The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced that Tony Trabert, a 10-time major champion and 1970 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, died on February 3, 2021 at the age of 90, at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Trabert is easily one of the top 10 all-time American men’s tennis players. His career is documented below as excerpted from THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS book
One of the finest seasons ever achieved was the 1955 of Tony Trabert, who won three of the four singles majors – French, Wimbledon and U.S. – and two of the doubles, Australian and U.S., earning the No. 1 peak. Triplers are rare, but none of them won more than 100 singles matches or 30 singles and doubles titles as Tony did that year.
Within the most productive season for an American man were 18 singles triumphs (of 23 tournaments) — 106-7, with a 36-match winning streak — plus 12 doubles titles alongside Davis Cup teammate Vic Seixas. Amassing 13 U.S. titles in singles and doubles, he was one of two Americans (the other, Art Larsen) to win singles championships on all four surfaces. Other than grass at Forest Hills, he won the 1955 Indoor over Ham Richardson, 11-13, 7-5, 9-7, 6-3; the 1953 Hard Court over Tom Brown, 6-4, 11-9, 6-4; the 1951 Clay Court over Larsen, 6-8, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 8-6, and, 1955, over Bernard Bartzen, 10-8, 6-1, 6-4. But Tony stands alone in victoriously traveling that surface route in doubles, too.
Alas for Trabert, a semifinal defeat by Ken Rosewall at the 1955 Australian may have cost him a Grand Slam. An exceptional athlete, Marion Anthony Trabert was born Aug. 16, 1930, in Cincinnati where he grew up. He was a standout basketball regular for the University of Cincinnati, for which, as an All-American, he also won the U.S. Intercollegiate singles in 1951. Traditionally the French Championship has been the most difficult battleground for American men. Tony won five titles at Roland Garros, notably the singles in 1954, over Art Larsen, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1, and 1955, over Swede Sven Davidson, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. He also won the doubles in 1950 (with Bill Talbert) and 1954-55 (with Seixas). Thirty-four years passed before another American guy followed him, Michael Chang in 1989, and Tony was there as a telecasting witness.
For five years, Trabert was a mainstay of the U.S. Davis Cup team, along with Seixas. In each of those years, 1951-55, the Yanks reached the challenge round final against Australia. Tony’s best-remembered match may have been a defeat, a tremendous five-set struggle with Lew Hoad on a rainy afternoon in 1953 at Melbourne. Hoad won out, 13-11, 6-3, 2-6, 3-6, 7-5, to tie the series, 2-2, and Rosewall hung onto the Cup, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, over Seixas. More determined than ever, Trabert and Seixas, led by Capt. Bill Talbert, returned to Australia a year later, where Trabert beat Hoad, 6-4, 2-6, 12-10, 6-3 on opening day. Seixas bumped Rosewall in four. Then, together Vic and Tony busted an American dry spell of four years by taking the doubles from Lew and Ken, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 – the only U.S. seizure of the Cup from the Aussies during an eight-year stretch, 1950-57.
Though an attacker with a powerful backhand and strong volley, competitive right-hander Trabert also had exceptional groundstrokes. In winning the U.S. singles twice, 1953 over Seixas, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, and 1955 over Rosewall, 9-7, 6-3, 6-3 – plus Wimbledon in 1955 over Kurt Nielsen, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 – he did not lose a set. Wow. Following the custom of the time, Trabert, as the top amateur, signed on with the professionals to challenge the ruler, Pancho Gonzalez, on a head-to-head tour in 1956. Gonzalez won, 74-27. Trabert was runner-up to Alex Olmedo for the U.S. Pro singles title in 1960, having won the doubles with Rex Hartwig in 1956.
When his playing career ended, Trabert worked as a teaching pro, an administrator for the pro tour, as an astute television commentator on tennis as well as the president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In 1976, he returned to the Davis Cup scene as the U.S. captain, leading the Cup-winning teams of 1978 and 1979. He had four years in the U.S. and world’s Top Ten: 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955 – No. 1 in each, respectively 1953 and 1955 – before turning pro. His amateur career was interrupted by service in the U.S. Navy.
MAJOR TITLES (10) — French singles 1954, 1955; Wimbledon singles, 1955; U.S. singles, 1953, 1955; Australian doubles, 1955; French doubles 1950, 1954, 1955; U.S. doubles, 1954. OTHER U.S. TITLES (13) — Intercollegiate singles, 1951; Indoor singles, 1955; Clay Court singles, 1951, 1955; Hard Court singles, 1953; Indoor doubles, 1954, with Bill Talbert; 1955, with Vic Seixas; Clay Court doubles, 1951, 1955, with Hamilton Richardson; 1954, with Seixas; Hard Court doubles, 1950, 1953, with Tom Brown; Pro doubles, 1956, with Rex Hartwig. DAVIS CUP (As player) — 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 16-5 singles, 11-3 doubles; (As Captain) — 1953, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980. Record 14-3 (2 Cups). SINGLES RECORD IN THE MAJORS — Australian (4-2), French (18-2), Wimbledon (13-2), U.S. (23-5).
