It’s been more than 35 years since Ronald Reagan stated, during his first inaugural address, “Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.” We discovered heroes in every state, starting with the determined 69-year-old who won a match at an ITF Pro Circuit event earlier this year in the Alabama town of Pelham, and culminating with the coach who has overcome multiple sclerosis to build a winning program at the University of Wyoming. Their compelling stories of courage, perseverance and achievement demonstrate that the message delivered by our 40th President rings as true today as it did then.
Like all professional tennis players, Gail Falkenberg travels to tournaments and chases ranking points. In her career, she’s performed well enough to earn a USTA national ranking inside No. 300. But what makes her stand out from her young opponents?
For starters, Falkenberg is self-taught. Her knees are not the best. Every once in a while, she serves underhanded. But perhaps most notably, she’s 69.
“So many times people say, ‘At a certain age you won’t improve,’” she said. “But you do! You can, you just have to practice. You have to have that drive.”
Falkenberg made news earlier this year when she won her first professional match since the late 1990s. It happened in Pelham, AL, in a qualifying match. A 6-0, 6-1 victory gave her a chance to play Taylor Townsend, once the No. 1 junior in the world. In that match, Falkenberg lost to Townsend at love. But it didn’t discourage her from pursing her dream.
“I’m getting faster and quicker, believe it or not,” Falkenberg said.
The truth is that Falkenberg doesn’t win often—it’s pretty common, in fact, for her to lose two sets in 12 games. But it doesn’t bother her. In late July, Falkenberg packed up her Honda CR-V for a two-day trip from Ocala, FL, where she lives and teaches tennis, to Austin, TX, for an ITF Pro Circuit tournament at the Polo Tennis Club.
Pro Circuit events pay a pittance—the draw is ranking points, not prize money. Falkenberg played her first match, in qualifying, against Stephanie Nauta, a 22-year-old who played tennis for the University of Virginia. Falkenberg gulped down two bagels, 6-0, 6-0. As usual, she accented the positive.
“I won lots of points, including many game points,” Falkenberg said. “She just raised her level at the right times with a big serve and return.”
Falkenberg is a veteran of the game. She played tennis at UCLA as a walk-on. After graduating, she didn’t hit a ball for a decade until catching the tennis bug again in the 1980s, and she started to win. In 1983, she won the national public parks tournament, playing against women and men. (She was the runner-up the following year.) Falkenberg turned pro and got her world ranking into the 300s, and even won a qualifying round at the 1988 Australian Open. By then, she was 40.
Four years ago, Falkenberg moved to Ocala. That’s where she made an immediate impact in her new tennis community. David Lillis, a 69-year-old retiree, remembers the day Falkenberg walked onto the court and asked him and his friends if she could play with them.
“She looked like the little old lady from Pasadena,” Lillis said. “We sort of snickered. And then she just blew our socks off! She was hitting shots that you just couldn’t get to.”
Soon they became disciples, going to Falkenberg’s clinics and taking private lessons. They love the way she plays, and love the way she teaches even more. They even help her get ready for tournaments, usually by standing at the service line and smashing serves at Falkenberg as hard as they can.
“She has improved my game tremendously,” he said. “There’s no jokes and no time for laughter when she’s out there teaching. She’ll tell me, ‘You’ve got to focus on what you’re doing!’ It’s like I’m back in grade school.”
Falkenberg, who will turn 70 in January, plans to keep playing at the professional level. She’s doing it because she can. She’s doing it for herself. And she’s doing it to motivate others.
“The older people, they say I’m the inspiration for them to keep going,” she said. “Because it is possible.”
One hopes she actually plays USTA and club events where she might actually get some real competition from opponents within her own age group.
There are a great many ladies around her age out here in California alone --ladies who can still actually RUN-- who would clean Gail's clock with relative ease. There are at least three 65+ yr. old women at my tennis club; all of them can actually run surprisingly well, and all of whom have trained strokes, from their serve to their volleys.
They'd eat Gail for breakfast.
Her junk would not bother them because, like anyone who knows how to play tennis, they have the ability to hit every ball away from her and end the point, period.
Fact is, talented tennis players of Gail's age are not really all that rare. Most of them, however, would not think of continuing to insert themselves into pro events where they know (due to common sense) they'd *always* lose 0 and 0.
Certainly, Falkenberg is not doing any harm and is a guaranteed walking bye for any young player --even a player who is talented enough to play on a decent first-string high school team. (Except, of course, for the poor brainless creature Gail beat last year to make the news.)
But Gail's pursuit is odd, to say the least. I don't see anything particularly "inspiring" about an old knock-kneed woman with admittedly self-taught garbage strokes, an underhanded serve, and zero mobility pretending to "compete" with pro-level players and getting constantly peppered with bagels. Not even any entertainment value in a match like that.
Gail seems pleasant enough, but I'll say it: the woman is weird. Might be a bat or two in the Falkneberg belfry.
How could you know if these women at your club would beat Gail? Being able to move better doesn't necessarily mean they would beat her. At the end of the day, she does have previous experience competing at pro level and now she is the one doing it and they aren't. Amateur tennis players stand no chance against pros.
Soon they became disciples, going to Falkenberg’s clinics and taking private lessons. They love the way she plays, and love the way she teaches even more. They even help her get ready for tournaments, usually by standing at the service line and smashing serves at Falkenberg as hard as they can.
I wonder if this training drill is in response to Roy Coopersmith's suggestion that someone should just hit hard as they can at her after bringing her to net.
Anyways, rock on Gail! As long as she's not getting WCs she's not hurting anyone.
While I totally respect her determination and perseverance, I'm not sure I agree with her choices. It's one thing if she were from somewhere like Egypt or Turkey where playing ITFs is most likely the only regular option for someone her age, but I don't get why she feels the need to play pro tournaments and lose embarrassingly 9 out of 10 times when she lives in the USA where there are leagues for literally any age and level group imaginable. Like someone said, she cannot run at all and while her shotmaking may be great for someone her age, a lot of other women her age may be more competitive than her just because they can actually get to a ball that requires taking a few steps. I think that someone who is truly passionate about the sport would be more interested in competing and winning matches than showing up to eat bagels all over the country (Reminds me of Brie Whitehead in a way, it's sad how TF has forgotten her ), so she could be delusional or just enjoying the kind of attention she probably never got as a pro all those years ago.
Haters gonna hate. Queen Gail reigns on supreme at age 70!!! next year, and the haters are in the deepest of ruins
Though I do wish the girl can do some good physical training because her movement has room for improvement even in her young age. Her variety of shots is impressive also but if she can move just a bit more, she can be more competitive
No problem with Falkenberg doing whatever she wants to do with her life but it's silly to romanticise her as an "inspiration" when neither her results nor her level are actually noteworthy for her age - the only unusual thing is the level of tournament she chooses to enter.
She's no more inspirational than any other 70yo woman who keeps fit and plays competitively at a club, and she's not a better player either.
I love Gail and her story, but I agree with Miki. People are drastically overstating this woman's abilities. She'd rather be the oldest person to sign up for a tennis tournament and lose 6-0 6-0 than play competitive matches against ladies her own age in her own town, but that's her business. If it makes her happy, she should play them all.
Some women in her shoes would prefer to play in a ladies league and maybe be the best, the one everyone wants to play with on Sunday. Or some would like to teach/participate in youth programs and beat the pants off youngsters with their chop and hack game of yore. That doesn't please Gail.