Gail Falkenberg is a pro tennis player with big dreams. She also serves underhand from time to time. And hits a lot of sidespin drop shots. She can’t hit the ball very hard, or run very fast. Her knees are shaky, at best. She doesn’t have a coach, a personal trainer, a dietician or an agent. Falkenberg is 69 years old. The gap between her and, say, Serena Williams is roughly equivalent to the distance from Earth to the Andromeda Galaxy. Perhaps farther. She’s OK with that.

“I know I can keep getting better,” she said on Monday. “There’s always something to work on with tennis.”

Falkenberg has a long to-do list. On Monday, she played Taylor Townsend, a 19-year-old American who was once the top-ranked junior in the world, in an entry-level pro tournament in Pelham, Ala. They met in the second round of the qualifying tournament, which gives winners a chance to play in the main draw, where budding tennis pros—most of them in their 20s and some in their teens—go to pile up ranking points. Falkenberg didn’t win a game.

Not that she minds. She had fun. She said other players on the circuit have started calling her “The Legend,” which is nice. And besides, The Legend had a very good tournament. On Sunday, Falkenberg won a match, against 22-year-old Rosalyn Small, 6-0, 6-1.

“She had a lot of trouble with my spin,” Falkenberg said. “She had trouble with the underhanded serve. She eased up, because she couldn’t hit it hard and keep it in the court. I got her to play my game.”