Some think Stan Smith is a shoe. But the world’s former No. 1 tennis player is much more

Long before he became one of the biggest names in footwear, Stan Smith dazzled on the tennis court.

Smith, 77, is a tennis hall of famer who won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the early 1970s and was once ranked as the world’s No. 1 tennis player. He grew up in California but has lived for more than 50 years in Hilton Head, S.C., where he remains very active in the community and in his Smith Stearns Tennis Academy.

But if you’re not a tennis fan, what you likely know Stan Smith for is the iconic Adidas shoe that bears his name — a classic white leather shoe with green trim around the heel that also includes his likeness and signature. In fact, the name of his 2018 book was: “Stan Smith — Some people think I’m a shoe.”

Smith is much more than a shoe, though, and LeBron James’ production company recently made a documentary about him. We traveled to the S.C. coast to talk to him in the latest episode of “Sports Legends of the Carolinas.” Our conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity, with a fuller version available on the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast.

Scott Fowler: How long have you been in Hilton Head?

Stan Smith: Since 1971. I came here and Charles Fraser was trying to develop the tennis program. He had just started the golf tournament a year or two before that, and so he realized that tennis is becoming very popular and he wanted to really (expand) our tennis program at Sea Pines. And since that time, you know, we’ve had so many tournaments and the facility grew from like eight courts to 30 courts. It’s been great to see tennis become such a big part of Sea Pines resort.

SF: What was your childhood like?

SS: I grew up in Pasadena. Southern California. I had two older brothers and they were quite involved in sports. My father was a coach at Pasadena City College and he coached different sports. He never really coached me very much.

But my parents would both play tennis and then my two older brothers, one of them in particular, played in college. The main thing that took place in Pasadena was a group of parents formed the Pasadena Tennis Patrons, and they hired Pancho Segura, who happened to be one of the best coaches ever.

He coached (Jimmy) Connors and (Michael) Chang and any number of players over the years and in my opinion was the smartest tennis coach ever. So I was fortunate to have him coaching me for about three years from age 15 to 18 when this program started in Pasadena.

Every Saturday morning we’d go to Pasadena High School. We had these courts that were kind of a beige, pinkish color. And hardwire nets that could last forever. We would practice from 8 am to 12 noon and then for an hour we would work with beginners. The motto was “Each one teach one.” And so there I also learned how to give back to the game.

SF: You were sort of a late bloomer, right?

SS: Yes. I actually didn’t win a tournament until I was 15. I played basketball and tennis in high school and ran track in junior high. About halfway through my senior year, I made a decision to give up basketball because it seemed like there was more opportunity in tennis.

SF: DId you immediately gravitate to playing the sort of serve-and-volley tennis you were known for as a pro?

SS: Well, pretty much all the men in my era played serve and volley, as did Billie Jean King for the women. That was the style of play.

I set my aspirations very high. When I was 17, I wasn’t a very good player, but I had these goals that I wrote down. And the four goals were to be a member of the Davis Cup team to represent the United States; to be the No. 1 player in the United States; to win Wimbledon and to be the No. 1 player in the world.

They were really dream goals. I wasn’t even one of the top juniors in my area in Southern California. So I actually was kind of embarrassed about it. I didn’t even tell anybody, even my parents, about those four goals. I did tell a girl I was dating in high school.

SF: You ended up accomplishing all four of those, of course. You won Wimbledon — which starts this year on July 1 — in 1972. Who did you beat in the final?

SS: Ilie Nastase, 7-5 in the fifth set. The year before I lost to John Newcombe 6-4 in the fifth set. Both matches could have gone either way.

Nastase was so temperamental. He’d perform on the court. And the hardest thing was to keep your focus when you played him. And at that time, the umpires and linesmen weren’t quite as strong and so he could get away with arguing for 2-3 minutes. The other problem was he was so good.

I was in the U.S. Army at the time that I won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, too. I was in the Army for two years; had gotten drafted just like everybody else and went to basic training. But after basic training I was actually assigned to do clinics at various army bases around the world and also to do things in inner-city areas, and to play Davis Cup for the U.S. (Smith won a couple of key matches for America in 1971 in Charlotte in the Davis Cup final against Romania, which that year was played at Olde Providence Racquet Club).

The Stan Smith shoe

SF: These days are you known for the Stan Smith shoe by more people than as Stan Smith the tennis player?

SS: Oh yeah, probably 90% for the shoe. Even if you’re, say, 15 years younger than me, you would not have seen me play. So you wouldn’t know I was a tennis player. A 16-year-old is just going to know the shoe. And so I’ve learned to accept that concept.

