Herbert Flam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herbert Flam (b. Nov. 7, 1928, New York City - d. mid-1980s), also known as "Herbie," was an American tennis player.
Considered to be one of the best male Jewish tennis players in history, he was ranked # 5 in the world by World Tennis Magazine in 1957.
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[edit] Tennis career
Flam's tennis success began in 1943, when he won the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association's 15-year old Boys Singles Championship.
In 1945, as a high school junior, he won both the USTA Interscholastic 18s singles and doubles (with Hugh Steward) titles.
In 1946 he repeated as both singles and doubles (again, with Hugh Stewart) champions.[1]
In 1948, while attending UCLA, Flam was the school's top tennis player and reached the USLTA Singles Championships semifinals as an unseeded player, defeating the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds along the way.
In 1950 Flam was the NCAA single's and doubles (with Gene Garrett) champion. He led UCLA to its first-ever NCAA team championship
Flam then became the first Jewish player to advance to the finals at the U.S. Open, losing in five sets to Art Larsen in 1950.
The following year, he reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, losing to fellow American Jewish star Dick Savitt. He was ranked # 6 in the world in 1951.
He also reached the Wimbledon semis in 1952.
One of America's best players in the 1950s, Flam was a U.S. Top 10 nine times in an 11-year period (1948-58), and was ranked as high as # 2 three times (1950, 1956, and 1958). Although he served in the Navy in 1953-54, Flam quickly returned to the top of his game, winning the United States Hardcourt Championship in 1955 and the U.S. Claycourt title in 1956.
In 1957, Flam reached the finals at the French Open, but lost in three sets to Sven Davidson; that year, he was ranked # 5 in the world by World Tennis Magazine, his highest ranking ever.
During his career, Flam reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon three times and the quarters at the U.S. Open six times.
[edit] Davis Cup
He was also an outstanding Davis Cup player. As as a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team from 1951 until 1957, Flam won 12 of the 14 matches he played, all of which were singles matches on grass.[2]
[edit] Style of play
Flam was a fast and "very resourceful" player. According to both the 1959 USLTA Yearbook and 1959 U.S. Championships Program, Flam succeeded by being aggressive and exploiting his opponents' mistakes. Because of his playing style, he was often called a "retriever," but Flam resented the negative label.
[edit] Halls of Fame
The International Tennis Association elected Flam to the ITA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.[3]
Flam was inducted as a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
Flam was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 2006.[4]
