Dick Savitt
Savitt holding the 1951 Wimbledon men's trophy
Full nameRichard Savitt
Country (sports) United States
Born(1927-03-04)March 4, 1927
Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedJanuary 6, 2023(2023-01-06) (aged 95)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Turned pro1944 (amateur tour)
Retired1952 (played part-time afterwards)
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CollegeCornell University (57–2 record in singles)
Int. Tennis HoF1976 (member page)
Singles
Career record320-105
Career titles37
Highest rankingNo. 1 (July 1951, The New York Times)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenW (1951)
French OpenQF (1951, 1952)
WimbledonW (1951)
US OpenSF (1950, 1951)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenF (1951, 1952)
Medal record
Maccabiah Games
Gold medal – first place1961 IsraelMen's Singles
Gold medal – first place1961 IsraelMen's Doubles

Richard Savitt (March 4, 1927 – January 6, 2023) was an American tennis player.[2][3][4]

In 1951, at the age of 24, he won both the Australian and Wimbledon men's singles championships. Savitt was mostly ranked world No. 2 the same year behind fellow amateur Frank Sedgman, though was declared world No. 1 by The New York Times following his Wimbledon victory.[4][1] He retired the following year to concentrate on a career in business. Savitt is one of four American men who have won both the Australian and British Championships in one year, following Don Budge (1938) and preceding Jimmy Connors (1974) and Pete Sampras (1994 and 1997). He won gold medals in both singles and men's doubles at the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Savitt is enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame, the USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Savitt was born in Bayonne, New Jersey.[2][5][6] He taught himself tennis at the age of 14, but never took a tennis lesson in his life.[2][3][4] The self-taught Savitt played tennis well enough, however, to make the finals of the New Jersey Boys Championship and, for two years afterward, the National Boys Tennis Tournament before moving up to the junior ranks.[2] He and his family moved to El Paso, Texas, in 1944, as his mother had a bad skin condition and needed the warmer weather.[7][8]

His first love was basketball, though, and when his family moved to Texas, he was an All-State forward and a co-captain of El Paso High School, his El Paso, Texas high school basketball team in 1944.[2][3] Despite considering tennis his "second" sport after basketball, he won the Texas University Interscholastic League boys singles championship in 1944–45.[9] Nationally he was the 8th-ranked junior tennis player, and the 17th-ranked amateur overall.[2][10]

In 1945 Savitt entered the Navy, was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Memphis, Tennessee, and played on a service basketball team.[8][2]

College

Beginning in 1946, Savitt attended Cornell University, where he majored in economics, was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, and was elected a member of the Sphinx Head Society.[11][12][13] However, two injuries, one to his knee, curtailed his basketball career.[2][3]

Savitt resumed playing tennis.[2] He became Cornell's tennis team captain, # 1 singles and doubles player.[3][14][15] In 1947 he was ranked # 26 in the U.S., and two years later he was ranked # 17.[3] In both 1949 and 1950, as a junior and a senior, he won the Eastern Intercollegiate Tournament, and he won the doubles title with Leonard Steiner from 1948 to 1950.[13][15] He was 57–2 in singles for his college career, and graduated in June 1950.[15]

Post-college tennis career

Savitt ranked in the world's top 10 four times between 1951 and 1957 (# 2 in 1951); and in the U.S. top 10 six times between 1950 and 1959.[16] That was despite the fact that Savitt did not compete in 1953–55.[16] Among Savitt's major victories were the 1951 Wimbledon singles championship and the 1951 Australian Open. He also won the 1952, 1958, and 1961 USLTA National Indoor Championships, becoming the first player to win that crown three times, and won the Italian doubles. He won the Canadian singles and doubles championships in 1952.

