Meet the 79-year-old tennis icon taking on teens in search of just one more professional win

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Gail Falkenberg, perhaps better known as the tennis pro who took on Taylor Townsend 10 years ago, is still going strong and has no intention of stopping.

So much so, the 79-year-old just lost a qualifying match at ITF W35 in Orlando to 19-year-old Duke star Aspen Schuman, who ranked No. 1 nationally in the class of 2026 on Tennis Recruiting Networking, by a convincing 6-0. 6-0.

Her knees may wobble and her power may lack behind that forehand, but Falkenberg doesn’t let anything get in the way of her passion for the game and her goal to win another pro match again before turning 80 in January.

If not, she will keep trying as long as she stays healthy, which has brought her to where she is.

“I’d like to win another one before I hang it up,” Falkenberg told The Post in a phone interview Wednesday.

When would that be? The New Jersey native doesn’t know.

“Age doesn’t bother me because as long as I’m healthy. If I can play, I’ll play,” she said. “I’m not injured so I’m going to go out there, but I need to work on just competing and practicing with players as good as the ones that are out there like the gal [Schuman] I played. That level is really, really good.”

In 2016, a 69-year-old Falkenberg won a professional match against 22-year-old Rosalyn Small, 6-0, 6-1, which made her the oldest winner of a match on the ITF circuit.

“No one said anything to me…and then when I got to the club the next day, I was bombarded with interview requests…I was almost late to my match,” she said.

The match was a second rounder of an entry-level pro tournament in Pelham, Alabama, which grants winners a chance to play in the main draw. She faced off against a 19-year-old Townsend and didn’t win a game, but won 12 points when the betting line thought she would only win seven, she claimed.

The one win, though, led to interviews with the Wall Street Journal and she appeared on an episode of the “No Challenges” podcast hosted by Ben Rothenberg and Courtney Nguyen. The Tennis Channel has also done a TV hit on the tennis icon.

“The whole world went crazy,” Falkenberg recalled.

“People are just inspired by someone that can compete at my age… It’s just terrific. I mean, I’ve been so blessed to have all this happen to me.”

Falkenberg, who is self-taught, played at UCLA as a walk-on on their first women’s tennis team and women’s basketball team while there from 1964-70. After a career in filmmaking, she caught the tennis bug again and decided to go all in toward a professional career around age 35.

She funded herself and was on the circuit for five years. During that time, Falkenberg won a USTA National Public Parks Open championship in 1983 and won a qualifying match at the 1988 Australian Open.

In 1987, she reached 360th in the WTA rankings.

After running out of money, Falkenberg went to coach both the women’s and men’s tennis teams at the University of Central Florida from 1991-99. She also served as the interim head coach for the women’s basketball team for a single season.

Falkenberg left the Knights as the winningest head coach in program history at 132-43 and held the title until Bryan Koniecko surpassed her in 2025.

She recently sat down with the university to reflect on her legacy in Orlando.

“I’m so old I’ve done everything,” she chuckled.

She has since taken her tennis coaching to her current town, Ocala, Florida, where she is the pro at Stone Creek Tennis Center.

Falkenberg currently balances her coaching with her own tennis career, which she does to “meet the kids” and stay up to date on the level of tennis. She recently got to experience electronic line calling with Schuman.

“I just enjoy not only the competing but it keeps me young,” she said. “It keeps me moving and I get to be around the younger generation. They are about 60 years younger than me, I’m playing. So, that’s not only a challenge but it’s fun.”

When Falkenberg was in her 30s, she had various professional coaches tell her that she would “never do anything” because of the way she played — an underhand serve and a forehand drop shot slice that would spin every which way.

Yet, that style of play has led her to inspire many throughout the world that send her letters and call Falkenberg on the phone.

Many tell her that their grandmothers are in wheelchairs at 80, not on a hard court swinging a racket.

“That always sat with me and I always told my students ‘Don’t believe what anybody tells you because you can always achieve a lot more'” she said.