1. Marion Anthony Trabert was an American amateur world No 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker.
35 Facts About Tony Trabert
1. 2.
Tony Trabert was ranked world No 1 amateur by many sources in 1953, by Ned Potter and The New York Times in 1954 and by Lance Tingay and Ned Potter in 1955.
3.
Tony Trabert won two French singles championships, two US National Men's Singles Championships, and one Wimbledon gentlemen's singles championship.
4.
Until Michael Chang won the French Open in 1989, Tony Trabert was the last American to hoist the championship trophy.
5.
Tony Trabert won the French Professional Championships at Roland Garros in 1956 and 1959.
6.
Tony Trabert was a stand-out athlete in tennis and basketball at the University of Cincinnati, and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.
7.
Tony Trabert played doubles with Bob Mault and was coached by George Menefee, who later became the head trainer for the Los Angeles Rams.
8.
Tony Trabert was a starter on the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team at the University of Cincinnati.
9.
Tony 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.
10.
In 1951, Tony Trabert posted his first win over Talbert in the final of Cincinnati's international tennis tournament.
11.
In 1953, Tony Trabert won the men's singles in the Ojai Tennis Tournament.
12.
In 1954 Tony Trabert won the French Championships and was ranked world number one amateur by Ned Potter in World Tennis and by panel of 8 experts in The New York Times.
13.
In 1955, Tony Trabert won three consecutive Grand Slam singles titles: the French, Wimbledon and US Championships.
14.
Tony Trabert was ranked world number one amateur for 1955 by Lance Tingay and by Ned Potter.
15.
Tony Trabert won Wimbledon and the US in 1955 without losing a set.
16.
Tony Trabert is one of only ten male players to have won three Grand Slam singles title in a year.
17.
Tony Trabert won 18 tournaments in 1955, compiling a match record of 106 wins to 7 losses, which included a 38-match winning streak.
18.
Tony 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.
19.
Tony Trabert called the 1954 Davis Cup win the "biggest thrill in my tennis career".
20.
Tony Trabert turned pro after winning the '55 US Championships because he had a wife and two children to support.
21.
Tony Trabert felt that, while he had the better ground-strokes, he could not match Pancho's big, fluent service.
22.
In November 1961, Tony Trabert led the United States team into the Kramer Cup final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
23.
Tony Trabert defeated Rosewall in four sets, but lost the fifth and deciding rubber to Lew Hoad in four sets.
24.
In October 1962, Tony 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.
25.
Tony Trabert had wins over Hoad at the Forest Hills Tournament of Champions in 1957 and 1958.
26.
Tony Trabert was the US Davis Cup team captain from 1976 to 1980.
27.
Tony 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.
28.
Tony Trabert was a tennis author and was a motivational speaker.
29.
Tony Trabert served as president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island from 2001 to 2011.
30.
Tony Trabert resided in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida with Vicki Tony Trabert, his wife of 30 years, and their grandchildren.
31.
Tony Trabert died at age 90 at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on February 3,2021.
32.
In 1970, Tony Trabert was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
33.
Tony Trabert was enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002 together with Billy Talbert.
34.
On September 8,2014, Tony Trabert was inducted into the United States Tennis Association's Court of Champions prior to the US Open men's singles final.
35.
Tony 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.