1950–1953

In 1950 he won the Eastern Clay Court Championships defeating Don McNeill in the final in four sets and the New York State Championships defeating McNeill again, this time in a long and close five set final.[3]

Still without any coaching, in 1950 Savitt reached the U. S. Tennis Championship semifinals at Forest Hills, losing to Art Larsen.[2][3]

In 1951, at the age of 24, Savitt won the Wimbledon Singles Championship. Along the way he beat Larsen, the No. 1 U.S. player, in straight sets, and Herbert Flam, the No. 2 U.S. player.[13] He had also won the Australian Open Singles title, winning in straight sets in the 61-minute final against Ken McGregor.[13][17] He became the first American since Don Budge, 13 years earlier, to win both Wimbledon and the Australian Open in one season.[15]

Savitt also became the first Jewish male player to win either tournament.[2][3][6][18] In the Jewish parts of North London, Savitt recalled, "Nobody knew tennis there, but after I won people started picking up rackets".[6] In addition, he became the first Jewish athlete to appear on the cover of Time magazine.[5][19] The significance of a Jewish tennis player succeeding was rooted in the fact that tennis was still at the time primarily a country club sport, and many country clubs often did not allow Jews in as members and did not allow them to use their courts.[3][20] This, in turn, kept many Jewish tennis players from obtaining the training they needed to compete at the highest levels.[3]

Savitt was ranked 2nd in the world in 1951.[4] He was also ranked the No. 1 player on the United States Davis Cup Team.[4][19] He made it to the semifinals of the Australian Open in January 1952.[21] In February 1952 he beat Bill Talbert to win the U.S. National Indoor championship.[22] He won the Canadian singles and doubles championships in 1952, defeating Kurt Nielsen in the singles final in three straight sets.[15] In September 1952, he beat Art Larsen to win the Pacific Coast men's singles tennis championship.[5][23]

Davis Cup snub, and retirement

In those days, to be Jewish in the top ranks of tennis was to encounter a certain amount of prejudice. ... when Dick Savitt won Wimbledon, his right to a place on the Davis Cup team was challenged in some circles because he was Jewish.[24]

— Arthur Ashe

Savitt had played and won his three early 1951 matches in an exhibition against the Australian Davis Cup team, winning 9 of 10 sets as the American team beat Australia in the event. Allison Danzig, the senior American tennis writer, called him America's best hope for victory.[2] He had also defeated Australia's best player, Frank Sedgman, in the 1951 Australian Open.[2][3] Ted Schroeder, who had lost all three of his Davis Cup matches while losing 9 out of 10 sets in the process the year before and who was in semi-retirement, was chosen by non-playing captain Frank Shields instead.[2] Five of the top ten players in the U.S. publicly accused Shields of "obvious prejudice" in his choosing the team.[25] Without Savitt playing singles, and with Schroeder losing two of his three matches, the United States lost the 1951 Davis Cup to Australia.[2]

The controversy spilled over into the next year, when the 1951 nationally ranked players were bitterly debated at the January 1952 U.S. Lawn Tennis Association annual meeting.[26] Members of the Association's Eastern, New England, Southern, Florida, and Texas delegations, whose chief spokesman was Gardnar Mulloy, were in favor of Savitt being named the No. 1 tennis player in the U.S.[27] However, Shields attacked Savitt in a "biting", "unprecedented" speech, which observers said swung the vote against Savitt.[27][28] As it was reported by Time magazine, "the loudest talker was Frank Shields, non-playing captain of the losing U.S. Davis Cup team. Shields had ignored Savitt in the Davis Cup matches, had put his confidence in aging (30) Ted Schroeder ... who turned out to be the goat of the series. Shields was intent on keeping Savitt ranked ... at No. 3. Cried Shields: 'Never once in the past three months has Savitt looked like a champion.'" Don McNeill, the 1940 U.S. champion, answered Shields' outburst by pointing out that players are ranked on their tennis ability, that personal prejudice should have nothing to do with ranking, and that Shields' remarks were "uncalled for".[26] That met with "resounding applause" from the delegates.[29] Australian Davis Cup team Harry Hopman called his arguments as to why Savitt should not be ranked No. 1 "weak". Still, a never-before-required proxy vote was needed to decide the No. 1 spot.[27][28] Savitt was ranked the No. 2 player in the U.S. by the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association, behind Vic Seixas and directly ahead of Tony Trabert.[27]

