Mansfield tennis fan Ron still loves a game as he turns 90

Ron Heath is Mansfield Lawn Tennis Club’s (MLTC) oldest member and has been playing for more than 70 years.

Mansfield born and bred, Ron still plays twice a week, weather permitting, and is a great advert for the health benefits of the sport.

He said: “From the moment I first picked up a racket I knew this was the sport for me, it’s really technical and you exercise all your body and all your mind.”

Before finding tennis in his late teens, Ron had been a keen footballer, but, once he’d found tennis, the football stopped and he focused on his court skills.

Ron admits that he’s not quite so mobile as he used to be, although his reactions are still good, but he has to concentrate harder to make sure he reads the game correctly.

As well as playing, Ron served on the MLTC management committee for many years and was instrumental in organising the switch over from the old shale courts to the five all-weather courts which today, together with the four grass courts, give club members plenty of opportunity to play throughout the year.

So what is his secret to being able to continue to play tennis into his 90s?

He maintains it is a good varied diet and a decent slice of luck, which was certainly evident 11 years ago when he had a heart attack – although he didn’t know it as amazingly, he had no pain whatsoever.

A stent fitted, he was back playing tennis in a matter of weeks.

As well as tennis Ron is also a good amateur oil painter, has a keen interest in astronomy and regularly played bridge and snooker.

And if ever you wanted proof of his love of tennis, he and his wife Phyl moved into their present home as soon as it was built back in the 1960s – because it was a stone’s throw from the tennis club.