, members and guests can see the tip of Transamerica Pyramid, the clock tower on the Ferry Building, and the massive Bay Bridge, connecting San Francisco to Oakland and the East Bay. From certain vantage points, players also can make out the lights at Pacific Bell Park, home of the San Francisco Giants and slugger Barry Bonds.

SFTC, which will celebrate its 30th birthday in 2004, is located in the neighborhood locals call SoMa (South of Market). SoMa, once the city’s warehouse district, in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s became the greenhouse for technology start-ups, companies whose upwardly mobile executives boosted SFTC membership. But when high-tech’s bubble burst at the start of the new millennium (and many dot-coms became dot-comatose), SFTC saw its membership decline.

Now, however, the club is working to regain its base, perhaps create its first-ever waiting list. Or, as Perino puts it: "We’re in the process of re-establishing SFTC as the premier tennis club in Northern California."

Given the views, it’s no wonder that on Saturday and Sunday mornings, weather permitting, rooftop courts are as much in demand as tickets for a Barbra Streisand farewell concert. Or one of Cher’s. (There’s also the matter of the cost; rooftop courts are free, while downstairs courts carry a tariff, the amount of which varies according to day and time of day.)

With its infamous marine layer creating fog and haze, as well as frequent drizzle or rain, San Francisco’s climate confounds avid tennis players. Breezes pushing in from the Pacific Ocean, moreover, can chill the bones. Not for nothing did Mark Twain once observe: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

The climate, though, provides SFTC membership director James Neiderer with a great point of difference to market. Because it has the only indoor courts in the area, the club can trumpet year-round play. Nor does it hurt SFTC’s pitch to prospective members that the sport’s primary superstar, Andre Agassi, is a member. When Agassi comes to practice and brings his entourage (which on occasion includes his wife, the legendary Steffi Graf), members crowd the rail to get a glimpse at the human hitting machine on court four.

Agassi’s connection to SFTC stems from his ties to his former coach, Brad Gilbert. After a hugely successful career in his own right, Gilbert, a Bay Area native and resident, helped revive Agassi’s fortunes in the mid-1990s. Their years together produced multiple major championships and Agassi’s return to pre-eminence.

Ardent tennis fans remember Gilbert for his tenacious, scrappy style, which he discussed in detail in the 1994 book (co-authored with SFTC member Steve Jamison) Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis — Lessons From a Master. Gilbert’s treatise on developing the mind-set to win tough matches includes anecdotes from SFTC based on the exploits of members known as Windmill, Dr. J., and the Great Grigsby.

On this particular Wednesday, SFTC is abuzz with the news that rising American tennis star Andy Roddick has retained Gilbert’s services. (Within a week, the 21-year-old Roddick would win a grass court title at the Queens Club, beating Agassi in the semifinals; he would then go on to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, and win his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.)

Rejuvenation at SFTC extends to the pro shop, called Centre Court. There, Carol Salandra, via innovations with both product lines and sales promotions, has the cash registers smoking like Roddick’s first serve. It’s said Salandra’s merchandising skills are such she can sell tennis garb to golfers.

Centre Court is also where Sam Ramirez works his magic, stringing racquets to achieve optimum tautness and tension. Many members laud the singular talents of "Sam the Stringer." That’s because when the symphony of strings begins at SFTC each day, no one wants to be out of tune.

SAN FRANCISCO TENNIS CLUB
Location: 645 Fifth St., San Francisco.
General manager: Kim Perino.
Tennis director: Tom Edlefsen.
Membership director: James Neiderer.
Athletics manager: Sinna Joie Kan.
Amenities: Twelve indoor and 12 outdoor tennis courts; cardio and weight rooms, massage therapy, personal training, tennis lessons, group exercise classes, child care, grill, and pro shop.
Web site: www.sftennis.com

WALK THIS WAY
San Francisco is a city for pedestrians, not a pedestrian city. The rich and distinct textures of the city’s various neighborhoods — Chinatown, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, Haight-Asbury, to cite a few — require close, door-to-door, on-foot inspection.

It’s stimulating to stumble upon small eateries, coffeehouses, bookstores, or emporiums filled with character and characters. Besides, cable cars or taxicabs can take visitors but only so far. Sooner or later, people have to pound the pavement.

Step one for any trip to San Francisco, therefore, calls for comfortable shoes. In anticipation of my visit, I spent several days weighing the pros and cons of assorted footwear. Birkenstock sandals, which get the most wear back home in Texas, were never part of the equation; simply put, San Francisco is too cold for open toes.

The decision came down to Sperry Top-Siders or Rockport walking shoes. I chose the former, believing they would prove to be more serviceable throughout and more fashionable aboard a one-hour Blue & Gold Fleet bay tour that passed underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and looped around Alcatraz. They were.

Incidentally, step two for any trip to San Francisco is packing a sweater or Windbreaker — preferably both. Dressing in layers gives visitors freedom to don or doff apparel as the weather dictates.

Just don’t make the mistake of showing up in San Francisco, no matter the season, in short sleeves or short pants. That’s the tennis equivalent of a double fault. — Russ Pate

ALSO IN THE AREA
Associate Club
Crow Canyon Country Club, Danville, California.

Affiliate Clubs & Hotels
City Club of San Francisco, San Francisco.
Pan Pacific Hotel, San Francisco.
Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco.
Tuscan Inn, San Francisco.