Julius "Julie" Seligson (December 22, 1909, in New York City – October 13, 1987) was an American tennis player in the early part of the 20th century.
A native of New York, Seligson was ranked as high as # 9 in USTA Singles in 1928.
Like other Jewish tennis players of the time, he experienced anti-semitism.[1]
Contents |
As a junior he was the national boy's 18-and-under champ in 1925 and 1926.
He played collegiate tennis at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. In 1928 he won the NCAA singles championship, beating Ben Gorchakoff 6–1, 6–1, 6–1, to become Lehigh’s first individual national champion.[2]
He reached the singles final of the NCAA championship again in 1930, and prior to losing that 1930 final 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 8–6, to Cliff Sutter of Tulane, he had won 66 straight matches.
He won the NCAA indoor singles championship in 1928, 1929, and 1930.
In 1928 and 1930, he was a singles finalist at the U.S. Indoor Singles Championship.
In 1929, at the Cincinnati Masters, he reached the singles final, where he lost to Herbert Bowman in four sets: 6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 1–6.
He later turned professional and won three titles at the Metropolitan Clay Court Championship.
In 1992, he was inducted into the Lehigh University Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2002 he was enshrined into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.
Seligson died in 1987 of a malignant melanoma at his home in Westport, Connecticut. He was 77 years old.