Dennis Ralston, 1942-2020

  • Posted: Dec 07, 2020

Dennis Ralston, the 1966 Wimbledon finalist and five-time major doubles champion, passed away on Sunday due to brain cancer aged 78. The American, who dedicated his life to the sport, was a Davis Cup captain, a coach to former WTA Tour No. 1 Chris Evert, Yannick Noah, Gabriela Sabatini and Roscoe Tanner, and an inspirational figure, who overcame hardship later in his life.

Ralston was adjudged to be World No. 5 in 1966 by the doyen of tennis correspondents, Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph. He turned pro aged 24, for what was believed to be $100,000 over three years, and in 1967 signed on with the World Championship Tennis Tour as part of the ‘Handsome Eight’, alongside John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Cliff Drysdale, Earl Butch Buchholz, Nikola Pilic, Roger Taylor and Pierre Barthes.

During a 20-season playing career, which began as an amateur in 1958, Ralston battled back from 16 knee operations. A decent basketball guard growing up, his parents didn’t permit him to continue as an American Football quarterback, fearful of injuries. Ralston won three consecutive NCAA titles with the University of Southern California between 1962-64 and also two doubles titles in 1963 (w/Rafael Osuna) and 1964 (w/Bill Bond). He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.

Having started playing tennis against a garage door and an eight-foot high brick wall in Bakersfield, two hours north of Los Angeles, Ralston rose through the ranks of southern California tennis and caught the attention of Perry T. Jones, one of the sport’s most powerful officials, and Richard Pancho Gonzales, who was an early coach. Like many, right-hander Ralston struggled with his serve if he didn’t toss the ball correctly, and worked hard with Gonzales after hitting 22 double faults in a Davis Cup tie against Mexico in August 1961. Gonzales helped Ralston become more offensive on his second serve and slice the stroke with greater efficiency. He also hit a powerful forehand and was also a world-class volleyer.

He first travelled to England after his childhood club, Bakersfield Racquets Club, raised $900 of the $1,400 for the 17-year-old to play on the 1960 summer circuit. Staying in a cheap Earls Court hotel, Ralston and 21-year-old Osuna, his future college roommate, needed to walk 232 steps up to their top-floor room, but the extra exercise helped them become the first unseeded team to win the Wimbledon doubles title (d. Michael Davies/Bobby Wilson). Ralston would also team up with Chuck McKinley for the 1961, 1963-64 US Championships at Forest Hills and Clark Graebner for the 1966 French Championships at Roland Garros.

Favoured to win the 1966 Wimbledon singles final, having beaten Manolo Santana a few weeks earlier at The Queen’s Club, sixth seed Ralston lost 6-4, 11-9, 6-4 and later admitted he felt flat, unable to get fired up. Shortly afterwards, Ralston partnered his father to the National Father & Son title in Boston. He also reached semi-finals at the 1960 US Championships (l. to Neale Fraser) and the 1970 Australian Open (l. to Arthur Ashe).

Ralston, dubbed ‘Dennis The Menace’ by the press, also played 34 singles and doubles rubbers for the United States, including victory over Australia in the 1963 Challenge Round. He served as coach from 1968 to 1971 and captain from 1972 — the year Stan Smith won the title-winning point over Ion Tiriac in Bucharest — to 1975.

Tactically astute, Ralston was soon in high demand as a Tour coach and he helped Tanner reach the 1979 Wimbledon final (l. to Borg in five sets) and taught the big-serving American how to volley. It was also a stroke he worked on with Evert, who sought out Ralston at a time when she was on a 13-match losing streak against Martina Navratilova. In a six-year partnership, Ralston also helped Evert to hit a topspin lob — coached over a five-month period from his Dallas home — and when to attack the net. He also assisted John Lloyd and Pat Dupre, and taught Noah how to hit a backhand return and wait for the ball. He developed Sabatini’s serve, with a half swing motion, relaying exactly what Gonzales had told him almost 30 years earlier.

Ralston also served as men’s coach at Southern Methodist University between 1981-89 and 1991-93 (split when he helped Noah in 1989-90). He was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1983, when SMU finished second nationally, and was the Director of Tennis at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs in the 1990s. For the past decade, Ralston was on the teaching staff at Grey Rock Tennis Club in Austin, Texas.

Ralston underwent double knee replacement surgery in the 1990s and in 2009 experienced a bad fall in the Dallas airport that injured both shoulder rotator cuffs. By then, his ankles and left foot had also seen better days. One year later, at a time of financial hardship that led Ralston to melt down his silver trophies, a series of infections forced the amputation of his left leg below the knee. With the support of his family, he returned to the court 12 months later and wore a prosthetic to play and coach tennis once again. He also underwent hip replacement surgery in 2017.

Ralston, a religious man of great integrity and compassion, passed away in Austin, Texas. He is survived by Linda, his wife of 56 years, and their three children, Mike, Lori and Angela.

International Tennis Hall Of Fame President Stan Smith, who was coached and captained by Ralston when competing for the US Davis Cup team, including the team’s historic 1972 championship win over Romania, paid tribute to his countryman.

“Dennis Ralston lived his whole life in tennis. He was a terrific champion, but he contributed to every part of the sport really, and with a real passion for it,” Smith said. “To me, he was a fellow USC Trojan, my coach, my captain, and a great friend. I, along with so many in the tennis world, will greatly miss his friendship and kindness.

“Dennis had an incredible mind for tennis, and he wanted to share what he knew to help others. He really prepared us for that battle in Romania. It was the most challenging and satisfying of all my Davis Cup campaigns. Dennis knew what it would take for us to compete, and he was a tremendous leader for me and the team.”

Richard Dennis Ralston, tennis player, captain and coach, born 27 July 1942, died 6 December 2020

Source link