Marion Anthony Trabert (August 16, 1930 – February 3, 2021) was an American amateur world No. 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker.
Trabert was ranked world No. 1 amateur by many sources in 1953, by Ned Potter and The New York Times in 1954 and by Lance Tingay and Ned Potter in 1955. He was the winner of ten Grand Slam titles – five in singles and five in doubles. He won two French singles championships, two U.S. National Men's Singles Championships, and one Wimbledon gentlemen's singles championship. In 1951, he won the NCAA Championship Singles title. Previously, at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, he had been Ohio scholastic champion three times and played guard on the 1948 basketball team that won the District Championship. After winning his first Grand Slam singles title at the U. S. Championships in 1953 (over Vic Seixas in the final), Trabert was ranked the world No. 1 amateur for 1953 by Lance Tingay in The Daily Telegraph, Gardnar Mulloy, and Grant Golden. and by panel of 8 experts in The New York Times. In 1955, Trabert won three consecutive Grand Slam singles titles: the French (over Rose in the semifinal and Sven Davidson in the final), Wimbledon (beating Kurt Nielsen in the final) and U. S. Championships (over Rosewall in the final). He was ranked world number one amateur for 1955 by Lance Tingay and by Ned Potter.
Trabert's record in 1955 was one of the greatest ever by an American tennis player. He won Wimbledon and the US in 1955 without losing a set (the only time it has ever been done in consecutive majors). Trabert won 18 tournaments in 1955, compiling a match record of 106 wins to 7 losses, which included a 38-match winning streak.
Trabert, along with Vic Seixas, was an American Davis Cup team mainstay during the early 1950s, during which time the Americans reached the finals five times, winning the cup in 1954. It was one of only two victories over the dominant Australian teams during the decade (the other being in 1958). He called the 1954 Davis Cup win the "biggest thrill in my tennis career". In 1956, he was beaten on the head-to-head world pro tour by the reigning king of professional tennis Pancho Gonzales, 74–27, consisting mostly of indoor matches on a portable loose canvas surface. However, he beat Gonzales in five sets at Roland Garros in the final of the 1956 French Pro title. For the year 1956 as a whole, Trabert had an edge over Gonzales in outdoor matches of 16-11 (1-1 on grass, 4–5 on cement, and 11–5 on clay).
In the 1958 pro tour, Trabert won a personal series against Segura 34–31, showing that he had adjusted to the portable canvas surface used by the Kramer pros in small indoor venues and gyms. In the Wembley Pro in 1958, he defeated Rosewall in the semi-final and was runner-up to Sedgman . In the French Pro at Roland Garros in 1959, Trabert beat Rosewall in the semifinal and then defeated Frank Sedgman in the final, to win his fourth title at the red clay venue. The following week, Trabert won the Western Province Pro in Cape Town, beating Rosewall in the final. In October 1962, Trabert won the South African Pro Championships on the cement courts of Ellis Park in Johannesburg by defeating Hoad in the final in five sets. Trabert also had wins over Hoad at the Forest Hills Tournament of Champions in 1957 and 1958.
In his 1979 autobiography The Game Jack Kramer, the former world No. 1 player, included Trabert in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.
Post-playing career
thumb|left|Trabert with his first wife Shauna in 1953
After retiring from the game, Trabert enjoyed a 33-year career (1971–2004) as a tennis and golf analyst for CBS, covering events such as the US Open. During many of those years, he teamed with Pat Summerall and was the lead commentator at the US Open. The popularity of their broadcasts helped propel the US Open into an annual financial success for CBS and the United States Tennis Association. He was also the US Davis Cup team captain from 1976 to 1980.
In 1980 he had a small cameo role on the television show "Hart to Hart", Season 1, episode 24. He played a tennis pro at a tennis club.
He was also a tennis author and was a motivational speaker. In 1988, he published the book Trabert on Tennis, sharing his insights on the game from a player's, coach's, and commentator's standpoint.
In 2004, he announced his retirement from broadcasting while commentating at the Wimbledon Championships.
