ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Robert Dreyfus

Robert Dreyfus can be found at the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center any day of the week and is known for always being up for a game of tennis. Dreyfus, who recently turned 64, is originally from Boston and has been playing tennis since he was 13, when he used to hit the ball up against a wall in the school gym. Dreyfus is a seasonal Longboater and usually spends six to seven months out of the year here. Dreyfus was in 2010’s Who’s B.O.S.S. Top 10 and was on the winning team for the 2010 Spring League Championship.

What is your best skill?
People tell me I can still run very fast and I have very good reflexes, but I’m very steady. A lot of people call me a backboard. I get the ball back all the time. Sometimes my opponents think they’ve won a point, and the ball comes back at them.

Do you participate in tournaments?
I enter USTA tournaments in 60s singles. I have one coming up starting Monday, in St. Petersburg. It’s a USTA tournament, and I think it is a Super Seniors Grand Prix. I go into these tournaments because I want to be challenged by some of the best singles players on the senior circuit around the country. I often win a few games here and there. I don’t usually win the matches, but I want to be challenged. So, as far as how I’ll do in St. Petersburg, I’m going to do my best, and I’m never going to give up on the ball.

What’s the best tennis advice you’ve been given?
Keep your eye on the ball and move your feet. And be ready. Those are the best tips I’ve been given.

Do you play tennis when you are up North?
I will play up North, but I never play as much as I do down here. I love it down here. This is tennis heaven on this island.

Contact Rachel S. O'Hara at [email protected]