Ronald Holmberg Explained

Ron Holmberg
Fullname:Ronald Edward Holmberg
Residence:Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York
New Orleans, Louisiana
Birth Date:27 January 1938
Birth Place:Brooklyn, New York
Turnedpro:1968 with WCT
Retired:1973
Plays:Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singlesrecord:699–454
Singlestitles:28
Highestsingles Worldranking:No. 7 (1959, Lance Tingay)
Frenchopenresult:QF (1961)
Wimbledonresult:3R (1964, 1966)
Usopenresult:SF (1959)
Promajors:yes
Usproresult:QF (1969)
Wimbledondoublesresult:QF (1960)
Usopenmixedresult:SF (1962) with Jan Lehane
Team:yes
Daviscupresult:F (1957Ch)

Ronald "Ronnie" E. Holmberg (born January 27, 1938) is a former American tennis player who competed during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He was ranked World No. 8 in 1959 and was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 for nine years. He is currently one of the USTA's select "Master Professionals" and devotes most of his time coaching, participating and directing charity events and clinics and other tennis related projects.[1] [2]

Summary

College

Holmberg won his first tournament at age 12 and won three out of the four possible U.S. National Boys' titles in 1953. He won the Junior Wimbledon title in 1956.He graduated from Tulane University where he was a three time All-American and won the SEC singles twice and doubles championship three times and the NCAA doubles championship twice.[3]

Tennis career

Holmberg won the Junior Wimbledon title in 1956 defeating Rod Laver in the final.

In 1957, he won the Eastern Clay Court Championships defeating Tony Vincent. Holmberg played in several Blue Gray events when it was an individual competition.[4] He won the singles championship in 1959 and captured back-to-back Blue Gray doubles titles in 1957 and 1958.

Holmberg reached the 1959 U.S. National Championships (the US Open) Men's Singles semifinals, defeating Dick Savitt in five sets, Butch Buchholz in five sets, and Laver in four sets in the quarterfinals, then lost to Alex Olmedo. He reached the quarterfinals at the 1961 French Open where he lost to Laver.

In December 1962, Holmberg won the Bluebonnet Invitation indoor in Houston, defeating Cliff Richey in the quarterfinals and Frank Froehling in the final. In March 1964, Holmberg won the Altamira International Invitation in Caracas, Venezuela, respectively defeating Nikola Pilić, Rafael Osuna, Manuel Santana, and then Roy Emerson in the final. In August 1965, Holmberg won the Canadian International Championships, defeating Billy Lenoir in the semifinals and Lester Sack in the final.

Holmberg won the New York International tournament in August 1968, defeating Tom Gorman and Joaquín Loyo-Mayo. The same month, he won the Southampton Invitation tournament on grass in Long Island, New York, defeating Jaime Fillol, Ray Moore, and Gene Scott.

Rankings

Holmberg was ranked world No. 8 for 1959 by Ned Potter,[5] No. 4 in the U.S. in 1959 and ranked in the top 10 of U.S. Men's singles for nine years.

He was selected to be a playing member of the U.S. Davis Cup Team four times.

He won numerous international doubles titles with many prominent players such as Barry MacKay (in Davis Cup), Pancho Gonzalez, John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Bob Mark and Arthur Ashe. Holmberg and Ashe were ranked No. 3 in the U.S.

Post playing career

After retiring from professional competition in 1971, he became head coach of tennis and squash at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point.Holmberg continued to be involved in teaching tennis, and he is widely recognized as one of the game's outstanding coaches. He was a member of Tennis Magazines Instruction Advisory Board, which consisted of the top playing and teaching pros in the game for its duration of 19 years.

Recognition

He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall-of-Fame, the USTA Eastern Tennis Hall-of-Fame, Louisiana Tennis Hall-of-Fame and the USTA Southern Tennis Hall-of-Fame his eighth Hall of FameHe was a recipient of the USTA “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 1997 for his all-around accomplishment in both playing and teaching and the USTA George Seewagen Award in 1999 for excellence in playing and service to the game.

