NINE-TIME GRAND SLAM SINGLES CHAMPION MONICA SELES ELECTED TO INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME

Gimeno, Dell and Johnson Join Seles for Induction this July

Tennis Legend Rod Laver To Be Honored During 2009 Induction Weekend

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, USA –  Christopher Clouser, Chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum and Tony Trabert, Hall of Fame President, have announced the names of the newly elected members to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.  Leading the Induction Class of 2009 is nine-time Grand Slam Singles Champion and former World No. 1 Monica Seles.

Joining Seles for Hall of Fame induction is one of Spain’s most prominent tennis players of the 1960s, Andres Gimeno, who has been elected in the Master Player category. In addition, elected in the Contributor category are Donald L. Dell, an industry pioneer and leader in sports marketing, professional sports management and sports television and founder of ProServ; and the late Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson, founder and director of the American Tennis Association (ATA) Junior Development Program, who worked tirelessly for decades assisting in the development of young African-American tennis players while helping to break the barriers of racial segregation.

“It is our great pleasure to welcome the newest members into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and to honor them for their brilliant careers and significant achievements in the sport of tennis,” said Clouser.

The Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009 Induction Ceremony is slated for Saturday, July 11 in Newport, Rhode Island, during the final weekend of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (July 6-12), an ATP World Tour event. The International Tennis Hall of Fame, inclusive of the Class of 2009, now honors 211 champions of tennis representing 18 different countries.

One of the all-time great champions of tennis, “Rocket” Rod Laver, will be in Newport for the Hall of Fame’s Induction Weekend, July 10-12. The International Tennis Hall of Fame will honor Laver, naming him a Hall of Fame Life Trustee and will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Laver’s second career Grand Slam triumph. Laver, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981, is the only player in the history of tennis to capture two career Grand Slams –1962 and 1969.

Monica Seles, now 35, held the World No. 1 ranking for 178 weeks (non-consecutive) and captured nine Grand Slam singles titles – four Australian (1991-1993, 1996), three at Roland Garros (1990-1992) and two US Opens (1991-1992). Her win-loss record at the Grand Slams was a staggering 43-4 at the Australian, 54-8 at Roland Garros, 30-9 at Wimbledon and 53-10 at the US Open. In a career spanning 15 years, she captured 53 singles titles and six doubles titles and collected well over $14 million in prize money. She won three consecutive year-end WTA Championships (1990-1992) and finished as the world’s No. 1 ranked player in both 1991 and 1992.

A natural lefty, wielding double-handed forehands and backhands, she was a determined competitor.  Her footwork was impeccable, her groundstrokes powerful and aggressive, and she constantly attacked her opponents with an arsenal of remarkable weapons.

At age 19, Seles had already won eight of her nine singles slams and was at the top of her game. Then in April 1993, during a changeover of her quarterfinal match against Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg, a fanatical fan of Steffi Graf came out of nowhere and stabbed her in the back, just below her left shoulder blade. The horror of this event sent shockwaves through the tennis community, and 27 months would pass before Seles played competitively again. When she returned to the courts, she was granted a co-No. 1 ranking (shared with Steffi Graf) and won her comeback event at the Canadian Open, reached the US Open final, and followed up with her ninth Grand Slam singles championship at the Australian Open (1996).

Born December 2, 1973 in Novi Sad, in what was then Yugoslavia, she moved with her family to the United States in 1987 at the age of 13 to train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. On March 16, 1994, she became a U.S. citizen. Seles would play on the United States Fed Cup team for five years (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002) posting a career 15-2 singles record and a 2-0 doubles record while helping the Americans capture the Cup in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

Seles remains the youngest champion in history to win at Roland Garros (16 years, 6 months) and was the youngest winner of the Tour Championships (16 years, 11 months) beating Gabriela Sabatini in the first women’s match to extend to five sets since the 1901 U.S. National final. In addition, Seles won the Olympic bronze medal in 2000. Throughout her career, Seles won numerous awards, multiple Player and Athlete of the Year awards, and humanitarian awards. She is currently on the board of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and ICL (Institution for Civil Leadership).

