A NO. 1 FAN.(Brief Article)

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 02-SEP-02

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COPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

One afternoon last week, on Court 8 at the National Tennis Center, in Flushing Meadows, two young players named Bob Bryan, from California, and Tuomas Ketola, from Finland, met in a first-round qualifying match for the U.S. Open. Among those gathered to watch was Lou Noritz, a retired Manhattan postal worker who has spent the past eight years following the professional tennis tour around the world, and who is widely acknowledged to be its most dedicated groupie. Noritz, a compact man with a salt-and-pepper beard and a megaphonic voice, customarily wears a jockstrap around his neck (signifying his support of athletics) and a laminated badge identifying him as the "A.T.P. Psychologist" (players call him Dr. Lou). His shirt pocket held a black Magic Marker that he uses to sign autographs. "I'm a...

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