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Vic Seixas

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Vic Seixas
Seixas in 1954
Full nameElias Victor Seixas Jr.
Country (sports)United States
Born(1923-08-30)August 30, 1923
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,U.S.
DiedJuly 5, 2024(2024-07-05)(aged 100)
Mill Valley, California,U.S.
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Retired1970
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF1971(member page)
Singles
Career record801–236 (77.2%)[1]
Career titles49[1]
Highest rankingNo.1(1954,Harry Hopman)[2]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenSF (1953)
French OpenF (1953)
WimbledonW(1953)
US OpenW(1954)
Doubles
Career record4–9
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenW(1955)
French OpenW(1954, 1955)
WimbledonF (1952,1954)
US OpenW(1952, 1954)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French OpenW(1953)
WimbledonW(1953,1954,1955,1956)
US OpenW(1953, 1954, 1955)
Team competitions
Davis CupW(1954)

Elias Victor Seixas Jr.(/ˈseɪʃəs/SAY-shəs;[3][4]August 30, 1923 – July 5, 2024) was an Americantennis player.

Seixas was ranked in the top ten in the U.S. on 13 occasions from 1942 to 1956. In 1951, Seixas was ranked No. 4 amateur in the world, two spots belowDick Savitt,while he was No. 1 in the U.S. ranking, one spot ahead of Savitt. In 1953, Seixas was ranked No. 3 in the world byLance Tingay.In 1954, Seixas was ranked amateur number one by Harry Hopman.[5]

In his career, Seixas won 15 Major championships. He won bothWimbledonand theUS Openin singles. He also won theAustralian Open,French Open(twice), and US Open (twice) in doubles, and the French Open, Wimbledon (four times), and US Open (three times) in mixed doubles.

Seixas was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame,the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, and theSouthern ConferenceHall of Fame.

Early life

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Seixas was born on August 30, 1923 inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,[6]to Anna Victoria (néeMoon), who was of Irish descent, and Elias Victor Seixas, who was born in theDominican Republic,[7]of Dutch-Jewishdescent. He is reported to have been Jewish by a number of sources,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]but was raised Presbyterian.[15]He attended and graduated from theWilliam Penn Charter School,where he was a tennis star.[16][17][18][19]

Seixas served as a pilot in theUnited States Army Air CorpsduringWorld War IIfor three years, which interrupted his tennis career.[20][3][21]He then attended theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,where he was a member of Alpha Sigma chapter of theChi Psifraternity.[20][3][21]He was 63–3 at UNC, won theSouthern Conferencesingles championship in 1948 and the doubles championship in 1949, and was anAll American.[3][20]He graduated in 1949, the same year that UNC awarded him the Patterson Medal, the school's top medal in athletics.[22]

Tennis career

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During the course of his lengthy career, Seixas won scores of singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles. He entered the US Championships men's singles a record 28 times from 1940 to 1969.[23]

Seixas was ranked in the top ten in the US 13 times from 1942 to 1956.[24]In 1951, Seixas was ranked No. 4 in the world, two spots belowDick Savitt,while he was No. 1 in the US ranking (a ranking he also held in 1954 and 1957), one spot ahead of Savitt.[25][26][27]In 1953, Seixas was ranked No. 3 in the world byLance Tingayand was cited as being the world No. 1 in theReading Eaglethe same year.[28]

His major singles wins include Wimbledon in 1953 overKurt Nielsen(where his 'cash' winnings was a £25 certificate to spend at a shop inPiccadilly Circus[29]) and the US National (U.S. Open) in 1954 overRex Hartwig.[20]

Seixas was also a successful doubles and mixed doubles player. In 1952, he won the US National doubles withMervyn Rose.In the mid-1950s, he formed a successful partnership withTony Trabert,winning the 1954FrenchandUS Championships,as well as the 1955 Australian and French Championships. Additionally, they won the decisive third point in the1954 Davis Cupwin over Australia. Seixas won four consecutive mixed doubles crowns at Wimbledon from 1953 to 1956, the first three withDoris Hartand the fourth withShirley Fry;the US National mixed doubles from 1953 to 1955, all with Doris Hart; and the French Championships mixed doubles in 1953 with Doris Hart.[20]

In 1966, at 42 years of age, Seixas played 94 games over four hours to defeat 22-year old AustralianBill Bowrey,32–34, 6–4, 10–8 at the 1966 Philadelphia Grass Championship.[20]

Davis Cup

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Seixas and Trabert won theDavis Cupin1954,against Australia. Seixas is rated fifth in the category of most Davis Cup Singles matches (24), just behindBill Tilden(25) andArthur Ashe(27). He served three times as Captain of the US Davis Cup team. He was 38–17 lifetime in Davis Cup matches.[30]

Halls of Fame

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Seixas was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Famein 1971.[31]He was also inducted into the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Hall of Fame.[32]

