Education
University of Southern California.
University of Southern California.
As a young player he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He was the highest-ranked American player at the end of three consecutive years in the 1960s. Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph ranked him as high as World Number.
5 in 1966 (Ralston was also ranked World Number 3 by the magazine Reading Eagle in 1963).
His best result at a Grand Slam singles event came in 1966 when he was seeded sixth and reached the final of the Wimbledon Championships which he lost to fourth-seeded Manuel Santana in straight sets. At the end of that year he turned professional.
Ralston was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. Singles, 1 final (1 runner-up)
Doubles, 9 finals (5 titles, 4 runners-up)
Mixed Doubles, 3 finals (3 runners-up).
Ralston was a member of the Handsome Eight, the initial group of players signed to the professional World Championship Tennis tour.