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From the Douglaston neighborhood in Queens to tennis courts and broadcast booths around the world, Mary Carillo has seen it all. She sat down for a little serve and volley from The Post’s Steve Serby before her International Tennis Hall of Fame Induction.
Q: How emotional will Saturday night in Newport be for your International Tennis Hall of Fame induction alongside Roger Federer?
A: Roger is very emotional. We know that Roger’s a crier. I can get pretty jammed up myself. I don’t know if it will affect me, honestly. I’ve gotta give a speech. I hope it lands. I hope I don’t lose it completely. Right now, I don’t think I will. I could be so wrong (laugh).
Q: Roger Federer?
A: I’ve covered his whole career. We’ve all tried to describe how he plays, the aesthetics of it, the lyricism of it. You run out of words trying to talk about the beauty and the horsepower of his game. All I can say is, I think the way Roger played pleased the gods.
Q: Douglaston, New York?
A: There’s gonna be a celebration, a watch party at the Douglaston Club on Saturday night up on the third floor. I was a waitress at the Douglaston Club. I worked at the snack bar at the Douglaston Club. I dragged clay courts at the Douglaston Club, and that’s where I played. That was my whooole summer. My mom always knew where I was. That was back in the days where your mom could say after breakfast, “Alright, come home when the street lights are on.” It’s a beautiful little place. It’s charming. And it’s full of good people, and I’m proud that I came out of there, and John and Patrick (McEnroe) did too. A lot of good people came out of the Douglaston Club, and I’m among them.
Q: The New York tennis crowd?
A: These are my people! I’m a chick from Queens! Once fans go to the U.S. Open, they become New York fans. They understand the assignment. The U.S. Open makes a different sound from any other tournament in the world.
Q: The young John McEnroe?
A: We grew up together, we were kids together. He was so good even when he was so short. His game, his hands, his touch, his concept, his understanding of the angles in a court. … He could see winners that nobody else could see. And then he went to school, then he played basketball for Buckley Country Day School, then he ran track for them. He followed the seasons. Here I am knocking myself out against the wall at the Douglaston Club and John was just so easily great. People think that John was a lunatic from a young age. You gotta remember when we played juniors, there were no lines people, there was nobody in the chair, there was nowhere to bark at. John won so often and so easily. It was really only Wimbledon 1977 where he was picking his way through the main draw and got all the way to the semis before (Jimmy) Connors stopped him. That’s when he became famous for being John McEnroe. He just didn’t understand those Wimbledon folk (laugh). He didn’t understand that kicking a racket … people are fainting and pearl-clutching. As a young kid he just made everything look easy.
Q: Winning the (1977) French Open doubles with him?
A: It was amazing. Who the hell thought that was gonna happen? It was a year of World Team Tennis, so a lot of the best players were not there. John was 18, I was 20, we were both at our first French Open. There were a bunch of teams already signed up, and John looked at the list and said, “Oh, we should win this thing.” I’m like, “What the hell are you talking about (laugh)?” That was John. He ended up being right, but he just had such a good sense of who he is and what he was capable of even then.
Q: How disappointing was it for you when you had to stop playing because of your knees?
A: I had been riding on rims for so long. I knew in high school that I wasn’t gonna be able to play a lot of tennis. It’s the main reason I skipped college tennis. I had some scholarship offers, but I knew that four years on hardcourts would just grind them to dust. So I think I was very pragmatic about it. I tried to play as much tennis as I could all over the world. That was my goal. I knew I wasn’t as good as those other people (laugh). My last year I had three Top 20 wins. I thought maybe I could get into the Top 20, however briefly. And I never made it there. I knew the deal. I knew what I had. I knew how good I wasn’t. I didn’t have to make some big decision when to pull the plug on my career. My knees told me they were done.
Q: Did you ever envision what you’ve been doing for this long?