Career highlights

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1

ResultYearwidth=150TournamentSurfacewidth=150Opponentwidth=150Score
style=background:#98fb98Win1956WimbledonGrass6–1, 6–1

Awards and honors

Books and magazines

Articles

Notes and References

  1. Web site: USPTA Master Professional. April 24, 2013.
  2. Web site: USPTA World Conference on Tennis. April 24, 2013.
  3. Web site: Tulane Men's Tennis All-Time Honor Roll. July 11, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111004143425/http://www.tulanegreenwave.com/sports/m-tennis/archive/042904aaa.html. October 4, 2011. mdy-all.
  4. Blue Gray. https://www.bluegraytennis.com/history/
  5. Potter, Edward C. (November 1959). "The World's First Ten of 1959". World Tennis. Vol. 7, no. 6. New York. p. 30.
  6. News: ...these Faces In The Crowd.... July 11, 2011. Sports Illustrated. July 16, 1956.
  7. Web site: Blue Gray National Tennis Classic / Champions . May 13, 2013.
  8. Web site: 2010 Blue Gray Hall of Fame Inductees . July 11, 2011.
  9. Web site: USTA Yearbook - Davis Cup. July 11, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120312001042/http://usta.usopen.org/About-USTA/Organization/Yearbook/23018_2008_USTA_Yearbook__Davis_Cup__page_5/. March 12, 2012. mdy-all.
  10. Web site: Rogers Cup (tennis)#Men.27s singles . Rogers Cup (tennis)#Men.27s singles .
  11. Web site: Rogers Cup (tennis) . Rogers Cup (tennis) .
  12. Web site: Farmers Classic / Past Champions. July 11, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110710224754/http://www.farmersclassic.com/Players/Past_Champions/. July 10, 2011. mdy-all.
  13. Web site: USTA Yearbook - Top 10 U.S. Men's Rankings (1940-1959) . July 11, 2011.
  14. Web site: USTA Yearbook - Top 10 U.S. Men's Rankings (1960-1979). July 11, 2011.
  15. Web site: USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame . July 11, 2011.
  16. Web site: Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame (1993). July 11, 2011. July 3, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170703072844/http://www.itatennis.com/AboutITA/HOF/Mens.htm. dead.
  17. Web site: LA Tennis Patrons Foundation. July 11, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110527142535/http://louisianatennis.com/patrons-foundation. May 27, 2011. mdy-all.
  18. Web site: uspta.com Ron Holmberg Master Professional. July 11, 2011.
  19. Web site: 2011 USPTA World Conference on Tennis. July 11, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120323042159/http://usptaworldconference.com/speakers.html. March 23, 2012. mdy-all.
  20. Web site: USTA Southern Tennis Hall of Fame . July 11, 2011.
  21. Web site: Bayside, Douglaston Residents Inducted Into Brooklyn Diocese Hall of Fame. October 15, 2012 . August 19, 2015.
  22. Web site: Tulane Athletic Hall Of Fame. 17 September 2015.
  23. Web site: Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. 17 September 2015.
  24. News: A Tennis Future in Kids. July 11, 2011. Life Magazine. September 6, 1954.
  25. News: How to Play Tennis with Rod Laver and Other Hot-Shots. July 11, 2011. New York Magazine. September 26, 1976.
  26. News: Scorecard. July 11, 2011. Sports Illustrated. October 13, 1986.
  27. News: An Absence Of Homebreds. Sports Illustrated. September 21, 1959.
  28. News: Great Scott! Gene Won Another One. July 11, 2011. Sports Illustrated. October 2, 1967.
  29. News: Tennis without Trabert. July 11, 2011. Sports Illustrated. October 17, 1955.
  30. News: Ron Holmberg selected to Southern Tennis Association Hall of Fame. July 11, 2011. nola.com. January 21, 2011.
  31. News: City Park Tennis Club of New Orleans "Interview with Ron Holmberg". July 29, 2011. City Park Tennis Club of New Orleans. July 24, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120328083802/http://www.cptcno.com/iyc-rh.php. March 28, 2012. mdy-all.

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