Ivan Ronaldson, who has died of a heart attack aged 51, was one of the most accomplished and influential Real Tennis professionals of his generation.
He was the eldest son of former world champions Chris and Lesley Ronaldson, widely regarded as the co-founders of the modern game, and his childhood playground was the historic Real Tennis court at Hampton Court Palace.
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Real Tennis, the ancient forerunner of lawn tennis, began as a medieval street version of handball, but was later adopted as an aristocratic racket sport, played in cloister-style courtyards in monasteries and royal courts across Europe. Henry VIII, one of its most famous exponents, played at Hampton Court.
It was there, more than four centuries later, that the Ronaldsons built a thriving club, attracting hundreds of members, and coached Prince Edward and his future bride Sophie Rhys-Jones, who had met during preparations for the Prince’s charity event, The Real Royal Tennis Challenge at Holyport.
Real Tennis is now played on around 50 courts in Britain, France, Australia and the US, with an international tournament circuit.
Ivan became an outstanding junior and later worked as a popular professional at a string of clubs in Britain, France and the US, developing the careers of numerous future stars.
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Ivan Oliver Ronaldson was born on August 3 1974 in Melbourne, Australia, where his parents ran the Real Tennis Club on Exhibition Street. As a toddler, he loved sitting in the cylindrical aperture for the ball basket, splashing joyfully as the water used for swabbing the court drained away beneath him.
Prince Edward playing Real Tennis at the Holyport Real Tennis Court in Berkshire – Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images
In 1979 the Ronaldsons became the professionals at Hampton Court, the game’s spiritual home. Their three boys, the only children living at the Palace, used to visit the admirals’ and generals’ widows living in the grace-and-favour apartments for elevenses.
When the seven-year-old Ivan and his brothers called on one old lady who was just going out, she apologised for not inviting them in, and he said cheerfully: “Oh, that’s all right. We’ll just have the chocolate.”
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Aged 10, Ivan, a bright, quirky boy, won the first of seven national junior titles, at under-12, under-14 and under-16 level, thanks to his immaculate timing and canny tactics. In his late teens when, as he later jokingly admitted, he began “waging a losing battle against beer and burgers”, he considered a career as a teaching pro rather than a tournament player, although he did win the prestigious Taylor Cup, the Young Professionals’ Championship, which has been renamed in tribute to him.
Ronaldson was educated at Papplewick School and Canford in Dorset, where his uncle Steve, the school’s head professional, helped to develop his strategic skills and the raw power which made him a notably explosive hitter. The former world champion Howard Angus declared that he hit the ball harder than anyone he had ever played. During a National League match, Ronaldson was almost disqualified for forcing dangerously hard, though fortunately his opponents lived to tell the tale.
After taking his A-levels at Esher College, he worked for three months at the venerable Fontainebleau court. He studied economics and accounting for a year at Reading University, but Real Tennis was in his blood and he left to work at clubs including Holyport (which his parents part-owned), Hampton Court and the new courts at Prested Hall, Essex.
Ronaldson marking Real Tennis at the Washington Challenge tournament in 2023 – IRTPA
Over four years, he put the Prested Hall club on the map, spotting and inspiring gifted young players, among them the future women’s world champion Claire Fahey. Three of his protégés, Richard Hall-Smith, Adrian Kemp and Charlie Packham, became renowned club pros.
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Like his parents, who helped to create the new breed of professionals – skilled club managers, coaches and athletes – Ronaldson had no time for the traditional view of pros as forelock-tugging club servants. A brief stint at the exclusive all-male New York Racket Club ended when a member opened the pro-shop door and slung a racket across the floor at his ankles, snapping: “String this!”
In 2005, Ronaldson was appointed head pro at the Prince’s Club near Washington, which had opened in 1997 but had struggled with a rapid turnover of professionals (eight in nine years). Within months he had transformed its fortunes with his warm, joky manner, gift for friendship and ability to analyse and develop strategies for all levels of player.
He moved to the Westwood Country Club in Virginia in 2022, and nurtured several outstanding amateurs, including the US No 2 Noah Motz, rising star Erik Barker and the top US woman Annie Clark. For years he also led the US Player Development Programme. One highlight was coaching the national junior team to victory in the 2019 bi-annual Van Alen Cup against their British counterparts, the first American side to win in more than 25 years.
Off court, he excelled at computer games, poker and chess.
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Ivan Ronaldson is survived by his wife Christy (Elf) Woodall, and their son and daughter, both promising Real Tennis players.
Ivan Ronaldson, born August 3 1974, died August 18 2025
