Ron Hughes: leading rackets professional

The former Malvern College rackets professional, Ron Hughes, was one of the game’s great characters who rose effortlessly above the hierarchical system which regarded professionals as forelock-tugging servants to become one of the most popular and widely respected players of his generation. He was also an outstanding real tennis player and challenged for the world title in 1966. Hughes was born in 1920 into a working-class family in Gorton, Manchester, and, after leaving school at 14, worked first as a ballboy and then an assistant professional at the Manchester Real Tennis and Racket Club, a stint interrupted by eight years’ wartime service with the Royal Air force in North Africa and Europe, including the D-Day landings. His athleticism and immaculate stroke play brought him scores of real tennis titles throughout the 1950s... [read full story]