Frank Shields
 |
|
| Full name | Francis Xavier Alexander Shields, Sr. |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 United States
|
| Born |
November 18, 1909 New York City, United States |
| Died | August 19, 1975 (aged 65) New York, United States |
| Turned pro | 1926 (amateur tour) |
| Retired | 1955 |
| Plays | Right-handed (1-handed backhand) |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1964 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No. 5 (1930, A. Wallis Myers) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| French Open | 4R (1933) |
| Wimbledon | F (1931) |
| US Open | F (1930) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | SF (1931) |
| US Open | F (1933) |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| US Open | F (1930) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | W (1932) |
Francis Xavier Alexander "Frank" Shields, Sr. (November 18, 1909 – August 19, 1975) was an amateur American tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s and an actor known for Hooiser Schoolboy (1937).
Between 1928 and 1945 he was ranked eight times in the U.S. Top Ten, reaching No. 1 in 1933, and No. 2 in 1930. He was ranked World No. 5 in 1930 by A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph. Shields defaulted to Sidney Wood in the singles final of Wimbledon in 1931 due to an ankle injury he had sustained in winning his semi-final match against France's "Musketeer" Jean Borotra, and this was the only time in the history of a Grand-Slam event singles final that the event was won by default.
He competed for the Davis Cup in 1931, 1932, and 1934, winning 19 of 25 matches. He was left off the team for his erratic playing in 1933. Shields was the non-playing captain in 1951, when the team won four matches.
Shields had his issues both with interactions with other players, and with alcohol. In the late 1930s, Shields was known for making fun of the US tennis star Bryan Grant, the smallest American to win an international championship, saying "the little shaver" was hiding behind the net. Once a drunk Shields held Grant upside down, outside a hotel window.
In 1932, Shields married Rebecca Tenney (1910–2005). Shields and Tenney divorced in 1940 on the grounds of his "habitual intemperance and cruelty" and in 1947 she married lawyer Donald Agnew.
In 1940, he married his second wife, Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi (1916-1960). Marina was the daughter of Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cesi (1861–1933) and Mary Elsie Moore (1888–1941), an American heiress. Marina's brother was Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi (1911–1986), the husband of the Spanish Infanta Beatriz de Borbón (1909–2002). Shields had two children with Marina Torlonia:
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