In February 1952, Savitt announced that he would play only one more tournament, the National Indoor Championships, and then retire from tournament tennis—at age 25.[3] He later explained that there was insufficient money in the amateur game to support his needs, requiring him to pursue his business career.[30] Savitt did not believe that anti-Semitism was the cause of his problems with Shields.[31] Savitt had beaten Shields badly in the quarterfinals of the New Jersey State Championships in 1948. Also, Shields himself had been excluded from the 1933 U.S. Davis Cup team although he was ranked U.S. No. 1 for that year by the USLTA.[32][33]

Part-time comeback

Savitt returned to the competitive tennis scene part-time in 1954. In April 1954 he won the clay court River Oaks Championshipsin Houston, Texas defeating Sven Davidson, Gardnar Mulloy, Vic Seixas, and Ham Richardson in the final, the latter three members of the U.S. Davis Cup team.

In August 1957 he won the Eastern Grass Court Championships at South Orange, New Jersey defeating U.S. Davis Cup players Ham Richardson and Vic Seixas in the final two rounds in best-of-five set matches.

In 1958, Savitt moved back to New York for business reasons and launched a part-time comeback in tennis. That year, he won his second National Indoors title, defeating Grant Golden, Kurt Nielsen, and Budge Patty in the final three rounds. In 1961 he captured his third—while remaining a weekend player, defeating Pierre Darmon, Chris Crawford, and U.S. No. 1 Whitney Reed in the final.[2] In 1981, he and his son, Robert, won the U.S. Father-Son doubles title.[15]

Maccabiah Games; Israel

In 1961, he won gold medals in both singles (defeating American Mike Franks in the final), and doubles (with Franks, defeating South Africans Rod Mandelstam and Julie Mayers), at the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel, the third-largest sporting event in the world.[34][2][35] He was also very active in the Maccabi movement.[2]

Savitt in addition helped develop the Israel Tennis Centers, beginning in 1973.[2][15] In 1998, he was the ITA overseas tennis director.[36] In his 2007 book The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and The 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars, author Peter S. Horvitz ranked Savitt the 9th-greatest Jewish athlete of all time.[37]

Halls of fame

Savitt was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.[3] Savitt was also inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.[3][38] He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986.[39] Savitt was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998,[40] and into the USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.[41]

After tennis

Following his competitive tennis career, Savitt entered the oil business in Louisiana.[2] He then worked for Lehman Brothers on Wall Street, and in 1985 joined Schroders.[42] Savitt died on January 6, 2023, at the age of 95.[43]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (two titles)

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win1951Australian ChampionshipsGrassAustralia Ken McGregor6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win1951Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrassAustralia Ken McGregor6–4, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles (two runner-ups)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1951French ChampionshipsClayUnited States Gardnar MulloyAustralia Ken McGregor
Australia Frank Sedgman		2–6, 6–2, 7–9, 5–7
Loss1952French ChampionshipsClayUnited States Gardnar MulloyAustralia Ken McGregor
Australia Frank Sedgman		3–6, 4–6, 4–6

Grand Slam performance timeline

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.
Tournament1944194519461947194819491950195119521953-19551956195719581959
Australian A A A A A A A W SF A A A A A
French A A A A A A A QF QF A A A A A
Wimbledon A A A A A A A W QF A A A A A
U.S. 1R A 3R 2R 3R 1R SF SF QF A QF 4R QF 3R

