Tony Trabert

Marion Anthony Trabert (August 16, 1930 – February 3, 2021) was an American amateur world No. 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker.

Tony Trabert

Trabert in 1960
Full name	Marion Anthony Trabert
Country (sports)	United States
Born	August 16, 1930 Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Died	February 3, 2021 (aged 90) Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, United States
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Turned pro	1955 (amateur from 1945)
Retired	1963
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1970 (member page)
Singles
Career record	700–413 (62.9%)[1]
Career titles	56[1]
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1953, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1955)
French Open	W (1954, 1955)
Wimbledon	W (1955)
US Open	W (1953, 1955)
Other tournaments
Professional majors
US Pro	F (1960)
Wembley Pro	F (1958)
French Pro	W (1956, 1959)
TOC	SF (1959)
Doubles
Career record	2–4
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1955)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (1955)
French Open	W (1950, 1954, 1955)
Wimbledon	F (1954)
US Open	W (1954)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1954)

Trabert was the No. 1 ranked amateur player in the world in 1953 and 1955, and the winner of ten Grand Slam titles – five in singles and five in doubles. He won two French singles championships, two U.S. National Men's Singles Championships, and one Wimbledon Gentlemen Singles championship. Until Michael Chang won the French Open in 1989, Trabert was the last American to hoist the championship trophy. He turned professional in the fall of 1955.

Tennis career

Amateur

Trabert (left) with Jack Kramer in 1955

Trabert was a stand-out athlete in tennis and basketball at the University of Cincinnati, and was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.[2] In 1951, he won the NCAA Championship Singles title.[3] He played doubles with Bob Mault and was coached by George Menefee, who later became the head trainer for the Los Angeles Rams. Trabert was also a starter on the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team at the University of Cincinnati.[4] Previously, at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, he had been Ohio scholastic champion three times and played guard on the 1948 basketball team that won the District Championship.[4]

A native of Cincinnati, Trabert grew up two houses down from a public park. It had clay courts that helped hone his groundstrokes.[5] By age 11, Trabert was winning junior tournaments and eventually became the world's No. 1 amateur at age 25. He turned pro after winning the ’55 U.S. Championships because he had a wife and two children to support. Trabert honed his tennis skills on the courts of the Cincinnati Tennis Club with the help of another member of that club, fellow International Tennis Hall of Famer Billy Talbert. Talbert became Trabert's mentor. In 1951, Trabert posted his first win over Talbert in the final of Cincinnati's international tennis tournament (now known as the Cincinnati Masters). In 1953, Trabert won the men's singles in the Ojai Tennis Tournament.[6]

Trabert's record in 1955 was one of the greatest ever by an American tennis player.[2] He won the three most prestigious tournaments in amateur tennis—the French, Wimbledon, and American Championships—en route to being ranked world no. 1 among the amateurs for that year.[7] In the midst of his amateur career, Trabert's game was interrupted by a two-year stint in the Navy, serving on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War, but this did not stop him.[8][4] He is one of only seven male players to have won three Grand Slam singles title in a year.[5] Trabert's own chance at a Grand Slam was stopped with a loss to Ken Rosewall in the semifinals at the Australian Championships.[9] Trabert won 18 tournaments in 1955, compiling a match record of 106 wins to 7 losses, which included a 38-match winning streak.[3]

An athletic right-hander who mostly played a serve and volley game,[5] Trabert won all five of the Grand Slam singles finals he appeared in. He won the French Championships in 1954 and 1955 (1954 over Mervyn Rose, Budge Patty in the semifinal and Arthur Larsen in the final, and 1955 over Rose in the semifinal and Sven Davidson in the final), becoming the last American man to win that event until Michael Chang in 1989,[2] the U.S. Championships in 1953 and 1955 (1953 over Vic Seixas in the final, and 1955 over Rosewall in the final), and the Wimbledon title in 1955 (over Kurt Nielsen in the final) without losing a set (a record shared with Don Budge, Chuck McKinley, and Björn Borg).[5][8]

Trabert, along with Vic Seixas, was an American Davis Cup team mainstay during the early 1950s, during which time the Americans reached the finals five times, winning the cup in 1954. It was one of only two victories over the dominant Australian teams during the decade (the other being in 1958). He called the 1954 Davis Cup win the "biggest thrill in my tennis career".[8]

Professional

Having reached the top amateur ranking in 1955, Trabert turned professional in the fall of that year. Trabert explained: “When I won Wimbledon as an amateur, I got a 10-pound certificate, which was worth $27 redeemable at Lilly White’s Sporting Goods store in London. Jack Kramer offered me a guarantee of $75,000 against a percentage of the gate to play on his tour." With a wife and two children to support, the decision was clear.[10] In 1956, he was beaten on the head-to-head world pro tour by the reigning king of professional tennis Pancho Gonzales, 74–27, consisting mostly of indoor matches on a portable loose canvas surface.[2] However, he beat Gonzales in 5 sets at Roland Garros in the final of the 1956 French Pro title.[5] Trabert also won a South American tour against Gonzales in 1956, winning 6 matches against Gonzales outdoors on clay, and losing three matches to the champion indoor, for a 6–3 tour victory.[11] For the year 1956 as a whole, Trabert had an edge over Gonzales in outdoor matches of 15-11 (1-1 on grass, 5–5 on cement, and 9–5 on clay).[12]