A: No (laugh), of course not. It wasn’t even a thing when I was a kid. How many women were doing sports back then on television? I’ve invited a bunch of my friends (to Newport) who I consider the real … they changed things. Lesley Visser is coming. Andrea Joyce, who has done even more Olympics than me and she’s still going, she’s still great at what she does. They knocked down the doors and I was able to walk through them. And now there’s a helluva lot more women around. When I first started working in television, I could only call women’s tennis. I wasn’t allowed to call men’s tennis. I’m very happy to report that things have changed considerably (laugh).
Q: Some of the tennis people you’ve gotten to know: Billie Jean King?
A: She’s my idol. She’s my mentor. She’ll be there on Saturday. As we speak, I’m wearing Billie Jean King’s blue suede shoes for her 1973 win against Bobby Riggs. She created my life for me.
Q: Martina?
A: Just another trailblazer. An authentic, living-out-loud, remarkable player and friend.
Q: Bud Collins?
A: Another idol of mine. What I loved most, what I learned most from Bud, is that it’s OK to be playful up there in the booth.
Q: Harry Hopman?
A: You’re naming all my people! Mr. Hopman was just such an important person and coach in my life. He gave me so many chances, he spent a lot of time with me. After high school, I followed him down, he started a new academy in Florida, and without truly asking my parents’ permission, I skipped college (laugh) and followed down Mr. Hopman because there was so much to learn from him.
Q: Arthur Ashe?
A: I was lucky enough to know Arthur. I was such a great admirer and respecter of the way he lived his life. I’m humbled that I got to spend time with him and be his friend.
Q: Chris Evert?
A: The thing Chrissie did for me when she was 16 years old and she made her way through the semifinals at Forest Hills, I got to watch a bunch of those matches. I didn’t realize until I watched Chris Evert play that you could be great without being a grown-up. And she’s just one of the classiest dames I’ve ever met. She’s fighting the good fight now. She’s halfway through her chemo. She’ll have to skip the U.S. Open, but I think about her and pray for her every day of my life.
Q: Bjorn Borg?
A: He was really the first true rock star in tennis, without saying a damn word. He was shy, he had an unbelievable physique, teeny boppers went nuts for him. There are a couple of people who changed tennis fandom — Jimmy Connors was certainly one of them, Bjorn Borg was, Chrissie was — changed what tennis fandom looked like.
Q: Jimmy Connors?
A: (Laugh) I truly think he was one of the, maybe not the greatest player of all time, but certainly one of the most important. People came out to watch tennis just to see what … the … hell this guy was like. Why he played the way he did and how he’d get a crowd going, either for him or against him. Jimmy was very, very important, especially to American tennis.
Q: Vitas (Gerulaitis)?
A: He was funny, he was generous, he was a weisenheimer. He brought so much to the game. I worked on an HBO documentary on Borg and McEnroe, “Fire and Ice” it’s called, and we built out a whole section that we ended up, for time it couldn’t be used — but John and Bjorn, they both wanted to be like Vitas. Vitas meant everything to those two guys, and I understand why.
Q: The most electric U.S. Open match you attended?
A: The Connors run of ’91 when he was 39 years old. That’s one of the greatest runs I’ve ever seen, and it absolutely electrified the audience and our TV ratings. There were a couple of people that could make the ratings bump just by walking on the court — Jimmy was one of them, (Andre) Agassi was one of them, McEnroe, Serena — he was that guy, and especially the whole lion in winter, and still trying to win something in his dotage.
Q: Serena nowadays?
A: I said on the air, Serena is still so damn good when she only has to cover half a court. She’s a remarkable doubles player still, and mixed doubles player. If she wanted to only play doubles, she could still be an important part of the Women’s Tennis Association. She’s that good.
Q: Who wins the U.S. Open men’s title?
A: It’s an open question for me. (Carlos) Alcaraz hasn’t played a singles match since April. For him to be so careful with his comeback and then come to the U.S. Open and try to go seven rounds, three out of five sets, he’s a big question mark. Other people are playing great. This kid (Rafael) Jodar is really good. Taylor Fritz obviously has been to the finals before … Ben Shelton … (Alexander) Zverev has already won a major this year when he took the French. It is open and so is the women’s field. I don’t know who the hell’s gonna come out of there, but right now I think Coco Gauff, boy she played well last week in Cincy. Iga (Swiatek) is looking better. (Aryna) Sabalenka’s trying to find back the form she showed for the last couple of seasons. She hasn’t won a major this year. (Naomi) Osaka’s coming up with the goods sometimes.
