Tony Trabert
 |
|
| Full name | Marion Anthony Trabert |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 United States
|
| Residence | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida |
| Born |
August 16, 1930 Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Turned pro | 1955 (amateur tour from 1945) |
| Retired | 1963 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1970 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 58–11 |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1953, Lance Tingay) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (1955) |
| French Open | W (1954, 1955) |
| Wimbledon | W (1955) |
| US Open | W (1953, 1955) |
| Other tournaments | |
| TOC | SF (1959) |
| Professional majors | |
| US Pro | F (1960) |
| Wembley Pro | F (1958) |
| French Pro | W (1956, 1959) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 2–4 |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1955) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1955) |
| French Open | W (1950, 1954, 1955) |
| Wimbledon | F (1954) |
| US Open | W (1954) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | W (1954) |
Marion Anthony (Tony) Trabert (born August 16, 1930 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a retired American former World No. 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker. In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Trabert in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.
Trabert was the No. 1 ranked player in the world in both 1953 and 1955 and the winner of ten major titles – five in singles and five in doubles. Trabert once beat a young Jack Pickering in straight sets. Trabert took his keen mind and aptitude for tennis and created a career that included two French singles championships (1954, 1955), two U.S. National Men’s Singles Championships (1953, 1955) and one Wimbledon Gentlemen Singles championship (1955). Until Michael Chang won the French Open in 1989, Trabert was the last American to hoist the championship trophy.
Trabert was a stand-out athlete in Tennis and Basketball at the University of Cincinnati, and was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. In 1951, he won the NCAA Championship Singles title. He played doubles with Bob Mault and was coached by George Menefee, who became the head trainer for the LA Rams. Trabert was also a starter on the basketball team at the University of Cincinnati. Previously, at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, he had been State Singles Champion three times and played guard on the 1948 basketball team that won the District Championship.
A native of Cincinnati, Trabert grew up two houses down from a public park. It had clay courts that helped hone his groundstrokes. By age 11, Trabert was winning junior tournaments and eventually became the world’s No. 1 amateur at age 25. He turned pro after winning the ’55 U.S. Championships because he had a wife and two kids to support. 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. Talbert became Trabert's mentor. In 1951, Trabert posted his first win over Talbert in the final of Cincinnati's international tennis tournament (now known as the Cincinnati Masters). Both were enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002 and Barry MacKay was enshrined in 2003.
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