Messages
Time to re-shuffle the deck. After five years on the web, we’ve decided to make some changes in BudCollinsTennis.com – in appearance, incorporating new technology, making dialogue between readers and me easier. Rather than a daily who-beat-whom-and-won-what, I’ll offer my observations and welcome yours.
I’ve been fortunate in being whisked across the globe for decades by this game, and I’ll be sharing some of the fascinating experiences and destinations.
Meanwhile, keep on hacking. While your own game may not take you to Wimbledon, it’s more important than Nadal or Federer’s because it keeps you moving (in whatever manner) and, for a valuable while, rescues you from the cares of the day.

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June 23 2008 | Messages | No Comments »
We’ve been adding a lot of travel articles Bud has written over the years. Check them out… over on the left you can choose a country or click “Travel” and browse around. Enjoy! -ed
May 07 2009 | Messages | No Comments »
Thames at night
We just added another photo gallery from the archives… London 2006. This includes shots of the National Theatre, Albert Bridge at night, sunrise and sunset over the city, Palace Guard and more. Check it out in the June 2006 section.
March 11 2009 | Messages | No Comments »
The city of Como from nearby hillside
We just added photo galleries from Bud & Anita’s trip through Italy in 2006, starting at Rome and stopping at Busetto, Cremona, Como and Cogne along the way.
Check them out in the May 2006 section.
March 07 2009 | Messages | No Comments »
We had an opportunity to see Choquequirao in the late afternoon light. It is a mystical place. A place we had to ourselves. Due to the challenges of getting there, tourists are few and far between, maybe a hundred to a hundred and fifty a year.
We’ve just added even more photos of Anita’s trek, including the final stop at Machu Picchu. Take a look in the Photos section.
At the end of May 2008 I participated in a marvelous 16 day adventure in Peru, joining seven other trekkers on a Geographic Expeditions journey to little known Inca ruins at Choquequirao and on to Machu Picchu. We went over spectacular mountain passes, camped for eight nights, trekked up and down, and up and down repeatedly, passing only Quechua villagers (no tourists on this route) and one dazzling vista after another.
Our guides, Clark Kotula and Efrain Valles Morales and assistant Osvaldo Velasco, were excellent. Our arrieros (mule drivers/porters) and cooks, Pedro One and Pedro Two, and 24 animals were invaluable in the success of the trek. We had perfect weather, blue skys, white clouds, lupine in flower tumbling down the mountain sides along with countless other flowers.
Seeing Machu Picchu had been a longtime dream of mine, even better in tandem with Choquequirao. The challenge and difficulty of the trek made the accomplishment all the more rewarding. An absolutely stellar trip!
Check out the Photos section to see all the pictures from the trip!
September 08 2008 | Messages | 2 Comments »
Bud at the US Open wearing trousers made of fabric he bought during the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
We finally added the Out of Bud’s Closet feature to the new site. Check it out here. It will always be found in the Categories list on the left.
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August 20 2008 | Messages | No Comments »
Bud signing books on Prince Street in Soho, at the USTA Shop
Five years have passed since I last published a book. This one, just out, “
The Bud Collins History of Tennis,” is long overdue – and I know you’ll love it. If you can lift it. Just kidding. But I did need 765 pages to chronicle just about everything that has happened in the game since the initial tournament, Wimbledon, 1877, up to the present.
All the greats are represented in bios, and many others who have made historic marks. Such as the Australian bloke, Viv McGrath, who introduced the two-handed backhand during the 1930s. Or Anita Lizana, slightly known Chilean who entered the U.S. Championship once, 1937 – and won it. 0r Whitney Reed, who partied his was to U.S. No. 1 in 1961.
As well as the prose are the championship rolls of all the majors – naturally you want to know whom Francoise Durr and Jean Claude Barclay beat to win the 1973 French Open mixed doubles – and records and stats galore.
People often ask me how long it took to write such a book. I reply, “Fifty years.” A bit of an exaggeration. But I have been gathering tennis info as a journalist, print and TV – scribbler and babbler – since 1955, and have poured it into this volume.
I hope you”ll dig in.
[ed: order a copy of Bud's book from the Books page]
August 19 2008 | Messages | No Comments »