Spain’s Master Player Andres Gimeno won the French Open in 1972 at the age of 34 years, 10 months, the oldest champion to grace the red clay at Roland Garros. In addition, he reached the final at the 1969 Australian Open; the semifinals at the 1968 French Open and at Wimbledon in 1970; and the quarterfinals at the 1958 Australian Championships, and the 1960 and 1969 French Championships. Gimeno captured seven singles titles and four doubles titles (in the Open era) and reached a career high ranking of No. 9 in the world. As a member of Spain’s Davis Cup team 1958-60, 1972 and 1973, he posted a playing record of 23-10. As one of Spain’s premier amateur sportsmen, he became incredibly popular, as did the sport of tennis, and he became a national hero. In 1960, Gimeno signed on to the professional tennis tour staged by Jack Kramer and was an immediate sensation in the pro ranks – finishing his first series second only to Pancho Gonzalez. Wielding a great overhead smash, strong volleys, a formidable forehand and with exceptional grace and balance, Gimeno’s career is highlighted in the sport’s amateur and professional periods, and then crossed into the Open era of tennis.

Donald L. Dell has spent his life in the forefront of the sport of tennis.  As a player, he was a U.S. Davis Cup team member from 1961-64. As a non-playing captain of the 1968 and 1969 U.S. Davis Cup teams, he became the youngest U.S. captain and the first in 20 years to regain and successfully defend the Cup in consecutive years.  He reached his highest U.S. singles ranking of No. 4 in 1961, and made it to No. 1 in doubles in 1962-63. Dell also represented the U.S. State Department on two world tennis tours (1961 and 1965) and was the first American in history to play competitive tennis in the Soviet Union (1961).

During the Open era, Dell’s business career took off as he dove into the sports marketing and management arena and became the first person to represent and manage the careers of tennis players, beginning with Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith. Players faced an uncertain future as tennis became a professional sport, and Dell persevered to develop future player opportunities, recognizing an athlete’s need for sound career management and the development of effective sports marketing programs. He is credited with having developed some of the most significant and long-lasting partnerships between sponsors and sports properties and he has negotiated over a billion dollars in sponsorships and endorsements.

In 1970, Dell’s own private law practice evolved into Professional Services Inc., (ProServ) which quickly assumed a leadership role in a new sports marketing industry and was the first-ever management company to represent tennis players. As Founder and Chairman, in 1999 ProServ was acquired by SFX as an integral part of its organization, and today, residing under the corporate umbrella of BEST – Blue Entertainment Sports Television – Dell currently oversees and advises many of the group’s global television properties, including the French Open, the US Open, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, of which he is also a tournament founder, in addition to 20 ATP World Tour tennis telecasts. After the creation and success of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Dell gave the event to the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation and has assisted in raising over $15 million for children’s tennis programs in the DC area.

In 1972, along with tennis icon Jack Kramer, Dell founded the Association for Tennis Professionals as a players’ union and served as its first General Counsel for eight years. An active philanthropist, Dell is the Vice Chairman and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors and a member of both the USTA Public Relations Committee and the U.S. Davis Cup Selection Committee.

Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson (1899-1971) is considered the man most responsible for launching the careers of world tennis greats Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, the nation’s first African-American tennis champions. During a time of racial separation, Johnson, through quiet diplomacy, was able to open the doors of tournament competition to young African-Americans barred from mainstream competition. He persevered, despite the racial barriers of that time, and through whispered entreaties and legal challenges he helped pave the way for minorities to gain entrance into tournaments and excel at the highest levels of the game. For more than 20 years, Johnson’s home in Lynchburg, Virginia became the destination for talented black tennis players to receive training and to participate in integrated tournaments and exhibitions with the likes of Pauline Betz Addie and Bobby Riggs. He provided food, equipment, financial support and guidance throughout their development.

Through the American Tennis Association (ATA), which was formed in 1916, Johnson created the ATA Junior Development Program. In the 1950s and 1960s, he sponsored, trained and nurtured hundreds of African-American juniors – and several white juniors – at his Lynchburg home, where he had a tennis court in his backyard. He initiated the integration of black tennis at the junior level, and ultimately at the highest levels of the game, working as coach, trainer, sponsor and fundraiser – and courageously approaching tournament directors and lobbying for his players’ full participation. He was also publisher of the ATA’s annual program, distributed at the national championships, and his vehicle for informing the membership of the achievements of his junior players.

The names of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe (both Hall of Famers) and their life achievements will long be remembered in the world of tennis; they were the African-American trailblazers and became champions of the sport through their discipline and perseverance. However it was Johnson’s vision and innovative groundwork that gave Gibson and Ashe – and all future black champions – the training ground and road map to succeed.