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Savitt beats McGregor in straight sets to capture Wimbledon tennis title". The New York Times. July 7, 1951. p. 9 Sports. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018. Dick Savitt of Orange, N. J. ... established himself as the world's No. 1 amateur player today when he won the Wimbledon men's singles title by defeating Ken McGregor of Australia
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Michael Feldberg (2002). Blessings of Freedom: Chapters in American Jewish history. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 0-88125-756-7. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 David J. Goldman (2006). Jewish Sports Stars: Athletic Heroes Past and Present. Kar-Ben Publishing. ISBN 1-58013-183-2. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Joseph Siegman (2000). Jewish sports legends: the International Jewish Hall of Fame. Brassey's. ISBN 1-57488-284-8. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by day in Jewish sports history. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 978-1-60280-013-7. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Bruce Schoenfeld (2004). The match: Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton: how two outsiders—one Black, the other Jewish—forged a friendship and made sports. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-052652-1. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Dick Savitt T". www.njsportsheroes.com.
  8. 1 2 "Dick Savitt, The 1951 Wimbledon Champion, Is The Greatest Jewish Tennis Player of All Time - Tennis Grandstand". July 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ "UIL Boys Tennis State Champions". Uil100.org. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Ray Sanchez: Wimbledon champ named El Paso High's 2014 'Ex'". El Paso Inc.
  11. ↑ Pi Lambda Phi 2010 Membership Directory
  12. ↑ Morris Bishop (1962). A history of Cornell. Cornell University Press. p. 603. ISBN 0-8014-0036-8.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Winners at Wimbledon". Time. July 16, 1951. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010.
  14. ↑ Glenn W. Ferguson (2004). Sports in America: fascination and blemishes. Sunstone Press. ISBN 0-86534-419-1. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1999 Inductees". USTA Eastern Hall Of Fame. July 7, 1951. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  16. 1 2 "Richard "Dick" Savitt". Jewishsports.net. Archived from the original on January 11, 2006. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Skyrocketing Net Star Clinches Place in Sun". LIFE. July 16, 1951. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  18. ↑ Jonny Geller (2006). Yes, but is it good for the Jews?: a beginner's guide. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 1-59691-205-7. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  19. 1 2 American Jewish Historical Society (1999). American Jewish desk reference. Random House. ISBN 0-375-40243-8. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  20. ↑ Peter Levine (1993). Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience. Oxford University Press US. p. 314. ISBN 0-19-508555-8. Savitt.
  21. ↑ "Australian Net Star Aids U.S. Team Captain". The Calgary Herald. January 28, 1952. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Savitt Slashes Net Win Over Indoor Champ". Toledo Blade. February 24, 1952. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  23. ↑ [Displaying Abstract] (March 2, 2011). "Savitt Victor Over Larsen, 10-8, 6-3, 6-4 - Shirley Fry Captures Pacific Coast Final". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  24. ↑ Arthur Ashe, Arnold Rampersad (1994). Days of Grace. Random House. ISBN 0-345-38681-7. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Netters Challenge Shields' Davis Cup Picks". The Sun. January 14, 1952.
  26. 1 2 "x". Sunday Herald. January 13, 1952. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  27. 1 2 3 4 "Seixas voted nation's No. 1 amateur tennis player in 1951". Reading Eagle. January 20, 1952. p. 26. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  28. 1 2 "Seixas placed ahead of Savitt". Eugene Register-Guard. January 19, 1952. p. 13. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  29. ↑ "Sport: Most Unseemly". Time. January 28, 1952. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010.
  30. ↑ Commentary: Schwartzman Unrestricted. https://www.commentary.org/articles/rick-marin/schwartzman-unrestricted/
  31. ↑ Commentary: Schwartzman Unrestricted. https://www.commentary.org/articles/rick-marin/schwartzman-unrestricted/
  32. ↑ USTA Rankings. https://www.usta.com/en/home/about-usta/usta-history/national/mens-womens-year-end-top-10.html#tab=men's
  33. ↑ "Recovery: Man of the Year, 1933". Time. January 1, 1934. Archived from the original on November 12, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  34. ↑ "U.S. SQUAD VICTOR IN 16 MORE FINALS; Gubner and Savitt Triumph as Maccabiah Games End". timesmachine.nytimes.com.
  35. ↑ Mitchell Geoffrey Bard, Moshe Schwartz (2005). One thousand one facts everyone should know about Israel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-4358-7. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  36. ↑ Leon, Jack (December 12, 1988). "Israeli Juniors Hit the Trail". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  37. ↑ Peter S. Horvitz (2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and The 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars. SP Books. ISBN 9781561719075. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  38. ↑ "Friedman Recalls Football's Past". Reading Eagle. February 11, 1979. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  39. ↑ Archived December 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  40. ↑ "Jewish Sports Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on February 10, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2007.
  41. ↑ "USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame 1999". USTA. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  42. ↑ Barry Tarshis (January 8, 1973). "Can Ex-Athletes Make it on Wall Street". New York. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  43. ↑ "Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Dick Savitt dies aged 95". ABC News. January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
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