At 96 years old, Al Cirilli is not just keeping up on the tennis court, he is the one setting the pace. The Navy veteran plays at the Greenberg Indoor Tennis Center, where he commands the court with an authority that, those around him say, harks back to his days serving aboard a naval destroyer decades ago in the United States Navy.
Cirilli's service stretches back to the early years of the Cold War. He was stationed on the USS Cronin from 1948 to 1952, a posting he still remembers vividly. We chased the Russian subs all over the place, he recalled, describing the kind of duty that has stayed with him long after he traded the deck of a warship for the baseline of a tennis court.
That military bearing still shows in the way he moves around the court. To those watching him play, the way he commands the space makes it easy to picture him scurrying to general quarters on a destroyer, the same focus and urgency he once needed at sea now carried over into a far gentler arena, but with no less intensity.
He is also a teacher of the game. Cirilli breaks the serve down into a simple image, telling players to make believe they have a toy hat, toss the ball up, and knock the hat off their head. From there, he says, you get your racket down almost to your hip, keep your knuckle on the second bend, then turn the racket and make contact with the ball.
His dedication borders on relentless. According to those at the center, Cirilli will sneak out and hit 100 serves just to stay warm, treating practice as seriously at 96 as players a fraction of his age. He plays for keeps, with what one observer described as no weakness in his game, refusing to give an inch on the court.
His presence has become an inspiration to the veterans who play alongside him. How is my hero, 96 years old, I can not believe it, one of them said, adding that if Cirilli can still play, then he had better be able to as well. His example pushes the others to chase the ball across the court and keep pace with a man twice their age.
The competition around him is not exactly gentle either. Cirilli and his fellow veterans at the Greenberg Indoor Tennis Center take on opponents in their late 50s, decades younger than he is. For a man who once tracked submarines across the ocean, holding his own against far younger players is simply the latest challenge he has no intention of backing down from.