A panel of International Tennis Media voted on the Recent Player selectee, where a 75% favorable vote is required for induction. The International Masters Panel, which consists of Hall of Fame inductees and individuals who are highly knowledgeable of the sport and its history, voted on the Master Player and Contributor selectees. To be inducted as a Master Player or a Contributor, an affirmative vote of 75% is required.

Hall of Fame Eligibility Criteria
Recent Player: Monica Seles
Active as a competitor in the sport within the last 20 years prior to consideration; not a significant factor on the ATP World Tour or Sony Ericsson WTA Tour within five years prior to induction; a distinguished record of competitive achievement at the highest international level, with consideration given to integrity, sportsmanship and character.

Master Player: Andres Gimeno
Competitor in the sport who has been retired for at least 20 years prior to consideration; a distinguished record of competitive achievement at the highest international level, with consideration given to integrity, sportsmanship and character.

Contributors: Donald L. Dell and Dr. Robert Johnson (posthumously)
Exceptional contributions that have furthered the growth, reputation and character of the sport, in categories such as administration, media, coaching and officiating. Contributor candidates do not need to be retired from their activities related to the sport to be considered.

Establishment in 1954, the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of tennis and its champions. Tickets for the 2009 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships are available online at tennisfame.com or by calling 866-914-FAME. For more information on the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, the Class of 2009 Induction Weekend, the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, please call 401-849-3990 or visit online at www.tennisfame.com.

All content/images copyright © International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2006

Donald L. Dell has spent his life in the forefront of the sport of tennis.  As a player, he was a U.S. Davis Cup team member from 1961-64. As a non-playing captain of the 1968 and 1969 U.S. Davis Cup teams, he became the youngest U.S. captain and the first in 20 years to regain and successfully defend the Cup in consecutive years.  He reached his highest U.S. singles ranking of No. 4 in 1961, and made it to No. 1 in doubles in 1962-63. Dell also represented the U.S. State Department on two world tennis tours (1961 and 1965) and was the first American in history to play competitive tennis in the Soviet Union (1961).

During the Open era, Dell’s business career took off as he dove into the sports marketing and management arena and became the first person to represent and manage the careers of tennis players, beginning with Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith. Players faced an uncertain future as tennis became a professional sport, and Dell persevered to develop future player opportunities, recognizing an athlete’s need for sound career management and the development of effective sports marketing programs. He is credited with having developed some of the most significant and long-lasting partnerships between sponsors and sports properties and he has negotiated over a billion dollars in sponsorships and endorsements.

In 1970, Dell’s own private law practice evolved into Professional Services Inc., (ProServ) which quickly assumed a leadership role in a new sports marketing industry and was the first-ever management company to represent tennis players. As Founder and Chairman, in 1999 ProServ was acquired by SFX as an integral part of its organization, and today, residing under the corporate umbrella of BEST – Blue Entertainment Sports Television – Dell currently oversees and advises many of the group’s global television properties, including the French Open, the US Open, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, of which he is also a tournament founder, in addition to 20 ATP World Tour tennis telecasts. After the creation and success of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Dell gave the event to the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation and has assisted in raising over $15 million for children’s tennis programs in the DC area.

In 1972, along with tennis icon Jack Kramer, Dell founded the Association for Tennis Professionals as a players’ union and served as its first General Counsel for eight years. An active philanthropist, Dell is the Vice Chairman and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors and a member of both the USTA Public Relations Committee and the U.S. Davis Cup Selection Committee.

Spain’s Master Player Andres Gimeno won the French Open in 1972 at the age of 34 years, 10 months, the oldest champion to grace the red clay at Roland Garros. In addition, he reached the final at the 1969 Australian Open; the semifinals at the 1968 French Open and at Wimbledon in 1970; and the quarterfinals at the 1958 Australian Championships, and the 1960 and 1969 French Championships.

Gimeno captured seven singles titles and four doubles titles (in the Open era) and reached a career high ranking of No. 9 in the world. As a member of Spain’s Davis Cup team 1958-60, 1972 and 1973, he posted a playing record of 23-10.

As one of Spain’s premier amateur sportsmen, he became incredibly popular, as did the sport of tennis, and he became a national hero. In 1960, Gimeno signed on to the professional tennis tour staged by Jack Kramer and was an immediate sensation in the pro ranks – finishing his first series second only to Pancho Gonzalez.

