Steve Geller – Tennis Pro and Pop Tennis Hall Of Famer

Steve Geller has never considered himself a great tennis player, but he will be the first to admit he made the most of his abilities and has had a great tennis career.

He grew up in the 60’s playing in the public parks of Brooklyn, New York and only was able to play 2 hours a week indoors during the winter so he played paddle tennis, which helped him become fearless at the net and develop great volleys. At the age of 14 he was #1 on the Men’s ladder at the Parade Grounds in Brooklyn and had won the NYC Junior High School Championship 2 years in a row, but his tennis accomplishments were just beginning.

At 15 years of age he played #1 for Midwood High and led them to the City Championship, going undefeated and not dropping a set. Steve also won the PSAL singles title as a freshman without dropping a set and was then offered a have a once in a lifetime opportunity… he and his friend Vitas Gerulaitis were chosen to play a doubles exhibition with Pancho Gonzalez and Pancho Segura as a preliminary to Rod Laver playing Ken Rosewall at Madison Square Garden… Steve and Vitas were able to spend a couple of days working with the pros leading up to the match… for Vitas it obviously wasn’t a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

Steve went on to lead Midwood to 3 straight City Championships, going undefeated and never dropping a set at #1 singles, and appearing in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd.  Steve also reached the 4^th round of the Orange Bowl, which was considered the world junior championship, losing to his friend Vitas who went on to lose to Barrazutti in the finals.

Steve received a scholarship to the University of South Carolina and still has one of the highest winning percentages (.923) in doubles in school history. Steve knew he would never make a living playing tennis, but that didn’t stop him from traveling a couple of times to Europe playing in small tournaments in France and Spain as a great opportunity to see the world, along the way through being in the right place at the right time Steve played in many Pro-Celebrity tournaments and even won one with Elton John in Antigua. Steve also appeared in a few commercials playing tennis, most notably Gatorade.  

He also was recently inducted to the Paddle Tennis (now rebranded as POP TENNIS) Hall of Fame, having been a 3-time national beach champion and a 7-time 3^rd place finisher in the National Championships and finalist once. Steve also has tennis to thank for his wonderful wife and mixed doubles partner, who he met giving Susan her  1^st lesson.

At 67 years of age Steve is still playing USTA league events at a 4.5 rating and has been to the Nationals on 3 different teams.  Steve recovering from spine surgery felt he needed a racket with more power and tried the Solinco and loved it. He feels he has a new enthusiasm about the game having switched to a new Solinco racket that gives him the same feeling of having a secret weapon that he had when he first switched to the Wilson T2000 in the mid 60’s…

“Love my Solinco racket… it has a much more solid feel and plows thru at contact than my previous 2 rackets the Babalot Pure Drive and Head Instinct.”