Seixas was inducted into Class II of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. He was inducted into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame in 2011.[3]

After tennis retirement

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Seixas was a stockbroker from the late 1950s until the early 1970s.[33]Afterward, he worked as a tennis director for theGreenbrier ResortinWhite Sulphur Springs, West Virginiaand at a Hilton Hotel in New Orleans.[34][35]

He moved to California in 1989, where he lived in Mill Valley[3]and established a tennis program at the Harbor Point Racquet and Beach Club in Mill Valley (Marin County), now known as The Club at Harbor Point. In 1998, unable to play tennis any longer due to his knees, he chose to become a bartender at Harbor Point.[36][33][4]After several years bartending and helping with the club's front desk duties, he retired.

Seixas was the oldest living Grand Slam singles champion in the world, and the oldest living member of the Tennis Hall of Fame,[29][37]havingturned 100on August 30, 2023.[38][39]

Seixas died at his home in Mill Valley on July 5, 2024, at the age of 100.[40][6][41][42]

Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1951 U.S. Championships Grass AustraliaFrank Sedgman 4–6, 1–6, 1–6
Loss 1953 French Championships Clay AustraliaKen Rosewall 3–6, 4–6, 6–1, 2–6
Win 1953 Wimbledon Grass DenmarkKurt Nielsen 9–7, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 1953 U.S. Championships Grass United StatesTony Trabert 3–6, 2–6, 3–6
Win 1954 U.S. Championships Grass AustraliaRex Hartwig 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runners-up)

[edit]
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1952 Wimbledon Grass South AfricaEric Sturgess AustraliaKen McGregor
AustraliaFrank Sedgman		 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win 1952 U.S. Championships Grass AustraliaMervyn Rose AustraliaKen McGregor
AustraliaFrank Sedgman		 3–6, 10–8, 10–8, 6–8, 8–6
Win 1954 French Championships Clay United StatesTony Trabert AustraliaLew Hoad
AustraliaKen Rosewall		 6–4, 6–2, 6–1
Loss 1954 Wimbledon Grass United StatesTony Trabert AustraliaRex Hartwig
AustraliaMervyn Rose		 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win 1954 U.S. Championships Grass United StatesTony Trabert AustraliaLew Hoad
AustraliaKen Rosewall		 3–6, 6–4, 8–6, 6–3
Win 1955 Australian Championships Grass United StatesTony Trabert AustraliaLew Hoad
AustraliaKen Rosewall		 6–3, 6–2, 2–6, 3–6, 6–1
Win 1955 French Championships Clay United StatesTony Trabert ItalyNicola Pietrangeli
ItalyOrlando Sirola		 6–1, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Loss 1956 U.S. Championships Grass United StatesHam Richardson AustraliaLew Hoad
AustraliaKen Rosewall		 2–6, 2–6, 6–3, 4–6

Mixed doubles: 8 (8 titles)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1953 French Championships Clay United StatesDoris Hart United StatesMaureen Connolly
AustraliaMervyn Rose		 4–6, 6–4, 6–0
Win 1953 Wimbledon Grass United StatesDoris Hart United StatesShirley Fry
ArgentinaEnrique Morea		 9–7, 7–5
Win 1953 U.S. Championships Grass United StatesDoris Hart United StatesJulia Sampson
AustraliaRex Hartwig		 6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Win 1954 Wimbledon Grass United StatesDoris Hart United StatesMargaret duPont
AustraliaKen Rosewall		 5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Win 1954 U.S. Championships Grass United StatesDoris Hart United StatesMargaret duPont
AustraliaKen Rosewall		 4–6, 6–1, 6–1
Win 1955 Wimbledon Grass United StatesDoris Hart United StatesLouise Brough
ArgentinaEnrique Morea		 8–6, 2–6, 6–3
Win 1955 U.S. Championships Grass United StatesDoris Hart United StatesShirley Fry
AustraliaLew Hoad		 9–7, 6–1
Win 1956 Wimbledon Grass United StatesShirley Fry United StatesGardnar Mulloy
United StatesAlthea Gibson		 2–6, 6–2, 7–5

Grand Slam performance timeline

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Key
W F SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 SR W–L Win %
Australian Open A A A A A A A A A A A A A SF QF QF A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 3 7–3 70.0
French Open A A A A A A A A A A QF A A F QF QF A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 4 16–4 80.0
Wimbledon A A A A A A A A A A SF A QF W QF 2R SF QF A A A A A A A A A 2R A 1R 1 / 9 31–8 79.5
US Open 3R 3R 2R A 2R A 3R 4R 4R 1R 3R F 4R F W SF SF QF QF 4R 4R 3R 4R 3R 4R 4R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1 / 28 75–27 73.5
Win–loss 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 3–1 3–1 0–1 11–3 6–1 7–2 22–3 16–3 10–4 10–2 8–2 4–1 3–1 3–1 2–1 3–1 2–1 3–1 3–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–2 2 / 44 129–42 75.4