In the 1958 pro tour, Trabert won a personal series against Segura 34–31, showing that he had adjusted to the portable canvas surface used by the Kramer pros in small indoor venues and gyms.[13] In the Wembley Pro in 1958, he defeated Rosewall in the semi-final and was runner-up to Sedgman . In the French Pro at Roland Garros in 1959, Trabert beat Rosewall in the semifinal and then defeated Frank Sedgman in the final, to win his fourth title at the red clay venue.[5] In the 1960 US Pro (billed as Cleveland World Pro), he was runner-up to Alex Olmedo. In November 1961, Trabert led the United States team into the Kramer Cup final (the pro equivalent of the Davis Cup) at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Trabert defeated Rosewall in four sets, but lost the fifth and deciding rubber to Hoad in four sets.[14] In October 1962, Trabert won the South African Pro Championships on the cement courts of Ellis Park in Johannesburg by defeating Hoad in the final in five sets.[15] Trabert also had wins over Hoad at the Forest Hills Tournament of Champions in 1957 and 1958.[16]

Post-playing career

Trabert with wife Shauna in 1953

After retiring from the game, Trabert enjoyed a 33-year career (1971–2004) as a tennis and golf analyst for CBS covering such events as the US Open. During many of those years he teamed up with Pat Summerall and was the lead expert commentator at the US Open.[17] The popularity of their broadcasts helped propel the US Open into an annual financial success for CBS and the United States Tennis Association. He was also the US Davis Cup team captain from 1976 to 1980. Trabert's captaincy is remembered by his frustration in dealing with the egos of younger players like John McEnroe, and for his racket-wielding expulsion of anti-apartheid protesters who ran onto the court during a Davis Cup match against South Africa at the Newport Beach Tennis Club in California in April 1977.[18]

He was also a tennis author and was a motivational speaker. In 1988, he published a book, Trabert on Tennis, sharing his insights on the game from a player's, coach's, and commentator's standpoint.[5] In 1970, with the encouragement of Dr. Toby Freedman his good friend and doctor, Trabert opened a tennis camp "Trabert Tennis Camp" in Ojai, California at Thacher School, and then one in Pebble Beach, for ages 8–18 with his son, Mike Trabert, which he operated for many years before handing it over to his son and grandchildren.[8]

Trabert served as President of the Hall of Fame from 2001 to 2011.[8]

In 2004 he announced his retirement from broadcasting while commentating at the Wimbledon Championships.[5]

Trabert resided in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida with his wife of thirty years, Vicki, and their grandchildren.[4] Together, they had five children (two of his and three of hers) and 14 grandchildren.[4] Forty years after his matches with Gonzales, Trabert told interviewer Joe McCauley "that Gonzales' serve was the telling factor on their tour — it was so good that it earned him many cheap points. Trabert felt that, while he had the better ground-strokes, he could not match Pancho's big, fluent service."[19] In his 1979 autobiography The Game Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and former world No. 1 player, included Trabert in his list of the 21 greatest players[lower-alpha 1] of all time.

Trabert died aged 90 on February 3, 2021.[21]

Awards and honors

In 1970, Trabert was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.[5] He was enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002 together with Billy Talbert.[22] On September 8, 2014, Trabert was inducted into the United States Tennis Association's Court of Champions prior to the US Open men's singles final.[8]

Major finals

Source:[23]

Singles: 5 (5 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1953	U.S. Championships	Grass	Victor Seixas	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
Win	1954	French Championships	Clay	Arthur Larsen	6–4, 7–5, 6–1
Win	1955	French Championships (2)	Clay	Sven Davidson	2–6, 6–1, 6–4, 6–2
Win	1955	Wimbledon	Grass	Kurt Nielsen	6–3, 7–5, 6–1
Win	1955	U.S. Championships (2)	Grass	Ken Rosewall	9–7, 6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1950	French Championships	Clay	Bill Talbert	Jaroslav Drobný Eric Sturgess	6–2, 1–6, 10–8, 6–2
Win	1954	French Championships	Clay	Vic Seixas	Lew Hoad Ken Rosewall	6–4, 6–2, 6–1
Loss	1954	Wimbledon	Grass	Vic Seixas	Rex Hartwig Mervyn Rose	4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win	1954	U.S. Championships	Grass	Vic Seixas	Lew Hoad Ken Rosewall	3–6, 6–4, 8–6, 6–3
Win	1955	Australian Championships	Grass	Vic Seixas	Lew Hoad Ken Rosewall	6–3, 6–2, 2–6, 3–6, 6–1
Win	1955	French Championships	Clay	Vic Seixas	Nicola Pietrangeli Orlando Sirola	6–1, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4