Wielding a great overhead smash, strong volleys, a formidable forehand and with exceptional grace and balance, Gimeno’s career is highlighted in the sport’s amateur and professional periods, and then crossed into the Open era of tennis.

Dr. Robert “Whirlwind” Johnson (1899-1971) is considered the man most responsible for launching the careers of world tennis greats Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, the nation’s first African-American tennis champions. During a time of racial separation, Johnson, through quiet diplomacy, was able to open the doors of tournament competition to young African-Americans barred from mainstream competition. He persevered, despite the racial barriers of that time, and through whispered entreaties and legal challenges he helped pave the way for minorities to gain entrance into tournaments and excel at the highest levels of the game. For more than 20 years, Johnson’s home in Lynchburg, Virginia became the destination for talented black tennis players to receive training and to participate in integrated tournaments and exhibitions with the likes of Pauline Betz Addie and Bobby Riggs. He provided food, equipment, financial support and guidance throughout their development.

Through the American Tennis Association (ATA), which was formed in 1916, Johnson created the ATA Junior Development Program. In the 1950s and 1960s, he sponsored, trained and nurtured hundreds of African-American juniors – and several white juniors – at his Lynchburg home, where he had a tennis court in his backyard. He initiated the integration of black tennis at the junior level, and ultimately at the highest levels of the game, working as coach, trainer, sponsor and fundraiser – and courageously approaching tournament directors and lobbying for his players’ full participation. He was also publisher of the ATA’s annual program, distributed at the national championships, and his vehicle for informing the membership of the achievements of his junior players.

The names of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe (both Hall of Famers) and their life achievements will long be remembered in the world of tennis; they were the African-American trailblazers and became champions of the sport through their discipline and perseverance. However it was Johnson’s vision and innovative groundwork that gave Gibson and Ashe – and all future black champions – the training ground and road map to succeed.

Grand Slam Record
Australian Open
Singles Champion – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996
Singles Semifinalist – 1999
Singles Quarterfinalist – 2001
Win-loss record at the Australian Open: 43-4

Roland Garros
Singles Champion – 1990, 1991, 1992
Singles Finalist – 1998
Singles Semifinalist – 1997
Singles Quarterfinalist – 1996, 2000, 2002
Win-loss record at Roland Garros: 54-8

Wimbledon
Singles Finalist – 1992
Singles Quarterfinalist – 1990, 1998, 2000, 2002
Win-loss record at Wimbledon: 30-9

US Open
Singles Champion – 1991, 1992
Singles Finalist – 1995, 1996
Singles Quarterfinalist – 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
Win-loss record at the US Open: 53-10

Career Results

Australian Open Champion – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996
Roland Garros Champion- 1990, 1991, 1992
US Open Champion – 1991, 1992

Career singles titles: 53
Career singles win-loss record: 595-122
Career doubles titles: 6
Year turned pro: 1989

Season Ending Championships
Winner – 1990, 1991, 1992
Finalist – 2000
Quarterfinalist – 1989, 1998, 2002
Qualified but did not compete – 1995, 1999, 2001

World Rankings:
Ranked World No. 1 in 1991 and 1992
Weeks at No. 1: 178 (non-consecutive)
1989 – No. 6
1990 – No. 2
1991 – No. 1
1992 – No. 1
1995 – Co-No. 1 with Steffi Graf
1996 – Co-No. 2 with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
1997 – No. 5
1998 – No. 6
1999 – No. 6
2000 – No. 4
2001 – No. 10
2002 – No. 7

Fed Cup Competition
United States Team – 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
Fed Cup winners: 1996, 1999*, 2000
Singles record: 15-2
Doubles record: 2-0
* did not play in the World Finals

Highest Ranking

World Rankings:
Ranked World No. 1 in 1991 and 1992
Weeks at No. 1: 178 (non-consecutive)
1989 – No. 6
1990 – No. 2
1991 – No. 1
1992 – No. 1
1995 – Co-No. 1 with Steffi Graf
1996 – Co-No. 2 with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
1997 – No. 5
1998 – No. 6
1999 – No. 6
2000 – No. 4
2001 – No. 10
2002 – No. 7

Monica Seles held the World No. 1 ranking for 178 weeks (non-consecutive) and captured nine Grand Slam singles titles – four Australian (1991-1993, 1996), three at Roland Garros (1990-1992) and two US Opens (1991-1992). Her win-loss record at the Grand Slams was a staggering 43-4 at the Australian, 54-8 at Roland Garros, 30-9 at Wimbledon and 53-10 at the US Open. In a career spanning 15 years, she captured 53 singles titles and six doubles titles and collected well over $14 million in prize money. She won three consecutive year-end WTA Championships (1990-1992) and finished as the world’s No. 1 ranked player in both 1991 and 1992.

