It might not surprise you that Peter Dorato recently won a sanctioned, regional tennis tournament.
What might surprise you, however, is that Dorato is more than 70 years old.
Last week, Dorato, a faculty member in the UNM electrical and computer engineering program since 1976, won the New Mexico-El Paso County Adult Senior Campionship for players 70 and over.
The tournament, which was sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association, was held at Albuquerque's Tanoan Country Club Aug. 23-25.
Dorato cruised to the title with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Frank Wolack of Albuquerque, who also is in his '70s
Dorato credits his success at the tournament to added dedication and preparation - which included hitting balls with his 15-year-old grandson.
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"I've been practicing a lot recently, three times a week," Dorato said in a recent interview. "At my age, the most important thing is to be able to get on the court, being free of injuries."
Dorato grew up on the East Coast and attended the City College of New York. He received his doctorate from the Poly Tech Institute of Brooklyn.
But it wasn't until after he moved to New Mexico that Dorato began to thrive in tennis.
"It was only that when I left New York that I started to play," Dorato said. "The first tournament I played in I was 35."
As his own interest in the sport grew, Dorato actively encouraged his children to follow his footsteps onto the tennis court - and they did, eventually becoming players at the Division I level.
Peter's son, Alex Dorato, played for UNM from 1978 to 1981. Dorato said he tried to influence his son to get into tennis at an early age.
"At the time he was playing baseball," Peter Dorato said. "But I wanted my son to start playing tennis, so I started playing myself."
Alex Dorato is now the head coach of the Yale University men's tennis team. The Lobo men's tennis team has played the Bulldogs several times over the past few years.
The Dorato familly affair with the tennis doesn't end there. Peter Dorato's daughter, Sylvia Dorato also played tennis at UNM in the late 70's and early 80's.
"Whenever everyone gets together we go out and play, it's part of a get together," Peter Dorato said.
In most sports, athletes hit their so-called prime in their late 20s or early 30s, but these days athletes are proving that stigma to be wrong.
Barry Bonds is 38 and is still one of the most feared hitters in baseball.
In basketball, Michael Jordan, who is nearly 40, is still showing the young guys a thing or two about the game.
Peter Dorato is a good example of this phenomenon - even if he has a few decades on Bonds and Jordan.
In 1989, at the age of 65, he was ranked 61st nationally by the USTA.
Though he's not currently ranked, he is still capable of competing for tournament titles, as he proved at the N.M.-E.P.C. Adult Senior tournament.
"Our health is better than it used to be," Dorato said, "and people are lasting longer in terms of being able to play."
For Dorato, age is not important.
What is important is that he can still have fun and compete while doing something that he loves to do.
That is playing tennis.
"I thought it was a good sport, it's a lifetime sport," he said.
