MORE than any other tennis player, Mr Richard Russell, who died this week at age 79, placed Jamaica on the global stage.

Esteemed journalist and former president of Press Association of Jamaica Mr Clarence “Ben” Brodie, a past student of the great all-boys’ school Kingston College (KC), was at court side as Mr Russell and contemporaries, including Messrs Lance Lumsden and Audley Hewitt, made a name for themselves at an early age.

Back in the late 1950s, approaching Jamaica’s Independence in 1962, tennis, much as is the case today, was not a mass-based sport here.

Cricket, football, and track athletics were the sports of the people.

By then, great cricketers Messrs George Headley and Alf Valentine, and legendary Olympic athletes Messrs Arthur Wint, George Rhoden, Herb McKenley and Les Laing had long placed Jamaica on the proverbial map.

And by 1962, boxing, through Mr Bunny Grant, had given Jamaica a prized gift by winning the Commonwealth lightweight title.

And by then, KC had long established itself as a powerhouse in cricket, track and field, and football.

Mr Brodie theorises that by the late 50s KC had begun “a sort of experiment” to broaden and expand its footprint, using tennis among its avenues.

That school’s tennis coaches, Mr Ripton Bailey and Barbadian Mr Jonathan Crick, led the way with spectacular success.

At 16 Mr Russell covered himself and his school in glory by becoming the youngest Jamaican tennis champion.

He never looked back.

In 1966 Mr Russell teamed with Mr Lumsden to beat vaunted Americans Messrs Arthur Ashe and Charles Passarel in a gruelling Davis Cup doubles tie in Kingston — gaining acclaim far and wide.

Through the 1960s and 70s Mr Russell, who was awarded the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer (OD) in 2022 and inducted to black tennis’ Hall of Fame in 2019, was among Jamaica’s leading sports personalities.

To this day he is the only Jamaican to progress past the first round of Grand Slam tournaments — Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open.

We are told that Mr Russell won more than 12 Davis Cup matches. That tournament dates back to 1900 and is said to be the largest annual international team competition.

His playing days over, Mr Russell could easily have settled in “greener pastures” but to his eternal credit he spent many years serving Jamaican tennis. He was a director of Tennis Jamaica and a former chairman of the all-island high school tennis championships.

As a coach he spent years grooming young players through the Russell Tennis Academy.

Perhaps no greater tribute can be paid to Mr Russell’s memory than that of former Jamaica national player, Ms Maureen Rankine.

She told The Gleaner newspaper that Mr Russell “gave me the opportunity to work in this tennis business as an 18-year-old… he coached me and later assisted me in getting a tennis scholarship… this is something that he did for many youngsters in Montego Bay… I will forever be grateful to him”.

Like president of Tennis Jamaica Mr John Azar, who described him as “larger than life itself”, we believe Mr Russell’s “impact on the sport — both locally and internationally — cannot be understated”.