3 Henderson, Kentucky, natives to be inducted into state halls of fame soon

HENDERSON, Ky. — Three Hendersonians are scheduled to be inducted into state halls of fame in the coming days and weeks.

Greg Hill and the late Karl “Doc” Hosbach will be inducted into the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.

And former professional boxer Daniel Maldonado will be inducted into the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame on May 14. Maldonado is a native of East Chicago, Indiana, but resided in Henderson throughout his professional career and still lives here today.

Doc Hosbach

Hosbach was a 1918 Barrett High graduate and is considered the father of tennis in Henderson.

Hosbach organized tennis tournaments for youngsters at the original two courts on Water Street and arranged lessons for them for more than 55 years. He also taught youth how to dance and lead a high moral life.

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He received numerous awards for his work with youth including a National Pop Warner Youth Award presented by the Women’s Club of Henderson. He was selected as an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Henderson. In 1966, the YMCA recognized Doc for his volunteer service.

Hosbach was selected the Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 1961 by the Henderson Chamber of Commerce and was in the inaugural class of the Henderson County Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 as the leading vote getter.

As a result of his work with the city and schools, the public tennis complex on Water Street — which now features 12 state-of-the-art courts — was named in his honor by the city in the 1960s, and in 2013 a monument was constructed and dedicated to him.

The Henderson Tennis Club continues to award an annual scholarship to a Henderson County High School senior in his name, and for many years it hosted an annual tournament in which the champions were given a brick with their name and the year painted on it, continuing a tradition started by Hosbach when he didn’t have funding to purchase formal trophies. Those brick trophies, it is said, were more prized than any store-bought trophy.

When asked how many players he had instructed here, Doc was quoted as saying “Oh, that would be hard to say, mighty hard. But it would be up in the thousands. Probably 10,000 or so.”

Hosbach was elected to the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020, but his induction ceremony was delayed because of Covid restrictions. His great nephew Jeffery Blankenship will accept in Hosbach’s honor.

Greg Hill

“Doc Hosbach is being inducted at the same time as me, which is great,” Hill said. “He’s the reason I started. My dad dropped me off when I was eight years old at the city courts. Doc had a great program and looked after me until noon” when he would get picked up.

Hill began competing seriously in the United State Tennis Association’s Junior division and was ranked as high as #1 in the South and #35 nationally.

In college, Hill played for Texas A&M from 1982 to 1985 and was A&M’s first-ever NCAA All-American. He held its all-time singles winning record (85) for 25 years.

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Hill went on to play competitively as an adult, claiming career wins over Andre Agassi, Derrick Rostagno and Sammy Giammalva.

He won Guadalajara International in 1983, the Houston Open singles in 1987 and was a doubles finalist in Puerta Vallarta Mexico in 1987.

After his playing career, Greg was an elite tennis coach at IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, for 15 years. While at IMG, Hill trained top tennis stars such as Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Tatiana Golovin, Anna Kournikova and many more.

He was the personal traveling coach to Marcelo Rios (former #1 in the world), Mary Joe Fernández (French Open Finalist, Olympic Gold Medal winner), Iva Majoli (French Open Champion), Alexandra Stevenson (Wimbledon semi-finalist), Tommy Haas (former world #2) and Vince Spadea (former world #19).

While Hill coached Fernández, she won a Hilton Head doubles championship over Lindsay Davenport and Jana Novotna, and she was a semifinalist in singles in the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami. He coached Rios to the semifinals of the Canadian Open and Majoli to quarterfinals of French Open.

In a 1997 interview, Fernández said of working with Hill: “We worked out right before I went to Australia (and I) liked him a lot. He knows a lot about the game, hits the ball well, good timing. So far it’s been going great. Very motivating, encouraging fun.”

Hill, who now resides in Sarasota, was elected to the hall in 2021.

Daniel Maldonado

Maldonado, whose nickname was The Sandman (for putting so many opponents to “sleep”), had a professional boxing record of 21-2 during a career as a featherweight that ran from 2000 to 2008. He won 13 of those fights by knockouts.

He won the Kentucky featherweight title in 2002, then went on to win the World Boxing Council’s Latino feather title and North American Boxing Association’s feather title in 2004. His career culminated with winning the International Boxing Association’s world feather title in 2006.

Following his boxing career, he won a HOOKnSHOOT MMA (mixed martial arts) title in 2010 with a 3-0 record that included two knockouts.

Now, Maldonado’s son Alex is following in his footsteps. Maldonado is training Alex, who has won three Golden Gloves titles, reached the semifinals of the Olympics eastern trials and is preparing for another Golden Gloves fight in a couple of weeks.

This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Henderson, Kentucky, natives to be inducted into state halls of fame