Vic Seixas

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Elias Victor Seixas, Jr., born August 30, 1923, was an American male tennis player.

Seixas was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was of Portuguese Jewish ancestry.^[1] After serving in World War II, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He was a member of Alpha Sigma of the Chi Psi fraternity and graduated in 1949, the same year that UNC awarded him the Patterson Medal in athletics.

[edit] Career

In a very long career, Seixas won scores of singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles at many important tournaments. His major singles wins include Wimbledon in 1953 over Kurt Nielsen and the U.S. National (U.S. Open) in 1954 over Rex Hartwig.

He was also a great doubles player, with numerous major doubles and mixed doubles titles to his credit, including: four consecutive mixed doubles crowns at Wimbledon from 1953-56, the first three with Doris Hart and the fourth with Shirley Fry; the U.S. National mixed doubles from 1953-55, all with Doris Hart; the U.S. National doubles in 1952 with Mervyn Rose and again in 1954 with Tony Trabert; the French National (French Open) doubles in 1954 and 1955, both with Trabert; the French National mixed doubles in 1953, with Doris Hart; and the Australian National (Australian Open) doubles in 1955, with Trabert.

Seixas and Trabert won the Davis Cup in 1954, against Australia. Seixas is rated fifth in the category of Most Davis Cup Singles matches (24), just behind Bill Tilden (25) and Arthur Ashe (27). He served three times as Captain of the US Davis Cup team.

In 1966, Seixas was rated as the Senior Squash Champion of America.

Vic Seixas was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.