Awards and honors
In 1970, Trabert was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. He was enshrined into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002 together with Billy Talbert. On September 8, 2014, Trabert was inducted into the United States Tennis Association's Court of Champions prior to the US Open men's singles final. </small>
Pro Slam tournaments
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
{| class='sortable wikitable'
!Result
!Year
!style="width:190px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:135px"|Opponent
!style="width:160px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1956 || style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Pro ||Clay || Pancho Gonzales|| 6–3, 4–6, 5–7, 8–6, 6–2
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1958|| style="background:#cfc;"|Wembley Pro||Indoor|| Frank Sedgman||4–6, 3–6, 4–6
|-
|style="background:#98fb98;"|Win|| 1959||style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Pro||Clay|| Frank Sedgman||6–4, 6–4, 6–4
|-
|style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1960|| style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Pro||Indoor|| Alex Olmedo||5–7, 4–6
|}
<small>Source:</small>
Singles performance timeline
Trabert joined the professional tennis circuit in 1955 and as a consequence was banned from competing in the amateur Grand Slams until the start of the Open Era at the 1968 French Open.
{| class=wikitable style=font-size:95%;text-align:center
|-
! style="width:95px;"| !! 1948 !! 1949 !! 1950 !! 1951 !! 1952 !! 1953 !! 1954 !! 1955 !! 1956 !! 1957 !! 1958 !! 1959 !! 1960 !! 1961 !! 1962 !! 1963
! style="width:45px;" | SR
! style="width:45px;" |
! style="width:45px;" | Win %
|-
!style="text-align:left;" colspan=17 |Grand Slam tournaments !! 5 / 16 !! 58–11 !! 84.1
|-
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee |2R
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| colspan=8|not eligible
| bgcolor=efefef |0 / 2
| bgcolor=efefef |4–2
| bgcolor=efefef |66.7
|-
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |French Open
| A
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee |4R
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee |4R
| A
| bgcolor=lime |W
| bgcolor=lime |W
| colspan=8|not eligible
| bgcolor=efefef |2 / 4
| bgcolor=efefef |18–2
| bgcolor=efefef |90.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |Wimbledon
| A
| A
| bgcolor=afeeee |2R
| A
| A
| A
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| bgcolor=lime |W
| colspan=8|not eligible
| bgcolor=efefef |1 / 3
| bgcolor=efefef |13–2
| bgcolor=efefef |86.7
|-
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |US Open
| bgcolor=afeeee |3R
| bgcolor=afeeee |2R
| bgcolor=afeeee |1R
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| A
| bgcolor=lime |W
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| bgcolor=lime |W
| colspan=8|not eligible
| bgcolor=efefef |2 / 7
| bgcolor=efefef |23–5
| bgcolor=efefef |82.1
|-
!style="text-align:left;" colspan=17 |Pro Slam tournaments !! 2 / 19 !! 27–17 !! 61.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |U.S. Pro
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| A
| bgcolor=thistle |F
| A
| A
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| bgcolor=efefef |0 / 5
| bgcolor=efefef |5–5
| bgcolor=efefef |50.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |French Pro
| colspan=8|not held
| bgcolor=lime |W
| NH
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| bgcolor=lime |W
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| bgcolor=afeeee |1R
| bgcolor=afeeee |1R
| bgcolor=efefef |2 / 7
| bgcolor=efefef |11–5
| bgcolor=efefef |68.8
|-
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |Wembley Pro
| NH
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| NH
| NH
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| A
| bgcolor=thistle |F
| bgcolor=yellow |SF
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| bgcolor=ffebcd |QF
| bgcolor=efefef |0 / 7
| bgcolor=efefef |11–7
| bgcolor=efefef |61.1
|-
|- style="background:#efefef;"
|style="text-align:left;" bgcolor=efefef |Win–loss
| 2–1
| 1–1
| 3–3
| 4–1
| 3–1
| 6–0
| 16–3
| 23–1
| 6–2
| 1–1
| 4–3
| 6–1
| 5–3
| 3–2
| 1–2
| 1–3
| bgcolor=efefef |
| bgcolor=efefef |
| bgcolor=efefef |
|}
The results of the Pro Tours are not listed here.<br>
<small>Source:</small>
Notes
References
General sources
- The Game: My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford ()
- Little Pancho (2009), Caroline Seebohm
- Man with a Racket: The Autobiography of Pancho Gonzales (1959), as told to Cy Rice
- Trabert Cup (2000), Men's 40 and over International Competition
- Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame (2002)
External links
- Image of tennis players Tony Trabert and Pancho Gonzales with Beans Reardon at Bond Club luncheon in Los Angeles, California, 1955. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.