Q: Who might be a sleeper on either side?
A: Frances Tiafoe always plays his best tennis at the Open, he can rock a crowd like nobody, so I guess he’s a sleeper even though he’s picked his way through into the latter rounds of the Open a couple of times now. And on women’s side, can you really call Naomi Osaka a sleeper? She’s won the Open twice (laugh). It’s hard to know who’s gonna show up with the goods, it really is. But I’d love to see Jess Pegula finish her career with one major. Not that she’s a sleeper, she’s in the top five, but I don’t think people talk about her as much as they should.
Q: How would you describe your broadcasting style?
A: I’m very passionate about the work, no matter whether it’s Wimbledon or the Olympics or a dog show, I’m just very happy to be there.
Q: You’ve become known as a storyteller.
A: When I first started covering tennis, I was talking about my friends, so I had good stories about ’em (laugh). There came a time when it wasn’t just the Americans dominating, the Aussies dominating, now you really had to learn about these foreign players, and tell their backstories and how they got here. … OK, so her father was an Olympic rower. And that requires storytelling. How they decided to play the way they did. … What their influences were. I think that brings a lot to a match. You’re watching people for a couple of hours most of the time, and they’re not wearing helmets, there are no substitutions. You have to explain why you should care about who wins this match and who might be booable, for God sakes. I come from a family of storytellers. Everyone in my family can tell a good story.
Q: Do you have a favorite Olympics?
A: I loved Lillehammer. The first three Olympics I did were with CBS — I’ve done 17 of them now — Lillehammer was the most charming setting. It was absolutely beautiful. I’d be at the same breakfast table with Charles Kuralt, which meant the world to me because he was such a storyteller. I love the Winter Olympics because they’ve taken me to places that tennis has never taken me to. When I’m doing profiles on winter athletes, invariably the first question I ask is: “Does your mother know you’re doing this?” These sports are so dangerous! The winter athletes, in particular, because what they do is so perilous, they have different personalities and different mindsets than summer athletes. … Obviously the London Games of 2012, the Summer Olympics were great. There have been too many to count, for all different reasons.
Q: What was so much fun for you about working the dog shows (Westminster, National Dog Show)?
A: Ohmigod! I’ve grown up with dogs all of my life. And except for one or two, there had never been a flicker of intelligence in any of my dogs (laugh). So to be around 2,000 gorgeous, well-bred, well-trained dogs, and to get to know why they were bred, what they were bred for, from the working dogs to the sporting dogs to the terrier … for me, covering dog shows, it’s a big bowl of ice cream.
like Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Virginia Sherwood/NBC via Getty Images
Q: Why did you become famous for your badminton rant?
A: (Laugh) Because it’s a motherhood rant, it’s not really a badminton rant. … I was supposed to be showing the difference going into a commercial from the Kmart badminton rackets and shuttlecocks that you buy in a store and the one that these people use. I had an Olympic one and just a crappy-ass one, and somehow it evolved, the whole conversation (laugh). I just started talking about what badminton is like at my house. It was very relatable is what I’m saying.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Dolly Parton; Billie Jean (King); Michelle Obama.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “The Princess Bride.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: My son Anthony (Bowden). He’s a Juilliard-trained actor. I hope he has a long acting history the way I’ve gotten to do what I love for such a long time.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Meryl Streep.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Dolly! She understood how much joy she was bringing to her fans.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Eggplant parmigiana with linguini on the side.
Q: What are you most proud of about your HOF career?
A: I guess the longevity. Somebody who was not at all a world-beater, just got chances and took them when she could and hung around it. I prepare a lot, I work hard, I love what I do, that I’ve had it across so many different players, rivalries, networks, and I’m still at it.