Pro Slam tournaments

Source:[24]

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1956	French Pro	Clay	Pancho Gonzales	6–3, 4–6, 5–7, 8–6, 6–2
Loss	1958	Wembley Pro	Indoor	Frank Sedgman	4–6, 3–6, 4–6
Win	1959	French Pro	Clay	Frank Sedgman	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	1960	U.S. Pro	Indoor	Alex Olmedo	5–7, 4–6

Singles performance timeline

Trabert joined the professional tennis circuit in 1955 and as a consequence was banned from competing in the amateur Grand Slams until the start of the Open Era at the 1968 French Open.

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments																	5 / 16	58–11	84.1
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	SF	not eligible								0 / 2	4–2	66.7
French Open	A	A	4R	A	4R	A	W	W	not eligible								2 / 4	18–2	90.0
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	A	A	A	SF	W	not eligible								1 / 3	13–2	86.7
US Open	3R	2R	1R	QF	A	W	QF	W	not eligible								2 / 7	23–5	82.1
Pro Slam tournaments																	2 / 19	27–17	61.4
U.S. Pro	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	SF	SF	A	F	A	A	QF	0 / 5	5–5	50.0
French Pro	not held								W	NH	QF	W	SF	SF	1R	1R	2 / 7	11–5	68.8
Wembley Pro	NH	A	A	A	A	A	NH	NH	SF	A	F	SF	QF	QF	QF	QF	0 / 7	11–7	61.1
Win–Loss	2–1	1–1	3–3	4–1	3–1	6–0	16–3	23–1	6–2	1–1	4–3	6–1	5–3	3–2	1–2	1–3	7 / 35	85–28	75.2

The results of the Pro Tours are not listed here.
Source:[25]

Notes

1. Kramer considered the best player ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.[20]

References

1. "Tony Trabert: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
2. Collins, Bud (2016). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (3rd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. p. 694. ISBN 978-1-937559-38-0.
3. Keith Jenkins (February 4, 2021). "Tennis Hall of Famer, former Cincinnati Bearcats standout Tony Trabert dies at 90". Cincinnati.com.
4. Richard Goldstein (February 4, 2021). "Tony Trabert, a Two-Time No. 1 in Men's Tennis, Dies at 90". The New York Times.
5. James Buddell (February 4, 2021). "Tony Trabert, Major champion & tennis icon, dies aged 90". ATP Tour. Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
6. Images of America – Ojai. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. 2007. p. 112. ISBN 9780738555775.
7. "Happy 90th birthday, Tony Trabert". ATP Tour. Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). August 20, 2020.
8. Mark Preston (February 4, 2021). "Remembering Tony Trabert". USTA.
9. "Trabert hopes crash over Rosewall". The Argus (Melbourne). January 31, 1955. p. 23 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Tony Trabert". International Tennis Hall of Fame.
11. L.A. Times, July 30, 1956
12. "Tony Trabert Player Activity 1956". thetennisbase.com. Tennis Base.
13. McCauley, p.208
14. McCauley, p115
15. McCauley, p.120
16. McCauley, pp. 206, 209
17. Mark Schmetzer (January 15, 2016). "Tennis legend Tony Trabert enjoying retirement". Cincinnati.com.
18. Lorge, Barry (February 1, 1978). "USTA: No Choice On Davis Clash With S. Africa". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
19. McCauley, Joe (2000) The History of Professional Tennis. The Short Run Book Company Limited
20. Kramer, Jack (1981). The Game : My 40 Years in Tennis. London: Deutsch. pp. 43–45. ISBN 978-0233973074.
21. Buddell, James (February 4, 2021). "Tony Trabert, Major Champion & Tennis Icon, Dies Aged 90". ATP Tour. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
22. "Cincinnati Tennis GCTA Hall of Fame" (PDF). Greater Cincinnati Tennis Association.
23. "Tony Trabert". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
24. McCauley, Joe (2000) The History of Professional Tennis. The Short Run Book Company Limited, pp. 205, 211, 214, 217
25. "Tony Trabert – Player Activity". ATP Tour. Retrieved February 5, 2021.

Sources

• The Game: My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (ISBN 0-399-12336-9)
• Little Pancho (2009), Caroline Seebohm
• Man with a Racket: The Autobiography of Pancho Gonzales (1959), as told to Cy Rice
• Trabert Cup (2000), Men's 40 and over International Competition
• Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame (2002)

External links

• Tony Trabert at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Tony Trabert at the International Tennis Federation
• Tony Trabert at the Davis Cup
• Tony Trabert at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Image of tennis players Tony Trabert and Pancho Gonzales with Beans Reardon at Bond Club luncheon in Los Angeles, California, 1955. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.