Today I have on a pair, and they are almost exactly the same as they were in 1965, when they were created. The only change would be a loop to keep the tongue from moving and a little more support in the back with the heel of the shoe, to support the Achilles tendon.

But other than that the soles are the same, the leather is the same, the profile is the same. There are three rows of holes, which represent the Adidas “three stripes” without being too obvious. This has been the shoe that has sold the most — overall it just passed 100 million pairs of shoes sold.

Every company now has a shoe that looks a lot like mine and in fact one of the companies made it so similar that Adidas sued them and won the suit, because when you saw the shoe, you thought it was my shoe. They even advertised this was the “Stan Smith shoe” in their line, which was really the thing that sunk their ship.

SF: I’ve owned a pair of Stan Smiths. Many people in America probably have.

SS: (Laughs) It should be a requirement that everyone owns at least one pair of my shoes.

SF: What made it so popular?

SS: I might be biased, but the shoe is very simple. As with many things in life that have longevity, I think it’s the simplicity. And it’s comfortable. It goes with every type of clothing you want to wear. My favorite is seeing men in tuxedos wearing this shoe or women in their best dresses wearing this shoe.

SF: What do they retail for nowadays?

SS: Maybe $80 or $100 or $120 if it’s a specially designed one. It’s a pretty low price point compared to, say, a Jordan shoe.

SF: Didn’t you give a pair of the shoes to Kate Middleton (officially known as Catherine, Princess of Wales) in the royal box at Wimbledon for her children?

SS: I gave her shoes for both George and Charlotte a few years ago. Then (in 2019) I gave a pair of the shoes to Louis and I didn’t know if that was appropriate at the time. But you see rappers wearing them. Actors. Models. You see Melania Trump wearing this shoe then you see Obama wearing this shoe. So it’s not a political statement either way. ... We did a shoe signing one time and Madonna showed up and demanded for me to sign the shoe.

Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King

SF: Arthur Ashe has always been one of my sports heroes. What was he like?

SS: Arthur was a great player who won three Grand Slam titles, but he was even a better person. I was fortunate to be on the Davis Cup team with him for several years and we traveled together. He and I became close and our wives became close (Smith and his wife, Margie, have four children and 17 grandchildren. His son Ramsey Smith has been the head men’s tennis coach at Duke since 2008).

Arthur made a big impression on me because he was always keeping up with the news of the day and supporting equal rights and diversity. He made a huge impact in the world, especially with apartheid in South Africa and standing up for equal rights in the United States.

He was treated (badly), like a lot of Black players at that time were. We played in a place in Houston and they wouldn’t allow him to change in the men’s locker room. He had to change in the junior boys locker room, at the River Oaks Country Club. ... They also had a Calcutta (betting auction), where members of the club would actually bet on players to win the tournament. And this is even on amateur events. It was kind of a gambling situation. And it was very odd, because in a way it was almost like buying a player.

SF: Almost like ownership?

SS: Yeah, a little bit, which was very uncomfortable not only for him, but for us. That didn’t happen too many times around the country. But that did happen in Houston.

Arthur was the ultimate sportsman and really well-liked. Like Roger Federer, he was beloved around the world wherever he played.

SF: You were in your prime during some of the most fascinating times in tennis, including the “Battle of the Sexes” with Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973. What were your impressions of that match?

SS: Riggs spent a lot of time in Southern California and all these great players like Jack Kramer and Don Budge thought he would win that match, even though he was 55 years old.

Some of the players actually thought he threw the match against Billie Jean. I don’t believe that.

Riggs had become a health nut at that point and was trying to find the fountain of youth. And of course he had a big mouth and was a great promoter — of himself. ... The match was great for women’s tennis and the women’s cause. And Billie Jean has been the greatest advocate of women’s sports — not just tennis, but women’s sports in general.

Fowler, Tomlinson to appear at Concord book event

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25th, Observer columnist Scott Fowler and former Observer columnist and author Tommy Tomlinson will appear together in Concord at the theater at the Cabarrus Arts Council. At the event sponsored by Goldberry Books, the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” coffee table book — as well as Tomlinson’s latest book, called “Dogland” — will be sold.

“Dogland” is Tomlinson’s inside account of the Westminster Dog Show. The “Sports Legends” book contains exclusive interviews and photos from the first two years of The Observer’s award-winning series.

Tickets for the event are $10, with the proceeds going to the Cabarrus Arts Council. Books can be purchased and personalized following the event.

The “Sports Legends” book is also available at SportsLegendsBook.com.