By Mike London
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SALISBURY — Jack Thompson passed away on Friday morning while doing what he loved to do most — playing tennis.
For a lot of people in Salisbury, Thompson was Mr. Tennis. He devoted 48 years to teaching the sport, a lot of it locally.
Thompson put everything he had into every lesson he ever game, leaving him exhausted at the end of the day, but he never got tired of teaching tennis. He developed quite a few young champions in Virginia and North Carolina and he came to be regarded as one of the most knowledgeable instructors in the country.
His focus was always on building well-rounded players who could hit all the shots. He was an encourager. He not only taught tennis players, he’d show up to watch their matches.
It distressed him as the years went by to see the decline of male American tennis on the world stage and attributed that demise on an increasing reliance on booming serves, rather than having the all-round game needed to make successful adjustments to an opponent.
Thompson took tennis very seriously, but it was never work for him. It always was a labor of love.
Tennis pro isn’t an easy profession to choose, but he thrived in that world. Thompson was a notable teacher, speaker, camp instructor, consultant, academy director and author in a working life that revolved around the game.
He coached clubs and he coached schools at different levels, including a successful tenure with the Catawba men’s and women’s teams. He was part of the program’s first South Atlantic Conference championship in 2001.
He practiced what he preached. He was a standout player in his age group for many decades.
Thompson was from Virginia. He graduated from Homer L. Ferguson High in Newport News in 1971.
He studied health and physical education before focusing on exercise science at Virginia Tech.
From 1981-1990, he was the director of tennis and manager of the Staunton Racquet Club in Virginia.
He coached his sister, Leigh, on the pro tour. She achieved a top-30 world ranking in the 1980s.
He came to Salisbury in 1990 and served as the director of tennis for the Country Club of Salisbury for a decade. His tennis lessons made a lasting impact for Salisbury High, which was a factor statewide in boys and girls tennis. He coached three-time high school state champion and ACC standout Eric Saunders.
In 2001, Thompson became an International Master Professional.
His most prestigious accolade came in Hilton Head, S.C., when he was honored by the 2015 Professional Tennis Registry as its Professional of the Year. He was the first North Carolina winner of that award since the 1990s.
Thompson found new challenges and new jobs several times, but he never slowed down as he passed normal retirement age. He always was the director of an academy or head pro at a club or a school coach somewhere in the area.
When Adam Houston interviewed Thompson for a story in the Post in 2015, Thompson summed up his tennis teaching philosophy in a handful of words.
