The season’s pro tour stands to be the most exciting ever as two of the best compete for racquetball eminence. 

It just
might be history
in the making!

by Tom Slear
*facts based on "at writing" timeline. Current rankings may vary.

It’s a conflict made for a Hollywood script. Two archrivals stand so far apart on the spectrum that if they moved one step more they would fall over the edge. One is young, brash, with stunning physical talent and, at the moment, king of the hill. The other is older, reserved, cerebral, and ensconced at No. 2.*

But the clash doesn’t end with their ages, personalities, or approaches to their craft. The two are in the midst of a struggle to resolve nothing less than racquetball eminence. 

Cliff Swain, the elder, has been the top-ranked pro five times, though only once in the last five years, supplanted by Sudsy Monchik, the relative youngster who finished No. 1 in 1996 and every year since with the exception of 1998. They combined to dominate racquetball in the 1990s as thoroughly as the Chicago Bulls dominated the NBA. The question is: Which one, Swain or Monchik, will go down in the history books as racquetball’s Michael Jordan?

Regardless of the winner, racquetball will at its brightest this year and the next several. In the nearly three decades of a professional racquetball tour, four players have stood out with multiple turns as No. 1. Marty Hogan ruled racquetball in its formative years and finished No. 1 five times. Mike Yellen was the top player five consecutive years during the 1980s. Swain, with five No. 1’s, has already entered that elite circle. Monchik, with four, is on the cusp.

“You have Cliff trying to be the first to be No. 1 six times and you have Sudsy (shown left) trying to become only the fourth player to be No. 1 five times,” says Doug Ganim, the racquetball promotions manager for Head, which sponsors Monchik. “Can you think of anything better for the sport?”

What’s more, observers agree, is that Monchik and Swain have taken the game to a lofty perch.

“The level of play right now is definitely higher than ever, though it is difficult — with different balls and different rackets — to compare players from one era to another,” says Mike Guidry, a 10-year tour veteran who finished last season ranked sixth.

Andy Roberts, who spent 15 years on the tour and is now a consultant for Ektelon, is not as reticent.

“I played Hogan and Yellen in their prime,” he says, “and the overall physical package is better in Sudsy, without question. But Cliff still ranks at the top in his mental approach and serve.”

The smart money says that Monchik will ultimately prevail. He’s eight years younger than Swain and he has athletic skills no one — Hogan, Yellen, or Swain — envisioned even on their best days.

“As pros we’ll sit in the stands and watch Sudsy play and say, ‘Did you see what he did? That was amazing,’” says Ruben Gonzalez, the Hall of Fame player who, like Monchik, lives in Staten Island, N.Y., and has been the closest thing Monchik has had to a coach. “That gives him the benefit of the fear factor. We won’t admit it, but we don’t want to play him.”

“He can do things with the ball nobody else can,” says Guidry. “You never know what to expect. His sheer power and quickness allow him to get out of situations other pros can’t.”

High praise, indeed, to which Monchik responds with, “Yeah, but...”

He’s been watching Swain for so long, picking his brain at every opportunity, that he can’t fully absorb the thought of displacing The Master. Monchik has no trouble viewing himself as No. 1 — the self-confidence he’s had since childhood ensures that — but he can’t quite picture Swain (shown at right) as No. 2. 

“Cliff is the best player of all time, no doubt,” Monchik insists. “Of all the players I’ve known, he is the one I admire the most.”

When pressed, however, Monchik concedes the obvious. Swain achieved his first No. 1 ranking when he was 24. Monchik has just turned 26 and he already has four No. 1 rankings and foresees another six.

“Can Cliff do it (be No. 1) another five times?” Monchik asks. “I think he can. It wouldn’t surprise me. But I’m speaking out of respect. If I say he couldn’t do it, he’ll go out and work hard to prove me wrong.”

In addition to his gifted physical skills, Monchik has an impeccable racquetball resume. He was groomed through the amateur ranks, becoming the first player ever to win a USRA national championship in every junior age group, from eight through 18. He joined the professional tour in 1994 and promptly won the premier event, the Pro Nationals, and finished the season ranked 11th. Two years later he was first, a position he has ceded only once, in 1998, because of nagging injuries and the ever-present Swain.

But Monchik brings more to the table than a powerful backhand, speed-of-light quickness, and proper breeding. Unlike Swain, he’s adept at the hype that defines modern-day sports personalities.

“Cliff is the consummate professional,” says Jason Mannino, ranked fourth. “If we’re in jeans, he’s in slacks. He’s always a step up. And he’s a nice guy, just not showy. I just spent a weekend with him at a tournament and I didn’t see him once turn down a request for an autograph or not answer a question.”

Swain would never paint his face, al la Braveheart, for a picture in a national magazine, as Monchik did for Sports Illustrated last year. Nor would he take on the “Magic Show” persona that Monchik portrays for Head (which can be seen in each issue of this magazine).

“Sudsy is a free spirit, Cliff is all business,” says Ganim, who worked with Swain before he switched to Wilson in 1996. “Sudsy wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s more emotional to him. With Cliff, racquetball is a business.”

Swain’s goals are simple and by today’s super-hype standards, relatively pedestrian: win games and earn nods of respect from spectators.

“What’s important to me,” he says, “is people coming up after a tournament and saying that I was a gentleman on the court, a class act.”

Monchik, on the other hand, wants more than approval. He’s after converts. If Swain is the quiet preacher in the corner church, Monchik is the evangelist in the tent. Which one will draw the media attention that racquetball so desperately needs? Swain knows the answer and it rankles him.

Monchik, too, knows the answer and he’s ready to exploit his advantage.

“Sudsy is a new breed, certainly different from the players I came up with,” says Gonzalez, 49. 

“He brings charisma to the game. People not only want to see Sudsy play, they want to see him communicate. He is someone the sport can sell to a general audience.”

But personality sells only if accompanied by dominance on the court, something Swain can steal away in a heartbeat. In the early 1990s, with the tour disheveled and purses lighter than air, he left racquetball for a foray into professional tennis. With the tour showing signs of sustainable life, he returned to racquetball two years later and played as if he were away for a couple of weeks, not a couple of years.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING ...
 
But wait, didn’t Hogan win six titles? Well ... it’s debatable. In our research for this article, we found that — although Hogan did close the 1982 season as the highest earner — he was a few points shy on the official rankings. Dave Peck claimed the #1 spot that season with 920 points, to Hogan’s 860. 

So, Hogan was the pro tour season champion in consecutive years from 1978-1981, then once again in 1989, for a total of five.

Mike Yellen’s five season wins were back-to-back — and unprecedented — in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987.

Cliff Swain picked up his first season win in 1990, followed by top tour honors in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998.

Monchik’s tour crowns include 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000.