By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Adam Lane and Tim Pleasant.

Wait. What?

There have been some great sports duos throughout the history of professional sports, but you probably won’t find the names of Adam Lane and Tim Pleasant popping up into anybody’s top 10 list.

But in their world of tennis, the former Ironton Fighting Tigers’ tennis tandem have enjoyed successful careers in their own right and have meshed together to form an outstanding doubles team.

And it all began as classmates as they entered grade school.

“We’ve known each other since first grade. Some of my first memories of playing tennis are with Tim and his dad (Tim Sr.) at Beechwood Park, traveling to tournaments with his dad driving,” said Lane.

The association between the two extended to both players’ parents.

“Tim’s parents were like family to me. I called them mom and dad, and Tim is the same with my parents.”

Although it has been a great friendship, Pleasant said they have had a few bumps in the road.

“We played basketball together for years. He was the dirtiest defensive player ever to play ball at Ironton. I hated it when he guarded me,” said Pleasant.

“We got kicked out of practice one time for arguing and the coach made me drive him home. He said for us to work it out.”

The friends were teammates and enjoyed great success at Ironton before separating for their college careers.

Lane played at Belmont University in Nashville and was a four-year all-conference in singles and doubles.

Pleasant was a standout at Eastern Kentucky University where he set the school and Ohio Valley Conference record with 30 plus wins in doubles over his junior and senior years.

He was ranked as high as 17th in NCAA doubles competition nationally.

But the two close friends went different directions after their college careers.

After college, Pleasant was ranked as high as No.9 in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Men’s Open Doubles and No. 24 Men’s Open in singles. He won the National USTA Medal Balls in Men’s 25s, 30s and 45s.

Together, Pleasant and Lane won the ITF World Championship in Puerto Rico in the Men’s 45s and the duo were finalists in Columbus for Men’s 50s.

They were voted 2015 USTA Family of the Year.

Pleasant said growing up together allowed them to get to know each other well.

“One of our best attributes as a team is that we know how to pump each other up. Adam plays best when there is controversy, so I would always tell him to start an argument and be like (John) McEnroe,” said Pleasant.

“If I was down, he would say, ‘stop hitting like a baby and hit these guys and be the best player on the court.”

As a coach, Pleasant won two MEAC conference championships as the women’s head coach and one title as the men’s head coach.

He was a three-time Coach of the Year at Bethune-Cookman and once with Coker College.

At Bethune-Cookman, Pleasant won three conference championships for the first time in the men’s program history

Pleasant was voted the top rookie coach in the NCAA as the head coach at Austin Peay State in 1998 which was his first year as a head coach.

As an extension of his coaching, he was awarded three Facility of the Year awards while at New Albany County Club in Columbus, Ohio, at Rock Hill Tennis Center in South Carolina, and the USTA National Campus in Orlando.

He received the Community Tennis Association award by USTA while serving as president of the Mid-Carolina Tennis Association in 2010.

Lane never played the pro tour but started in business right after college. He then got out of the business world and began teaching tennis full-time.

“I was a decent college player at my level, but I never possessed the skills or desire to be a ‘real’ pro,” said Lane.

Lane has taught tennis in Korea, China, Costa Rica, Australia, Puerto Rico, upstate New York and Florida.

The clubs where he taught allowed him to travel to tournaments as part of his job responsibilities.

“It was a win-win situation for us and them because we still enjoy playing, and when we do well it enhances their reputation as having good pros on staff,” said Lane.

“The members like to see that we still play and love to follow our results. We travel and play mostly during our slow season.”

Oddly, Lane is married but his wife Allison didn’t play college tennis. She was a lacrosse player at Dartmouth and came to America from France.

Working as the resort director for a company in Florida, Allison was sent to work for Lane. The assistant pro told Lane the night before she arrived “please don’t get involved with the new pro coming.”

As it turned out, the two men were in each other’s wedding.

Lane convinced his wife to play in a tournament in Ecuador. She finally agreed and ended up winning the singles, doubles and mixed doubles — with Adam.. They are planning to play together in a tournament in Amsterdam in July.

The couple have two sons, ages 9 and 11, and once they graduate from high school they are planning to travel and keep playing tournaments.

“My wife and kids have dual citizenship with the U.S. and France. I imagine we’ll spend some time living in Europe,” said Lane.

Having a couple that play tennis, they have the opportunity to play against each other for practice. Lane said it’s very competitive.

“We practice against each other a lot during the off-season. We also play in a league against other pros in Ft. Myers during the season. She kicks my ass when we don’t play points with serve, but once the serve is involved, she stands no chance,” said Lane with a laugh.

While Adam and Allison work well together, nothing is better than when Tim and Adam play together.

“Great teams always know what the other is going to do before they do it. Just so happened we were also best friends off the court,” said Pleasant.

Maybe they are among the great duos.