Shields, Francis

Francis Xavier Shields, Jr. “Frank”
Born: November 18, 1909
Died: August 19, 1975
Hometown: New York, New York, United States
Citizenship: United States
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1964

Grand Slam Record
U.S.     Singles finalist     1930
Doubles finalist     1933
Mixed finalist     1930

Wimbledon     Singles finalist     1931

Tournament Record
Davis Cup     Team Member     1931-32, 1934

A dashing, handsome performer who spent some time in Hollywood in bit movie roles, unseeded Francis Xavier Shields was the only Wimbledon finalist to lose without going onto the court. Frank defaulted the 1931 final to Sidney Wood beforehand, sidelined by an ankle injury suffered in the semis when he beat Jean Borotra the 1924 and 1926 champ, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander was a came-close guy. Eleventh-seeded, in his first major final, the U.S. of 1930, he had a shot at Johnny Doeg, but couldn’t connect on a set point against Doeg’s rugged lefty serve at 13-14 in the deciding set and lost, 10-8, 1-6, 6-4, 16-14. In 1928, an 18-year-old seventh seed, he got to the U.S. semis losing to the champ, Henri Cochet, 6-2, 8-6, 6-4, and again, second-seeded in 1933, falling to the foreign seeded Wimbledon champ Jack Crawford, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3. A year later at Wimbledon, he came closer but couldn’t hold Crawford down, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Between 1928 and 1945 he was ranked eight times in the U.S. Top Ten. No. 1 in 1933 and No 2 in 1930. He was a U.S. Davis Cupper in 1931, 1932 and 1934, winning 19 of 25 matches, and was non-playing captain in 1951 when the team won four matches, then lost the finale in Australia, 3-2. In 1934 he sent the U.S. into the finale (a 4-1 loss to Britain) by winning the decisive fifth match, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, Viv McGrath to clinch a 3-2 victory over Australia at Wimbledon. It was the only time the U.S. came back from 0-2 to win a Cup tie.

Shields was born in New York November 18, 1909, and died there August 19, 1975. Movie and television actress Brooke Shields is his granddaughter. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1964.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 11:28 am and is filed under Hall of Famer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.