Though retired captain Mark Inguaggiato has made a bit of a late start in competitive tennis, he’s already established himself as a worthy opponent on the court. The 50-year-old environmental engineer at Vandenberg Air Base started playing tennis in 2005 so he could maintain a healthy lifestyle. The activity, however, has snowballed into a passion that can’t be stifled.
In late 2005, Inguaggiato made it to a competitive tournament at the Santa Maria Tennis Open. He competed in the 3.5 level—the first level in the U.S Tennis Association (USTA)—and won his first match. After that taste of victory, the captain had found his white whale: tennis.
As Inguaggiato’s skills progressed, victory started to come more and more his way: In 2007 he won four 3.5 level tournaments. Brimming with confidence and passion, he ventured into the 4.0 level and entered more tournaments from the Central Coast to Beverly Hills. Inguaggiato has been ranked No. 74 in Southern California for the 4.0 level by the USTA.
Inguaggiato claims that the Air Force was responsible for his great success in his tennis career: “My 22 years in the Air Force have instilled in me the discipline required to attain my life and tennis goals,” he said. “It is a major factor in my tennis improvement because it takes a myriad of practice sessions to hone a new tennis skill. But more difficult is to apply that new skill in a competitive match play and win.”
Inguaggiato recently applied his honed tennis skills and discipline to work at the local Arroyo Grande “B” tournament and brought in the win. He’s excited for this year’s Santa Maria Tennis Open, for which he’s the No. 1 4.0 level seed—for the second year in a row.
He explained some of his goals as “to become the highest-ranked 4.0 player on the Central Coast, and be able to still run with and beat the younger players.”
This article appears in Sep 10-17, 2009.