See also

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References

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  1. ^ab"Vic Seixas: Career match record".thetennisbase.Tennis Base.RetrievedNovember 3,2017.
  2. ^"The San Bernardino County Sun, 7 January 1955".newspapers.January 7, 1955.Archivedfrom the original on November 25, 2021.RetrievedDecember 11,2021.
  3. ^abcdefW, Tim (2014).Gone Pro: North Carolina: Tar Heel Stars Who Became Pros.Clerisy Press.ISBN9781578605460.Archivedfrom the original on August 31, 2021.RetrievedOctober 21,2020– via Google Books.
  4. ^ab"A Bartender at 76, Seixas Has Trophies, but Little Money,"ArchivedMay 29, 2016, at theWayback MachineLos Angeles Times.
  5. ^"The San Bernardino County Sun, 7 January 1955".newspapers.January 7, 1955.Archivedfrom the original on November 25, 2021.RetrievedDecember 11,2021.
  6. ^ab"Vic Seixas, a Wimbledon champion and tennis Hall of Famer, dies at 100".AP News.July 6, 2024.Archivedfrom the original on July 8, 2024.RetrievedJuly 8,2024.
  7. ^Hornblum, Allen (October 2, 2019)."1953 Wimbledon champ Vic Seixas, now 96, got his start on the courts of Philadelphia".Inquirer.Archivedfrom the original on July 13, 2024.RetrievedNovember 3,2019.
  8. ^Current Biography Yearbook.H. W. Wilson Co. 1953.ISBN9780824201180.Archivedfrom the original on July 28, 2021.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
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  10. ^Saul S. Friedman(2014).A History of the Middle East.McFarland.ISBN9780786451340.RetrievedNovember 17,2013.
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  12. ^Staff, American Jewish Historical Society; Society, Stevie Jewish Historical; Society, American Jewish Historical; House, Random (1999).American Jewish Desk Reference.Random House.ISBN9780375402432.Archivedfrom the original on July 28, 2021.RetrievedMay 15,2018– via Google Books.
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  23. ^"co.nf".tennis.co.nf.Archived fromthe originalon June 17, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 4,2017.
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  26. ^Baltzell, E. Digby (2013).Sporting Gentlemen: Menâs Tennis from the Age of Honor to the Cult of the Superstar.Transaction Publishers.ISBN9781412851800.Archivedfrom the original on August 30, 2021.RetrievedOctober 21,2020– via Google Books.
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  29. ^abWiedeman, Reeves (August 21, 2019)."A Tennis History Lesson With the Oldest Living Grand Slam Champ".Intelligencer.Archivedfrom the original on November 19, 2022.RetrievedApril 17,2020.
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  32. ^"Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Hall of Fame".Archived fromthe originalon July 8, 2011.
  33. ^abCoffey, Wayne (September 3, 2014)."Help is on the way for tennis' forgotten champions".nydailynews.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 22,2020.
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  35. ^Wöckener, Lutz (September 10, 2017)."US-Open-Sieger" Vic "Seixas: Der vergessene Champion der Tennis-Geschichte".Die Welt.Archivedfrom the original on August 3, 2020.RetrievedMay 15,2018– via welt.de.
  36. ^Steve Flink (June 30, 2003)."Seixas the humble champion recalls his 'crowning jewel'".The Independent.Archivedfrom the original on August 17, 2022.
  37. ^William Bender (January 23, 2017)."Historical plaque for tennis ace Bill Tilden hits roadblock".inquirer.Archivedfrom the original on November 11, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 22,2020.
  38. ^Tennis."Holding Court with…Vic Seixas, who turns 100 today".Tennis.Archivedfrom the original on August 31, 2023.RetrievedAugust 31,2023.
  39. ^"Happy 100th Birthday, Vic Seixas!".University of North Carolina Athletics.August 30, 2023.Archivedfrom the original on August 31, 2023.RetrievedAugust 31,2023.
  40. ^Miles, Gary (July 11, 2024)."Vic Seixas, hall of fame tennis champion and World War II test pilot, has died at 100".The Philadelphia Inquirer.Archivedfrom the original on July 13, 2024.RetrievedJuly 12,2024.
  41. ^"Vic Seixas, a Wimbledon champion and tennis Hall of Famer, dies at 100".newsday.July 6, 2024.Archivedfrom the original on July 6, 2024.RetrievedJuly 6,2024.
  42. ^Goldstein, Richard (July 6, 2024)."Vic Seixas, Winner of 15 Grand Slam Tennis Titles, Dies at 100".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on July 6, 2024.RetrievedJuly 6,2024.
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