A natural lefty, wielding double-handed forehands and backhands, she was a determined competitor.  Her footwork was impeccable, her groundstrokes powerful and aggressive, and she constantly attacked her opponents with an arsenal of remarkable weapons.

At age 19, Seles had already won eight of her nine singles slams and was at the top of her game. Then in April 1993, during a changeover of her quarterfinal match against Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg, a fanatical fan of Steffi Graf came out of nowhere and stabbed her in the back, just below her left shoulder blade. The horror of this event sent shockwaves through the tennis community, and 27 months would pass before Seles played competitively again. When she returned to the courts, she was granted a co-No. 1 ranking (shared with Steffi Graf) and won her comeback event at the Canadian Open, reached the US Open final, and followed up with her ninth Grand Slam singles championship at the Australian Open (1996).

Born December 2, 1973 in Novi Sad, in what was then Yugoslavia, she moved with her family to the United States in 1987 at the age of 13 to train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. On March 16, 1994, she became a U.S. citizen. Seles would play on the United States Fed Cup team for five years (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002) posting a career 15-2 singles record and a 2-0 doubles record while helping the Americans capture the Cup in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

Seles remains the youngest champion in history to win at Roland Garros (16 years, 6 months) and was the youngest winner of the Tour Championships (16 years, 11 months) beating Gabriela Sabatini in the first women’s match to extend to five sets since the 1901 U.S. National final. In addition, Seles won the Olympic bronze medal in 2000. Throughout her career, Seles won numerous awards, multiple Player and Athlete of the Year awards, and humanitarian awards. She is currently on the board of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and ICL (Institution for Civil Leadership).

Grand Slam Record
U.S.     Singles     1905
Singles finalist     1901, 06, 08
Doubles     1904-06
Doubles finalist     1901, 08, 18

Wimbledon     Doubles finalist     1907

Tournament Record
Olympic     Gold Medal Singles     1904
Gold Medal Doubles     1904

Davis Cup     Team Member     1905, 1907-08, 1911

Before the turn of the century, Beals Coleman Wright was a national champion, winning the Interscholastic singles for Boston’s Hopkinson School in 1898 at 18, and repeating the following year when he made his first of 11 entries in the U.S. Top Ten at No. 8. In 1900 his brother won the Interscholastic for the same school.

In 1905, dethroning Holcombe Ward, he was the second lefty to win the U.S. singles following Bob Wrenn. He had to beat the future champ Bill Clothier, 9-7, 6-2, 6-2, and than ex-champ Bill Larned, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, plus Clarence Hobart to reach the challenge round to topple Ward 6-2, 6-1, 11-9.

Extremely aggressive, Wright received inside the baseline and approached with his returns and serves. Few liked to play against his fiendish chop and wide-spinning serve.

His biggest year was 1905. It included one of his three U.S. doubles titles (with Ward), and Davis Cup victories over Australian greats Tony Wilding, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, and Norman Brookes 12-10, 5-7, 12-10, 6-4, that sent the U.S. into a losing Cup round against Britain. In 1908 he beat those two again, even more stunning victories since it was the Davis Cup finale at Melbourne, their home turf. But it wasn’t enough in a 3-2 defeat. He was born December 19, 1879, in Boston, lived in Brookline, MA, and died August 23, 1961, in Alton, IL. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1956.

Grand Slam Record
U.S.     Singles     1893-94, 1896-97
Singles finalist     1895
Doubles     1895
Doubles finalist     1896

Tournament Record
Intercollegiate     Doubles     1891, 92

Davis Cup     Team Member     1903

Contributions
U.S.T.A.     President     1912-1915

A four-time U.S. singles champ, Robert Duffield Wrenn won the last of those titles in 1897 before serving in Cuba with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War. One of Bob’s comrades in arms was future champion Bill Larned. Unfortunately Wrenn contracted yellow fever during that campaign and never regained pre-war form.

