Early life
Falkenburg was born in New York City on January 29, 1926, and grew up in Los Angeles, California, in a tennis-playing family. His parents, Eugene "Genie" Lincoln Falkenburg (an engineer involved in the construction of Hoover Dam) and Marguerite "Mickey" Crooks Falkenburg were amateur tennis players. While employed by Westinghouse, Eugene was transferred to South America, where he moved with his wife and three children to São Paulo, Brazil. There Mickey won the state tennis championship in 1927. Mickey was always involved in tennis. In The Game: My 40 Years in Tennis, tennis champion Jack Kramer wrote that Mickey Falkenburg was "the first person to ever suggest to him the idea of a team-tennis league," a league which he later created. Bob's sister, Jinx Falkenburg, In 1943, Falkenburg became the Los Angeles city singles title holder. The following year he claimed the United States doubles crown with Don McNeill at Forest Hills, New York. In 1943 Bob became one of the youngest players to enter the US Top 10 amateur ranks. He remained in the U.S. top 10 for five years and was ranked as World No. 7 by sports journalist John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph.
From 1944 to 1945, during World War II, Falkenburg served in the military as an air cadet. Being enlisted in the service, however, did not put a complete halt to his tennis career and he continued to play occasionally while in the Air Force. In 1946, while attending the University of Southern California, he won the NCAA singles and doubles titles. He teamed again with his brother Tom to win the NCAA doubles final.
At the age of 20, Falkenburg was considered to have "the fastest serve in tennis."
Wimbledon titles
In 1947, he paired with Jack Kramer and they won the Wimbledon doubles title. A year later, on July 2, 1948, Falkenburg reached the pinnacle of his tennis career by winning the Wimbledon singles championship. He won the acclaimed tennis crown against Australian John Bromwich. Bromwich had a match point at 5–3 in the fifth set, but Falkenburg saved three match points and went on to win 7–5 in the fifth set.
It took 71 years before Falkenburg's feat was repeated. At Wimbledon in 2019, Novak Djokovic fought off Roger Federer by saving two championship points in the fifth and final set to win the men's title for the fifth time. Falkenburg won Wimbledon because he was not only a great tennis player, but a superb strategist. Fellow tennis player Tom Brown, who was a runner up in the 1947 Wimbledon Championships described Falkenburg's competitive approach, "He would review the situation, figure out what was likely, and take chances." As of 2011, Bob's, no longer owned by Falkenburg, had over 600 locations in Brazil as well as three other countries.
Golf career
Falkenburg also had a successful amateur golf career. He played in many international golf championships and won the Brazilian amateur championship three times. He took part in golf tournaments including the Bob Hope Desert Classic, where his team won in 1967; the Bing Crosby Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, California, where he played several times; the Eisenhower Cup, where he played for Brazil in Rome in 1964, Mexico City in 1966 and Melbourne in 1968; and in the United Kingdom at the British Amateur Golf Championship, where he led the American contingent on the first qualifying round after having a hole-in-one at Carnoustie. He also participated as an amateur in various European golf championships in France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and several Scandinavian countries. He died in Santa Ynez on January 6, 2022, at the age of 95.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1 title)
{| class='sortable wikitable'
!Result
!Year
!style="width:140px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:180px"|Opponent
!style="width:160px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1948 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || John Bromwich || 7–5, 0–6, 6–2, 3–6, 7–5
|}
Doubles (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!Year
!style="width:140px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:180px"|Partner
!style="width:180px"|Opponents
!style="width:160px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1944 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Don McNeill || Pancho Segura <br /> Bill Talbert || 7–5, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1945 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Jack Tuero || Gardnar Mulloy <br /> Bill Talbert || 10–12, 10–8, 10–12, 2–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1947 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Jack Kramer || Tony Mottram <br /> Bill Sidwell || 8–6, 6–3, 6–3
|}
Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!Year
!style="width:140px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:180px"|Partner
!style="width:180px"|Opponents
!style="width:100px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1945 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Doris Hart || Margaret Osborne duPont<br /> Bill Talbert || 4–6, 4–6
|}
<small>Source: </small>
Performance timeline
<small>Source:</small>
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;font-size:90%
|-
! Tournament !! 1942 !! 1943 !! 1944 !! 1945 !! 1946 !! 1947 !! 1948 !! 1949 !! 1950–1953 !! 1954 !! 1955
|-
| colspan="31" align=left| Grand Slam tournaments
|-
|style="background:#EFEFEF;"|Australian
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
|-
|style="background:#EFEFEF;"|French
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| align="center" |A
|-
|style="background:#EFEFEF;"|Wimbledon
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|W
| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| align="center" |A
| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R
| align="center" |A
|-
|style="background:#EFEFEF;"|U.S.
| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| align="center" style="background:yellow;"|SF
| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" |A
| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
|}
References
Citations
General sources
- The Game: My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford ()