Elias Victor Seixas Jr. ( ; August 30, 1923 – July 5, 2024) was an American tennis player.
Seixas was ranked in the top ten in the U.S. on 13 occasions from 1942 to 1956. In 1951, Seixas was ranked No. 4 amateur in the world, two spots below Dick Savitt, while he was No. 1 in the U.S. ranking, one spot ahead of Savitt. In 1953, Seixas was ranked No. 3 in the world by Lance Tingay. In 1954, Seixas was ranked amateur number one by Harry Hopman.
In his career, Seixas won 15 Major championships. He won both Wimbledon and the US Open in singles. He also won the Australian Open, French Open (twice), and US Open (twice) in doubles, and the French Open, Wimbledon (four times), and US Open (three times) in mixed doubles.
Seixas was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Southern Conference Hall of Fame.
Early life
Seixas was born on August 30, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Victoria ( Moon), who was of Irish descent, and Elias Victor Seixas, who was born in the Dominican Republic, of Dutch-Jewish descent. He is reported to have been Jewish by a number of sources, but was raised Presbyterian. He attended and graduated from the William Penn Charter School, where he was a tennis star.
Seixas served as a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II for three years, which interrupted his tennis career. He then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Alpha Sigma chapter of the Chi Psi fraternity.
Tennis career
During the course of his lengthy career, Seixas won scores of singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles. He entered the US Championships men's singles a record 28 times from 1940 to 1969.
Seixas was ranked in the top ten in the US 13 times from 1942 to 1956. In 1951, Seixas was ranked No. 4 in the world, two spots below Dick Savitt, while he was No. 1 in the US ranking (a ranking he also held in 1954 and 1957), one spot ahead of Savitt. In 1953, Seixas was ranked No. 3 in the world by Lance Tingay and was cited as being the world No. 1 in the Reading Eagle the same year.
His major singles wins include Wimbledon in 1953 over Kurt Nielsen (where his 'cash' winnings was a £25 certificate to spend at a shop in Piccadilly Circus) and the US National (U.S. Open) in 1954 over Rex Hartwig.
Halls of Fame
Seixas was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971. He was also inducted into the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Hall of Fame.
Seixas was inducted into Class II of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. He was inducted into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame in 2011. Afterward, he worked as a tennis director for the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and at a Hilton Hotel in New Orleans.
He moved to California in 1989, where he lived in Mill Valley having turned 100 on August 30, 2023.
Seixas died at his home in Mill Valley on July 5, 2024, at the age of 100.
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runners-up)
{| class='sortable wikitable'
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:140px"|Opponent
!style="width:120px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1951 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Frank Sedgman || 4–6, 1–6, 1–6
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1953 || style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Championships || Clay || Ken Rosewall || 3–6, 4–6, 6–1, 2–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win ||1953 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Kurt Nielsen || 9–7, 6–3, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1953 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Tony Trabert || 3–6, 2–6, 3–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win ||1954 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Rex Hartwig || 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4
|}
Doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runners-up)
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:140px"|Partner
!style="width:140px"|Opponents
!style="width:170px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1952 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Eric Sturgess || Ken McGregor<br /> Frank Sedgman|| 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1952 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships ||Grass|| Mervyn Rose || Ken McGregor<br /> Frank Sedgman || 3–6, 10–8, 10–8, 6–8, 8–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1954 || style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Championships || Clay || Tony Trabert || Lew Hoad<br /> Ken Rosewall|| 6–4, 6–2, 6–1
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1954 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Tony Trabert || Rex Hartwig <br/> Mervyn Rose || 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win ||1954 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships ||Grass|| Tony Trabert || Lew Hoad<br /> Ken Rosewall|| 3–6, 6–4, 8–6, 6–3
