Dick Savitt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Dick Savitt

Savitt holding the 1951 Wimbledon men's trophy
Full name	Richard Savitt
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1927-03-04)March 4, 1927 Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	January 6, 2023(2023-01-06) (aged 95) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Turned pro	1944 (amateur tour)
Retired	1952 (played part-time afterwards)
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
College	Cornell University (57–2 record in singles)
Int. Tennis HoF	1976 (member page)
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 1 (July 1951, The New York Times)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1951)
French Open	QF (1951, 1952)
Wimbledon	W (1951)
US Open	SF (1950, 1951)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	F (1951, 1952)
Medal record Maccabiah Games Gold 1961 Israel Men's Singles Gold 1961 Israel Men's Doubles

Richard Savitt (born March 4, 1927 – died January 6, 2023) was an amazing American tennis player. He is famous for winning two major championships in 1951.

At 24 years old, he won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon men's singles titles. This was a huge achievement! He was ranked among the top players in the world. Only a few American men have won both these big tournaments in the same year. These include Don Budge (1938), Jimmy Connors (1974), and Pete Sampras (1994 and 1997).

Savitt also won two gold medals at the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He won for both singles and men's doubles. He is honored in several Halls of Fame for his tennis achievements.

Early Life and Sports Beginnings

Richard Savitt was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He started playing tennis when he was 14 years old. What's really cool is that he taught himself how to play! He never took a single tennis lesson.

Even without lessons, he became very good. He reached the finals of the New Jersey Boys Championship. For two years, he played in the National Boys Tennis Tournament.

In 1944, his family moved to El Paso, Texas. This was because his mother needed warmer weather for her health. At first, basketball was his favorite sport. He was an All-State forward for his high school basketball team in El Paso. But he also excelled at tennis. He won the Texas boys singles championship in 1944–45. Nationally, he was ranked among the top junior tennis players.

In 1945, Savitt joined the Navy. He played on a service basketball team while stationed in Memphis, Tennessee.

College Tennis Star

In 1946, Savitt went to Cornell University. He studied economics there. He was also part of a fraternity and a special society. He had some knee injuries, which meant he couldn't play basketball as much.

So, Savitt focused on tennis. He became the captain of Cornell's tennis team. He was their top player in both singles and doubles. In 1947, he was ranked #26 in the U.S. By 1949, he was #17.

He won the Eastern Intercollegiate Tournament twice, in 1949 and 1950. He also won the doubles title with his partner, Leonard Steiner, from 1948 to 1950. In 1950, he won two more tournaments: the East Clay Court Tournament and the New York State Tournament. He had an amazing college record, winning 57 out of 59 singles matches. He graduated from Cornell in June 1950.

Professional Tennis Highlights

After college, Dick Savitt continued to shine in tennis. He was ranked among the world's top 10 players four times between 1951 and 1957. In 1951, he was ranked #2 in the world. He was also in the U.S. top 10 six times. This is impressive because he didn't play competitively from 1953 to 1955.

Some of his biggest wins include the 1951 Wimbledon singles championship and the 1951 Australian Open. He also won the USLTA National Indoor Championships three times (1952, 1958, and 1961). He was the first player to win that title three times. He also won the Italian doubles and the Canadian singles and doubles championships.

Winning Big in 1951

In 1950, without any coaching, Savitt reached the semifinals of the U. S. Tennis Championship. The next year, 1951, was his best. At 24, he won the Wimbledon Singles Championship. He beat top players like Art Larsen and Herbert Flam along the way.

He also won the Australian Open Singles title that year. He won the final match quickly, in just 61 minutes. He was the first American since Don Budge, 13 years earlier, to win both Wimbledon and the Australian Open in the same year.

Savitt was also the first Jewish player to win either of these major tournaments. His success helped show that tennis was for everyone, not just certain groups. He even appeared on the cover of Time magazine!

In 1951, Savitt was ranked #2 in the world. He was also considered the #1 player for the United States Davis Cup Team. In 1952, he reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. He also won the U.S. National Indoor championship and the Pacific Coast men's singles championship.

Davis Cup Controversy and Retirement

In 1951, Dick Savitt played well in the early Davis Cup matches. Many people thought he was America's best chance to win. However, the team captain chose another player, Ted Schroeder, instead of Savitt for the main matches. This decision caused a lot of discussion and debate among tennis fans and players.

Many top players in the U.S. felt that Savitt should have been chosen. The United States team ended up losing the 1951 Davis Cup to Australia. The debate continued into 1952, when the U.S. tennis association met to decide player rankings. There was a big argument about whether Savitt should be ranked #1.

Despite his great wins, Savitt was ranked #2 in the U.S. by the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association. Because of the disappointment and controversy, Savitt decided to retire from tournament tennis in February 1952, at just 25 years old. He played only one more tournament before stepping away.

Playing Tennis Later On

Even though he retired from full-time tennis, Savitt still played part-time. In 1956, he returned to competitive tennis. In 1958, he moved back to New York and started playing more often. He won his second National Indoors title that year. In 1961, he won it a third time, even though he was mostly a weekend player by then. In 1981, he and his son, Robert, won the U.S. Father-Son doubles title.

Maccabiah Games and Israel

In 1961, Savitt won two gold medals at the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel. This is a very large international sports event. He won in singles and in doubles with his partner, Mike Franks.

Savitt was also very involved with the Maccabi movement, which promotes sports among Jewish people. He helped create the Israel Tennis Centers starting in 1973. In 1998, he was the overseas tennis director for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He is considered one of the greatest Jewish athletes of all time.

Honored in Halls of Fame

Dick Savitt's amazing career led to him being honored in many Halls of Fame:

• He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.
• He joined the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.
• He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986.
• He became a member of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
• In 1999, he was inducted into the USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame.

Life After Tennis

After his successful tennis career, Dick Savitt worked in the oil business in Louisiana. Later, he worked in finance on Wall Street for companies like Lehman Brothers and Schroders.

Dick Savitt passed away on January 6, 2023, at the age of 95.

Grand Slam Finals

Singles (Two Titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1951	Australian Championships	Grass	Ken McGregor	6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win	1951	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Ken McGregor	6–4, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles (Two Runner-Ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1951	French Championships	Clay	Gardnar Mulloy	Ken McGregor Frank Sedgman	2–6, 6–2, 7–9, 5–7
Loss	1952	French Championships	Clay	Gardnar Mulloy	Ken McGregor Frank Sedgman	3–6, 4–6, 4–6

Grand Slam Performance Timeline

See also

In Spanish: Dick Savitt para niños