Donald Trump's new White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles & her connection to tennis: All you need to know
Donald Trump's new White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has a tennis connection. Wiles, 67, served as Trump's campaign manager in the 2024 US presidential elections.
Susie Summerall Wiles is the daughter of Pat Summerall, a former tennis broadcaster and NFL player. Pat once claimed that he had hitchhiked a staggering 200 miles simply to participate in a tennis tournament. He also played a prominent role in US Open broadcasting from 1969 to 1993.
During that time, Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, and Pete Sampras were all crowned US Open champions. Meanwhile, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova dominated the women's circuit.
Ed Goren, the former Fox Sports president, said about Pat Summerall after his passing (via Tennis.com):
"Pat Summerall set the standard for play-by-play announcers regardless of sport. If he was an athlete, you’d call him a team player. Pat always deferred to others in the booth. He worried about the broadcast never about his own role. He had a Hall of Fame career."
Pat Summerall once compared the individuality of tennis to football in an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 1991, saying (via Tennis.com):
"Football players are much more accessible and more willing to talk. Tennis players, because it's such an individual sport, are in their own little world. They have their own entourage. Particularly the successful ones. That's always been a problem in tennis."
Donald Trump's win in the 2024 US presidential elections was not appreciated by former WTA World No. 1 Martina Navratilova, one of Trump's fiercest critics.
"It is gutting" - Tennis legend Martina Navratilova on Donald Trump being re-elected as President
Martina Navratilova, the Czech-American who climbed to World No. 1 in both singles and doubles, recently voiced her opinion on Donald Trump getting a second term as US President. Navratilova has historically stood against Trump based on differences in their respective sociopolitical stances.
After Trump emerged victorious, Navratilova wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
"Omg… it is gutting…"
Navratilova has previously called Trump out on numerous occasions, including the Republican nominee's rally at Madison Square Garden which stirred controversy. According to the Czech-American, the President-elect is likely to curtail women's rights and also stifle movements associated with the same.
Navratilova had endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris as the next US President. However, Harris failed to garner the required minimum of 270 electoral college votes and Donald Trump is now set to assume office for the second time.