Dick Savitt was a Hall of Fame tennis player and one of only four U.S. men to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year.
- Died: January 6, 2023 (Who else died on January 6?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in New York City at the age of 95.
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Tennis champion
Savitt was a two-sport athlete in high school, preferring basketball to tennis. After serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, he attended Cornell University on a basketball scholarship. But an injury hurt his chances in basketball, and he tightened his focus on tennis. It was not long after his 1950 college graduation that he became only the second American to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon in one year, 1951. He was also the first Jewish player to win either tournament. Ranked No. 2 in the world that year, Savitt became a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, but 1951 turned out to be the peak of his international career. The following year, he stepped away from international tournament play and focused on indoor tennis. He was the first player to win the U.S. National Indoor Championship, winning in 1952, 1958, and 1961. In later years, Savitt competed in Israel’s Maccabiah Games and worked to develop tennis centers in Israel. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.
Notable quote
“My name is up on the board as a champion [at Wimbledon]. I used to go and check to make sure they didn’t erase it.” —from a 2011 interview for the Star-Ledger
Tributes to Dick Savitt
Full obituary: The New York Times