PART ONE: Remembering Dan Lucey, A Highly Ranked Spunky San Francisco Tennis Player: My Coach and LIFE MENTOR:

Dan Lucey at a Tournament in 

Stockton, California (Thank You  Rena Lucey

for the photo--she is a  friend for over 50 years) 

It was in the mid 1970's that I came under the wing of Dan Lucey at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park tennis facility.

Tall, thin and lanky, Dan had the most fluid strokes of anyone I met. He was a pleasure to behold as he gracefully moved around the court with short, movements always returning to a central position awaiting the next shot.

His strokes were always clean precise and consistent.

He knew how to coach the fundamentals of the game: the serve, ground strokes and volleying.

He was also a  master of strategy.

He would hop on my court (as I was practicing with a partner) take my position and quickly modeled the fundamental strokes and strategies of the game. Then I would take over and Dan would continue to coach me.

He was ranked in the top ten statewide in the 45's; tournament play had evidently honed his competitiveness and spunk.

 In 1974, he was ranked number 2 in the Men's 55 Singles in the Northern California Tennis Association's tentative rankings just behind John Morrison of Sacramento at number one, with Norm Brooks of San Francisco following Dan at number 3. 

Dan worked for The Water Department and while doing fieldwork often visited the tennis courts during his lunch hour.

He knew every tennis player at the facility-- their strengths and weaknesses.

Tom Brown

on the cover of his Tennis Memoir book

As Tom Goes By

He often commented about Tom Brown's aggressive ground stroke game  as we watched him beat local ranked  players 25 years younger  (Tom lost to Jack Kramer in the US Open finals in 1946 and the Wimbledon finals in 1948) ; He also commented  about Rosie Casals' feisty style as we watched her matches at the Park. 

Whitney Reed 

from www.whitneyreedtennis.com

He directed my attention to the unflappable Whitney Reed, the top seeded player at the annual San Francisco Open tournament. Whit, as he was called, hailed from Alameda across the Bay.

At one point in the early 1960's, Whit displaced Chuck Mckinley to be the number one ranked men's singles player in the US. In his career, he had wins over Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Neale Fraser, Frank Sedgman, Gardner  Mulloy and Manuel Santana to name a few. All the latter have been enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Dan always would observe my game and worked often with me (and others)-- ALL GRATIS!

Of course, I admired his patience as he devoted time to coaching his boys, Glen and Marco. 

 
He matched me against other players on my level and encouraged me to play some Bay Area satellite tournaments.

This was how I improved my game--thanks to Dan.

We miss you Dan.

I thank Rena Lucey  Dan's loyal and dedicated wife (and my friend for over 50 years ) for sending me photos of one of my life's hero so I can complete this  posting originally  published on May 13, 2012-over 10 years ago.

It is wonderful to to connect--recently- with Rena  (remembering her visit to NYC in the 90's)  so I could complete Part I of my saga and move on to Part II.

Dan inspired me with what he repeated to me over and over again. So do go on to Part II.