He came from a prominent Chicago family of several fine athletes, and became a topflight football, baseball and tennis player at Harvard. Noted for swiftness and court coverage, a defensive star featuring devilish lobs, he was the first left-hander to win the U.S. singles. He beat Fred Hovey for the 1893 title, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, and kept it by repelling Manliffe Goodbody in the 1894 challenge round.

Hovey took it from him easily in 1895. But Bob wrested it back, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0, 1-6, 6-1, in the 1896 challenge round, and fended off the first Aussie to chase a U.S. title, Wilberforce Eaves, 4-6, 8-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, in the 1897 challenge round. War service prevented him from defending in 1898. He did team with his right-handed younger brother, George Wrenn, as the U.S. Davis Cup doubles pair in 1903 when they lost to the British Dohertys, Laurie and Reggie, 7-5, 9-7, 2-6, 6-3, the only instance of brothers clashing for the Cup.

They were the only brothers to play together for the U.S., and to rank concurrently in the U.S. Top Ten: Bob was No. 1 in 1893, 1894, 1896 and 1897, No. 8 in 1892 and 1900; George four times No. 6 during his five years up there between 1896 and 1900. Another brother, Everts, ranked No. 18 in 1896. In Bob’s last thrust for the U.S. singles title he was beaten by George in a 1900 quarterfinal, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, the only such brotherly battle in the Championships. George then lost the all-comers, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, to Larned.

After leaving Harvard, Bob became a stockbroker in New York, and was president of the USTA from 1912 through 1915. Born September 20, 1873, in Highland Park, IL, he died November 12, 1925, and was named to the Hall of Fame in 1955.

Grand Slam Record
French     Mixed finalist     1932

Wimbledon     Singles     1931

U.S.     Singles finalist     1935
Doubles finalist     1942

Tournament Record
Davis Cup     Team Member     1931, 1934

Other
Developer of Supreme Court synthetic carpet

Playing in knickerbockers against the great Frenchman, René Lacoste, 15-year-old Sidney Burr Beardsley Wood was the youngest Wimbledon entrant ever in 1927. Four years later he became the second-youngest champion of Centre Court, and without stepping onto the hallowed sod. Frank Shields, with an injured ankle, withdrew, marking the only time Wimbledon has had a defaulted final.

Born November 1, 1911, in Black Rock, CT, Wood, a 5-foot-91/2 right-hander, never reached that 1931 eminence again, although he did get to play a major final, losing the U.S. to Wilmer Allison in 1935, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. A slim, nimble blond, he ranked in the U.S. Top Ten 10 times between 1930 and 1945, No. 2 in 1934, and was in the World Top Ten five times between 1931 and 1938, No. 5 in 1938, No. 6 in 1931.

He was a Davis Cupper in 1931 and 1934, and in the latter year was part of the most astounding U.S. comeback, from 0-2 against Australia in London. Having lost the first day to Viv McGrath, Wood was heartened by George Lott and Les Stoefen’s holding action doubles victory over Adrian Quist and Jack Crawford, and he knocked off Jack Crawford, 6-3, 9-7, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, to open the third day and tie the score at 2-2. Then Shields beat McGrath, and the U.S. entered the finals, losing, 4-1, to Britain. There, on opening day, Wood battled the Cup-holder’s main man, Fred Perry, losing 6-1, 4-6, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, and also lost to Bunny Austin on the third day. An inventive man, he was a developer of Supreme Court, the synthetic carpet on which most indoor events are played. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1964.

Contributions
Founder     Modern Lawn Tennis

Author     The Book of the Game
The Major’s Game of Lawn Tennis

Other
Inventor     Butterfly Bicycle

Gentleman-at-Arms     The Royal Body Guard

Captain     First Dragoon Guards

Lawn tennis arrived at a time of need in the spring of 1874, as it was a simple game affording vigorous exercise for all ages and both sexes, played in pleasant social settings. Easily learned and played, it spread around the world in a few months. Now more complex, it retains the charm and wonderful attributes, still easily learned but difficult to master. A true international sport, Walter Clopton Wingfield, the inventor, deserves our gratitude.

