Torben Ulrich, the “hippie tennis player” legend who inspired Guillermo Vilas and raised the founder of Metallica, has died

Lars Ulrich He had some chance of becoming a professional tennis player (at least, he tried), but life would take him in other directions: he became the founder of Metallicaone of the emblematic bands of rock difficult.

Some of Lars’ childhood adventures are well known, such as Guillermo Vilas He told them several times: “When Torben UlrichLars’ father, played on the professional circuit with many South American tennis players such as Jaime Fillol OR Patrick Cornejo, we were like “babysitters” and took care of his son. Another one did too Marty Riessen, the North American. Lars was four or five years old and when we told him we were a tennis player like his father, he replied: “I want to be a musician””.

Eventually Lars became famous, filling stadiums with his fans Shows and sold millions of records. But history – sporting and not only – would reserve an important place, especially for Danish tennis, also for his father Torben, who died on December 20th at the age of 95. “Torben Ulrich. 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, challenging limits, questioning the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing… and a good touch of Danish contrarian attitude. Thank you so much! I love you, dad,” Lars wrote on social media to announce his farewell.

We have to go back to the beginning of the 70s, when Vilas himself and one of his first companions, “Tito” Vázquez, was included in the professional circuit. These are the beginnings of tennis as a mass sport and some great figures – Vilas first and foremost – are connected to other references far from sport: fashion, rock. As Tito recalled, “even though Guillermo said that he had always been the role model at that moment Thomas Koch“Actually, the one who had the most influence on him and all of us was Ulrich.”

There is no allusion specifically to tennis, even though Ulrich was left-handed Willy. He marked a generation for the image of him inherited from the “hippies”, for his follower of spiritual trends and even Buddhism, and for his love of music. He was also a director, poet, actor, painter… and father of Lars.

Torben Ulrich was born on 4 October 1928 in Frederiksberg and represented Denmark for almost three decades in the Davis Cupbetween 1948 and 1977, the year in which he took leave, almost fifty years old, after losing 6-4 in the fifth set against Bernardo Boileau in the series against the Belgians. Obviously with that longevity he is the Danish tennis player with the most Davis Cup series (40), with a record of 31-35 in singles and 15-21 in doubles, for a total of 102 gamesstill an unusual figure for any team.

In the 70s, when he was still in difficulty, his charm lay in his refined style, in his headband and in that carefree, almost festive walk through the streets. law courts, compared to the solemnity of certain traditions. She attracted the public with her beard, her complexions and her bohemian look.

His ranking didn’t say much, despite being among the top hundred in 1973, at the dawn of the ATP list. In the Grand Slam tournaments he reached the round of 16 Roland Garros (1959), Wimbledon (the same year) and the United States Championship four times (1953, 1956, 1964 and 1968).

If Vilas or Tito ever spoke of their approach to yoga, Buddhism and some figures from India, Torben was also a precursor, as he had visited Tibet in the 1940s.

A note from Andrés Burgo recalls a US Open match between Torben and the Australian John Newcombe, a famous player of the 1960s: “A butterfly entered the court in the middle of the match and, apparently, would have harmed Ulrich . But when reporters asked him about this incident, his response was that of a Taoist philosopher, Chuang Tzu: “Was I a man who dreamed of being a butterfly? Or am I now a butterfly who dreams of being a man?” And he also remembers another definition from Torben: “For me sport is not always about achieving a goal, but has much more to do with personal progress.”

At Roland Garros he always asked that the matches be scheduled in the afternoon rounds. He needed the morning to recover from his adventures on the jazz circuit, as a spectator or as a protagonist (he played the clarinet and saxophone).

But Torben Ulrich had tennis in his blood: his father Einer was the first Danish player of international level, Olympic representative in Paris a century ago, round of 16 at Wimbledon 1926 and 28th series in the Davis Cup. And Jorgen, Torben’s brother, also participated in international tournaments for two decades -1952/1971.

The count of official matches between Vilas and Torben includes only the first round in Louisville, exactly half a century ago, in the American summer clay court tour. Vilas won 6-4 and 7-5, and then reached the semi-final, where he was stopped by Newcombe (6-3 and 7-6), who in turn was overcome in the decisive match by another of the protagonists of that era, Lo Spaniard Manuel Orantes. Only in the following season did Vilas begin the climb that would definitively place him among the best in the world.

At that point Torben Ulrich’s worries were already elsewhere and he was never obsessed with the growing competitiveness of tennis, marked by the era of Borg, Connors and Vilas.

There was some attempt for his son, who went to try out at the Academy of Nick Bollettieri in Bradenton, Florida. “Lars went to try out there when he was thirteen – he recalls – At that time he was very interested in tennis, but he was also passionate about music. After a year, he still wanted to go out and listen to concerts, and I think the Academy wasn’t very happy about him staying out, so they scolded him for staying late.

Bollettieri would soon have two young prodigies like Jimmy Arias and Aaron Krickstein, who could not complete a great professional career, but his next “product” called Andrea Agassi He would have become a real star.

Lars Ulrich, founder and drummer of Metallica, said: “I grew up in a very open and very independent environment. It was 1975 and I wanted to go and see Black Saturday. According to my parents, I could go see Black Sabbath 12 times a day. But I had to find my own means, bring the newspaper or something, to get the money to buy the tickets. And I had to find my way to the concert and back. From this point of view they left me quite alone. But in terms of culture, there were always things happening at home. My father was always surrounded by music. I spent time with Sonny Rollins, Don Cherry and Dexter Gordon, my godfather. When we were kids I played with Neneh Cherry. Although tennis was his main source of income, my father also wrote about jazz in the Copenhagen newspapers. Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman always played on the home stereo. Later it was the Doors and Jimi Hendrix.”

Lars, who also gave tennis another try in Newport Beach, California, ultimately settled on rock, acknowledging influences ranging from Deep purple AND LED Zeppelin Until Iron Maiden AND Driving head. In 1981, at the age of 18, he placed an advert in the newspaper looking for other musicians with similar tastes and tastes. James Hetfield he replied. Metallica was born.

From that day on, the former tennis guru named Torben Ulrich would become the “father of Lars”.