Speaker 1: Hello, a little bit of a special episode. Today, I'm
Speaker 1: Dave and there is no Marcus Willis. For decades, the
Speaker 1: name Ray Felch has been synonymous with the Bronze era
Speaker 1: of tennis. From dusty courts of his youth to the
Speaker 1: grand stages of Wimbledom qualifying and the US Open pre qualifying.
Speaker 1: Felch's journey is one of relentless dedication and lucrative sponsorship deals.
Speaker 1: The Rolex association with the Strap line time to Felch
Speaker 1: is still one of the most seismic branding deals known
Speaker 1: in sport. In the new biography Felched, we explore the
Speaker 1: life and the times of this icon. The book delves
Speaker 1: into the man behind the legend through meticulous research and
Speaker 1: personal anecdotes. Felched provides a comprehensive journey of Ray from
Speaker 1: his early days honing his skills on the court to
Speaker 1: the groundbreaking victory against Jimmy Connors. It explores the dedication
Speaker 1: and resilient required to Felch his An excerpt of Felched.
Speaker 2: In the late nineteen seventies, professional tennis was a world
Speaker 2: of precision, discipline and quiet obsession. Among its lesser known
Speaker 2: figures was a man named Ralph Felch, though to those
Speaker 2: who followed the circuit he was simply known as Ray.
Speaker 2: A former world number sixty, Felch was never destined for
Speaker 2: the spotlight, not in the way of legends like Jimmy Connor's,
Speaker 2: and yet in nineteen seventy nine, at the San Francisco Open,
Speaker 2: everything changed. In a match few expected him to survive,
Speaker 2: let alone win, Felch delivered a performance that still lingers
Speaker 2: in the margins of tennis history. Calm, relentless, unnervingly precise.
Speaker 2: He defeated Connors in straight sets. Then he walked away.
Speaker 2: Retirement came suddenly, quietly, no interviews, no farewell. Friends would
Speaker 2: later recall that Ray had become different, distracted, as though
Speaker 2: something or someone was pulling his attention elsewhere. On the
Speaker 2: evening of October twelfth, nineteen seventy nine, Felch was last
Speaker 2: seen dining with two acquaintances, Pierre Boobies and Paul mc todger.
Speaker 2: What was discussed that night remains unclear. What is known
Speaker 2: is that Ray Felch was never seen again. No records,
Speaker 2: no sidings, no explanation, just a name, a match, and
Speaker 2: a disappearance that decades later still refuses to be understood.
Speaker 1: You have just been felched. How did that feel. The
Speaker 1: book is available at all Good bookshops. The foreword is
Speaker 1: by Chris Packham.
Speaker 2: Victor Baranco on trombone, Sergeant Major Craig Frederick on the
Speaker 2: trumpets and the composition.
Speaker 1: The Army Blues looked at that