Waltke Joins TennisONE

By Joel Drucker

TennisONE is proud to introduce a new member of its editorial team, Trey Waltke. Trey, based in Los Angeles, played on the ATP circuit for more than a decade. Always a top junior, he earned All-American honors at the University of California at Berkeley in 1974.

A shrewd opportunist and keen strategist, Waltke figured it would be wise to get the jump on his peers and promptly turned pro after his freshman year. Over the course of his career, he was ranked among the top 40 players in the world. In addition to beating the likes of such top players as Stan Smith and Jimmy Connors, Trey twice beat John McEnroe when McEnroe was in his prime (’81 Memphis, ’83 Las Vegas).

Trey's most notable stroke was his extraordinarily elegant backhand, a stroke Arthur Ashe once called “as good as any in the game.”

“He probably came as close to playing like Rosewall as you can get,” says Waltke’s fellow TennisONE colleague, Allen Fox. “Trey was such a pretty player, so smooth, he could just glide around the court.”

Interestingly, Waltke credits Fox with much of his education. Originally from St. Louis, Waltke came to Los Angeles at 17 in 1972. Fox was one of his most frequent opponents, helping the talented teen hone his mental edge. The summer of ’73, Waltke won the National 18 Hardcourt title, finishing the year as the country’s fifth-ranked junior.

Waltke’s trademark panache was most notable during his last Wimbledon in 1983. More attuned to history than most of his peers, Waltke donned long pants, dashing around the corner ala Don Budge, Fred Perry and Ellsworth Vines. Wearing an ATP tie as a belt, he went on to beat Smith in the first round and earn worldwide headlines.

Once his playing days were done, he spent several years at Reebok as the company’s first tennis expert – work included everything from designing clothes to determining which players were the best bets for the fledgling company.

After leaving Reebok in 1989, Waltke – ahead of the curve as usual – launched Arrosto Coffee, Los Angeles’ first designer coffee store. Trey will be writing a series of articles for TennisONE on players, strategies and more.

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Last Updated 3/1/01. To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com

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