Do they really belong in the Hall of Fame?

Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Marat Safin and Justine Henin get inducted and felt that each of them deserved their moment in the spotlight. While there are certain careers like those of Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras that go without question or debate; for careers not as “distinguished” how is it decided? It often feels like members reach into a bowl and whatever is pick gets inducted.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame was established in the year, 1954 by Jimmy Van Allen and by the following year, the tennis hall museum and casino became a major tourist attraction in Newport, Rhode Island. The first members of the hall of fame were inducted into the museum the following year and included players such as Dwight Davis. The categories for consideration are split into two groups; player and contributor. Within the player category, there are two branches known as recent player and master player. To be considered for the recent player category, the person in consideration must have been an active member of their respective tour within the last 20 years prior to consideration, not been a significant factor on either tour within five years prior to induction and achieved distinguished feats, at the highest level. The Master Player category has very similar criteria, except that the player in question would have to have been retired for at least 20 years. …

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