Impact on Tennis Team
As Chuck began his collegiate career, he had an immediate impact to the team. Senior teammate at the time, John Newman, remembers Chuck as a player who “was a real competitor. He wanted to win in the end. He was strong as a bull with a very thick frame.” Newman also mentioned that Chuck “was the best athletic tennis player he has every seen. He had all the shots people use now, back then.”
In addition, Butch Newman described Chuck’s game as “very powerful. He was super strong, and would try to drill one through you instead of getting it passed you. He was a little dynamo and the most talented athlete I have had the privilege to play with.”
In an article written in the year 1960 by Kenneth Rudeen of Sports Illustrated, Rudeen discusses comments from Bill Talbert, former national doubles champion and close friend to Chuck, who stated, “There is nothing he can not do on the court. He has all the strokes. He’s fast. He’s strong. He has marvelous reflexes. He has the eyes of a hawk – sees the ball as well as anyone in the game” (Rudeen, 1960).
Furthermore, Paul Newman in his Wimbledon article describes Chuck as someone who “threw himself to all corners of the court, dived to hit volleys that were seemingly beyond his reach and chased down his opponents’ shots as if his life depended on it” (Newman, 2016).
Chuck had an immediate impact as a freshman to the Trinity men’s tennis team evidenced by the numerous comments on his personality and playing style.