My friend Ivan Ronaldson, who has died of a heart attack aged 51, was an inspirational real tennis professional. He mentored dozens of future stars at clubs including Hampton Court, Fontainebleau, France, and Prested Hall in Essex. Prior to his coaching career, Ivan was a brilliant junior player winning a string of national age group titles.
Real tennis is the forerunner of lawn tennis; it was played from medieval times and enjoyed by Henry VIII. The game is little changed today, with players hitting solid, hand-stitched balls with asymmetric wooden rackets over a drooping net and off the walls of the court.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Ivan was the eldest son of British parents, Lesley (nee Lee) and Chris Ronaldson, real tennis professionals and later world champions. They returned to the UK in 1979, and, after a period living in Troon, Scotland, became the professionals at the Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court.
After Papplewick prep school in Ascot, Berkshire, Ivan boarded at Canford school in Dorset, where his uncle Steve was the schoolâ€s head real tennis professional. He helped his nephew develop the powerful, strategic game that became the youngsterâ€s hallmark: Ivan won the British under-12s three times, the under-14s twice and the under-16s twice.
As a teenager, Ivan also helped his parents run the club, sweeping the court, booking lessons and social games, and imbibing their philosophy that this was a vocation, not just a job. With the court usually booked for 16 hours a day, Ivan became accustomed to dealing with people from all backgrounds: on-site security staff, captains of industry, the generals†widows in the grace-and-favour apartments, and the young Prince Edward, who played regularly at Hampton and met his future wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, at a real tennis event in 1993.
After school, Ivan spent a year from 1992 studying economics and business accounting at Reading University, before opting for a real tennis career. He spent two years as a trainee professional player at Holyport club in Berkshire (1993-95) before becoming a teaching pro at Fontainebleau (1995-98) and Hampton Court (1998-2002).
During four years building up the new Prested Hall club (2002-05), he talent-spotted several gifted youngsters, including the future womenâ€s world champion Claire Fahey. He enjoyed similar success in the US at the Princeâ€s Court (2005-22) then the Westwood Country Club, both in Virginia. In 2019 he coached the US junior side to their first Van Alen Cup victory over their British counterparts for 25 years.
A larger-than-life character with a razor-sharp brain and gift for friendship, Ivan invariably extracted the maximum fun from every situation. He relished chess matches and playing devilâ€s advocate in political debate with friends and family.
In 2005 he married Elf Woodall, a US government employee. She survives him, as do their two children, Liliana and Bruce, his parents, and two brothers, Ben and Luke.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.