Sam Match

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Samuel ("Sam") Match (January 3, 1923, in Los Angeles, California) was an American tennis player.

Match was one of the top singles and doubles players in America in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Match was ranked in the top ten in the United States in both singles and doubles from 1948-1950. He was No. 4 in doubles in 1948, No. 8 in singles in 1949, and No. 10 in singles in 1950. Lawn Tennis and Badminton magazine ranked him as the 12th best professional player for the year 1955.

[edit] Tennis career

In 1947, playing doubles for Rice University with Bob Curtis, he beat Herbert Flam and Gene Garrett of UCLA 6-4, 8-10, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to win the NCAA doubles title.[1]

As an amateur, Match won at La Jolla, California, on 1948-02-16, at Philadelphia in 1948, and at the Utah State Open in 1948 and 1949.

In 1949, playing for San Francisco State University, he was beaten in five sets in the finals of the NCAA tournament by Jack Tuero of Tulane. He and Art Larsen also lost the doubles championship in the finals.[2]

He was also the runner-up in La Jolla (1950-03-19), the California State in San Francisco (1950-05-21), the Colorado State in Denver (1950-06-09), and in Salt Lake City (1950-07-02) ^[1].

According to Joe McCauley's book, The History of Professional Tennis, his first appearance in a professional tournament was at the California State Pro in Beverly Hills, California, (August 11 to 16, 1953).

In 1991 he was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame.[3]

In 2005 he was honored as one of the Univerity of San Francisco's 75 greatest athletic legends.[4]