Tennis Champ, 89, Keeps Hitting Aces

SAN DIEGO, April 25, 2004 — -- Ted Zoob, America's newest senior tennis champion, is nearly 90 years old, sports a runner's legs and hits ferocious ground strokes.

In a sports division often associated with frailty, he is a breakthrough competitor with the athletic skills of far younger players.

"He's the poster child for senior tennis," said Steve Solomon, tournament director for the USTA-Campbell's Soup 90-And-Over Hard Court Championships in Palm Springs. "He walks like he's 55 and he runs like he's 65 or 70."

In early April, Zoob stormed through a draw of 18 players from around the world to take the U.S. hard court title. Zoob's 90th birthday will be Nov. 5. Players become eligible to compete throughout the year in which they turn 90.

"At this particular age, I can't sit around and watch other people do the things I like to do," said Zoob, a retired lawyer and former tennis teacher who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., and Flushing, N.Y. "All my strokes are fine, except for the ball toss."

Zoob dislocated his left shoulder two months ago when he tripped while carrying a puppy. The injury prevented him from lifting his arm to toss the ball on his serve. So, to win the championship, he served underhand.

The final victory was no cakewalk. Zoob defeated Georg Hunter of Germany, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

"Physically, he's light years ahead," said Solomon, who has staged the 90-plus championships for several years. "He gets there, he stays down, he hits the ball and he moves."

A Lifelong Endeavor

Zoob took up tennis at age 8 and "really got hooked on it," he said. Playing socially for many years as he pursued a career in law, he taught schoolchildren in afternoon clinics at the Alley Pond recreation center on Long Island. He is a longtime member of the United States Professional Tennis Association, an organization of teaching professionals.

Confessing that he does "nothing special" in diet or lifestyle to stay fit, Zoob then admits he plays tennis seven days a week, usually for 90 minutes each day but often for as long as 2 ½ hours. He retired from his law practice only 10 years ago, at 79.

That's when he got serious about tennis competition. "I won seven tournaments the first year I was retired," he said.

More recently, he has found fewer tournaments for players his own age. That hasn't quelled his competitive spirit. In the last year, Zoob has entered two tournaments for 80-year-olds and two for 85-year-olds. He won all four.

With his victory in the U.S. hard court championship, Zoob is now fielding invitations to play in European and world championship tournaments in Austria this summer.

The horizons for tennis competition seem to be expanding for 90-year-olds. At Palm Springs, players gathered from Austria, Germany, Italy and Bangladesh to play for the Goldman Cup, an international competition pitting players from the United States against 90-year-olds from around the world.

One day, the players gathered on a court at the Mission Hills Country Club for a group picture. A photographer knelt and snapped a shot of 15 athletes. There they were, all still competing in tennis in the 10th decade of their lives.