Grand Slam Record
French     Singles     1928-30, 1932
Doubles     1930, 32
Mixed finalist     1928, 29, 32

Wimbledon     Singles     1927-30, 32-33, 35, 38
Singles finalist     1924
Doubles     1924, 27, 30
Mixed     1929

U.S.     Singles     1923-25, 27-29, 31
Singles finalist     1922
Doubles     1922, 24-25, 28
Doubles finalist     1933
Mixed     1924, 28
Mixed finalist     1922

Tournament Record
Olympic     Singles     1924
Doubles     1924

Wightman Cup           1923-25, 1927-32, 1938

It scarcely seems possible that two players of the transcendent ability of Helen Newington Wills Moody Roark and Suzanne Lenglen could have been contemporaries. They were ranked for close to half a century as the two best female tennis players of all time. Their records are unmatched and hardly have been approached.

While indeed contemporaries, they were rivals in only one match, played in 1926 and won by Lenglen, 6-3, 8-6, at Cannes, France. Lenglen, not yet 27, was at the crest of her game, with six Wimbledon championships in her possession. Wills’ game at 20 had not quite attained full maturity, though she had been in the Wimbledon final of 1924, and would win eight times. Their rivalry was limited to the single meeting, for later that same year Wills was stricken with appendicitis and Lenglen turned pro.

It would be difficult to imagine two players of more different personalities and types of game. Between 1919 and 1938 Wills won 52 of 92 tournaments on a 398-35-match record, a .919 average, and had a 158-match winning streak (27 tournaments to the 1933 U.S. final, the only time she lost to Helen Jacobs in 11 meetings).

Quiet, reserved, and never changing expression, Wills, known as Little Miss Poker Face, played with unruffled poise and never exhibited the style, the flair or the emotional outbursts that Lenglen did. From her first appearance in the East in 1921, when she was national junior champion, Wills’ typical garb on the court was a white sailor suit, white eyeshade and white shoes and stockings.

The game she played right-handed was one of sheer power, which she had developed in practice against men on the West Coast. From both forehand and backhand she hammered the ball almost the full length of the court regularly, and the speed, pace and depth of her drives, in conjunction with her tactical moves, sufficed to subdue her opponents. She could hit winners as spectacularly from the baseline on the backhand as on the forehand.

She went to the net occasionally, not nearly as often as Lenglen, and Wills was sound in her volleying and decisive overhead with her smash. Her slice service, breaking wide and pulling the receiver beyond the alley, was as good as any female player has commanded.

Her footwork was not so good. She did not move with the grace and quickness of Lenglen, and opponents fared best against her who could use the drop shot or changes of length to draw her forward and send her running back. Anchored to the baseline, she could run any opponent into the ground. Because of her exceptional sense of anticipation, she seemed to be in the right spot, and it was not often that she appeared to be hurried in her stroking.

She was born October 6, 1905, in Centreville, CA, and the facts of her invincibility are stark. She won the Wimbledon title a record eight times (surpassed by Martina Navratilova’s nine in 1990) in nine tries, her only loss coming in her first appearance, in 1924. She won the U.S. championship seven times. From 1927 to 1932 she did not lose a set in singles anywhere. She won seven U.S., five Wimbledon and four French championships without loss of a set until Dorothy Round of Britain extended her to 6-4, 6-8, 6-3 in the 1933 Wimbledon final.

In Wightman Cup play from 1923 to 1938, she won 18 singles matches and lost two, both in 1924. She won the Olympic singles and doubles in Paris in 1924. When she scored her first Wimbledon victory, in 1927, she was the first American woman to be crowned there since May Sutton in 1905.

Two of her three most remarkable matches were her meeting with Lenglen in 1926 and her default because of back pain to rival Helen Jacobs when trailing 0-3 in the third set of the 1933 U.S. Championships. The third remarkable match was in the 1935 Wimbledon final in which Jacobs led, 5-2, in the third set and stood at match point, only to see the then Mrs. Moody rally and add one more victory to her astounding record.

In 1928 she became the first player to win three majors in the same year–French, Wimbledon and U.S.–and the first American to rule at Stade Roland Garros, where she was unbeaten while winning four titles. Her total of 19 major singles titles was the record for 32 years, until Margaret Smith Court (24) passed her in 1970. But her success was the most phenomenal ever, considering that she won 19 of 22 entered, winning 126 of 129 matches (.977), never worse than finalist.

She became Mrs. Aidan Roark in 1939 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.