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win ||1955 || style="background:#ffc;"|Australian Championships ||Grass|| Tony Trabert || Lew Hoad<br /> Ken Rosewall|| 6–3, 6–2, 2–6, 3–6, 6–1
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win ||1955 || style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Championships ||Clay|| Tony Trabert || Nicola Pietrangeli<br /> Orlando Sirola || 6–1, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss ||1956 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships ||Grass|| Ham Richardson || Lew Hoad<br /> Ken Rosewall|| 2–6, 2–6, 6–3, 4–6
|}
Mixed doubles: 8 (8 titles)
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Result
!Year
!style="width:160px"|Championship
!Surface
!style="width:140px"|Partner
!style="width:140px"|Opponents
!style="width:110px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1953 || style="background:#ebc2af;"|French Championships || Clay || Doris Hart || Maureen Connolly <br /> Mervyn Rose || 4–6, 6–4, 6–0
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1953 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Doris Hart || Shirley Fry <br/> Enrique Morea || 9–7, 7–5
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1953 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Doris Hart || Julia Sampson<br /> Rex Hartwig || 6–2, 4–6, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1954 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Doris Hart || Margaret duPont <br/> Ken Rosewall || 5–7, 6–4, 6–3
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1954 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Doris Hart || Margaret duPont<br /> Ken Rosewall || 4–6, 6–1, 6–1
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1955 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Doris Hart || Louise Brough <br/> Enrique Morea || 8–6, 2–6, 6–3
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1955 || style="background:#ccf;"|U.S. Championships || Grass || Doris Hart || Shirley Fry<br /> Lew Hoad || 9–7, 6–1
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1956 || style="background:#cfc;"|Wimbledon || Grass || Shirley Fry || Gardnar Mulloy <br/> Althea Gibson || 2–6, 6–2, 7–5
|}
Grand Slam performance timeline
<div style="overflow: auto;">
{| class="wikitable nowrap" style=text-align:center;font-size:90%
|-
! Tournament !! 1940 !! 1941 !! 1942 !! 1943 !! 1944 !! 1945 !! 1946 !! 1947 !! 1948 !! 1949 !! 1950 !! 1951 !! 1952 !! 1953 !! 1954 !! 1955 !! 1956 !! 1957 !! 1958 !! 1959 !! 1960 !! 1961 !! 1962 !! 1963 !! 1964 !! 1965 !! 1966 !! 1967 !! 1968 !! 1969
! style="width:45px;" | SR
! style="width:45px;" | W–L
! style="width:45px;" | Win %
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|
| A
| A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A
| A
| style="background:yellow;"|SF
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| A
| A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A
| 0 / 3
| 7–3
| 70.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|French Open
| A
| A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A
| A
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| A
| A
| style="background:#D8BFD8;"|F
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| A
| A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A
| A
| 0 / 4
| 16–4
| 80.0
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Wimbledon
| A
| A || A || A || A || A || A || A || A
| A
| style="background:yellow;"|SF
| A
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| style="background:#00ff00;"|W
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| style="background:yellow;"|SF
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| A
| A || A || A || A || A || A || A
| A
| style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| A
| style="background:#afeeee;"|1R
| 1 / 9
| 31–8
| 79.5
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|US Open
| style="background:#afeeee;"|3R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|3R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| A
| style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| A
| style="background:#afeeee;"|3R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|1R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|3R
| style="background:#D8BFD8;"|F
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#D8BFD8;"|F
| style="background:#00ff00;"|W
| style="background:yellow;"|SF
| style="background:yellow;"|SF
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|3R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|3R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|4R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|2R
| style="background:#afeeee;"|1R
| 1 / 28
| 75–27
| 73.5
|- style="background:#efefef"
|style="text-align:left;" |Win–loss
| 1–1 || 2–1 || 1–1 || 0–0 || 1–1 || 0–0 || 1–1 || 3–1 || 3–1 || 0–1
| 11–3 || 6–1 || 7–2 || 22–3 || 16–3 || 10–4 || 10–2 || 8–2 || 4–1
| 3–1 || 3–1 || 2–1 || 3–1 || 2–1 || 3–1 || 3–1 || 1–1 || 2–2 || 1–1 || 0–2
| bgcolor=efefef |2 / 44
| bgcolor=efefef |129–42
| bgcolor=efefef |75.4
|-
|}
</div>
See also
- List of select Jewish tennis players
References
External links
- Prominent members of Chi Psi