Ron The King Of The Drop Shots Is Now Slicing and Dicing In Tennis Heaven

Today tennis lost a club player but he had a specialty. Ron the drop shot king! He passed at 95 and a half. He played tennis very actively till he was 88. He loved tennis as much as he loved his daily salads, supplements, and his family (not always in that order). He was a trend setter with vitamins and health nut way before it was fashionable. He ate healthy except for some hot dogs from time to time. 

Ron played tennis almost every day of his life. He pulled off what he called the hole in one in tennis about once a year –  his favorite shot. A drop shot with so much backspin that it would go over the net and then come back over before the opponent could touch it. 

Ron’s second favorite shot was “serving fast” before you were ready. That’s true but a joke, I think that habit was caused by years of playing in indoor courts. Where everyone rushes around to get in every moment of play. 

The third favorite shot was being able to put the racket in his left hand (he was a righty ) to make the shot that was barely in reach. He would have loved to see J.J. Wolf’s left handed save down the line in Miami the other day. Which is  possibly the shot of the year! 

Ron had stopped playing because of balance issues but he sure had a good run. He lived  in Indian Wells, California. It wasn’t like having a Wimbledon address but it was pretty good. He would suffer through those daily 100 plus degrees Fahrenheit summer days to be ready to attend 21 sessions of the BNP Paribas Open where he was always credentialed as “players guest“.

He didn’t care that it was so hot, he even once fried an egg on the court. It was worth it for the number of days a year he could play tennis in the courts of Indian Wells, California. Grass was his favorite surface, followed by clay but hated hard courts. Specially the rough ones (too much sand built in) they are hard and wear out your  – joints, shoes, everything.  
Tennis is sort of a sport for a lifetime. It’s really tough on your joints. Lots of impact. As a family we all watched and played 60 years of tennis together – 

 Madison Square Garden , Forest Hills , Wimbledon, Queens Club, Orange Lawn Tennis,  Flushing Meadows, New Haven , Hall of Fame in Newport , Westchester Country club just to name a few. His biggest joy was his grandson Jason who had beautiful strokes and coached on the pro level. 

We will miss you. He passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones. Ron “Aced”  life. And/or you if you weren’t ready to receive. His motto, “short shorts rule.“ I’ll miss you pops. I’m glad your last hits were with me and we had a great session. We ALWAYS finished with a handshake.