Athletes’ brave defense of Ali Daei against bloodthirsty hyenas

Mansour Bahrami reached the Davis Cup team at the age of 16. But following Revolution in the late 1970s, tennis was viewed as a capitalist and elitist sport and therefore banned. Because all tennis courts were closed down, he spent the next three years playing backgammon. In desperation, he fled to France with his life savings, which he gambled in a casino and lost. With his best days behind him and his potential in singles never fully realized, he became a successful doubles player, winning two tournaments and reaching the 1989 French Open doubles final with Éric Winogradsky.

October 22, 2022 | 9:49 pm