Tennis is THE Sport For a Lifetime

I just boarded my flight from Fort Myers, Florida back to my home in Tucson, Arizona. My mom lives in Naples and we try to get together every two or three months. My stay was short (only four days) but we were able to fit in three sessions of tennis. At 88, she is truly amazing—more about that later. My visit inspired me to share a little Annacone family story.

Tennis has been a huge part of my life since the age of ten. My brother Paul and I were dragged along (it felt like that at first) with my mom and dad to Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor.  At first we would play on the swings, slide, and some of the other equipment in the park. Eventually, we decided to get a couple of racquets from my mom and dad, borrow a few balls, and go hit on the backboard (which is still there) for a while. Not long after, we were hitting with each other on any open court we could find at the park.

I started teaching tennis at the age of 14, helping my dad at the free clinic he provided for kids in the park. He was a school teacher and part time tennis pro/manager there in the summer. It was pretty evident to me, even at that young age, that teaching and coaching tennis would be a major force in my life.

Meanwhile, Paul was becoming a very good junior player. By the time he was ten he achieved the #2 ranking in the 12s age group in New England. He spent most of the summer at our family friend Whitey Joslyn’s house and learned the ropes from him. Each time he came back to Sag Harbor, I had more and more difficulty beating him. By the time he was 14 it was pretty hopeless and I was just happy to win a set here and there.

To make a long story short, Paul went on to become a three-time All American at the University of Tennessee, a top ranked ATP tour player (#12 in singles, #3 in doubles), and eventually a coach for Pete Sampras, Tim Henman, Roger Federer, Sloane Stephens, and Taylor Fritz (to name a few), and a commentator for The Tennis Channel.

I was the Head Tennis Professional/Manager at the Park at the age of 17, traveling coach for Paul for seven years on the ATP Tour, Managing Owner and Director of Smoky Mountain Tennis Academy in Knoxville, TN, and President and Director of Annacone Tennis Management LLC.

My dad (Dominic) passed away on September 12, 2022. He played tennis until he was 77 when he broke his ankle (playing tennis). I tried to get him back on the court numerous times but his injury and fear of a reoccurrence did not allow it to happen. He was the driving force in our family’s lifetime involvement in tennis. He was so competitive it made all of us want to beat him. My dad definitely took the wheel and guided us towards each of our obsessions with the sport of tennis.

This brings me to my mom. Cathy Annacone has the record in our family for most years playing tennis, which will be difficult to beat. Over the years she has had many reasons to stop playing. She had many kidney issues dating back to our early childhood and eventually had one of her kidneys removed. She had both hips replaced, a double mastectomy, both shoulders replaced, a broken femur during her hospitalization for her second shoulder replacement, another shoulder surgery to repair an injury from a fall out of bed, and is now struggling with memory loss and dementia.

During this most recent trip, my mom and I had several rallies (that’s right, not feeding her the ball but hitting back and forth) of more than 10 hits. She consistently made 2-4 shots in a row, and like we all do, missed sometimes on the first or second shot. She is determined to keep playing and I am determined to make it happen.

After her broken femur and shoulder replacement quite a few years back, she asked me if I thought she would ever be able to play tennis again. I replied that we would play again when she came to New York that summer (three months from her hospital bed in Naples). We played at the Park in Sag Harbor that July. Tennis is THE “sport for a lifetime” and Cathy Annacone is still amazing.