Tennis

Al Trautwig (1956–2025), longtime sports broadcaster 

Al Trautwig was a longtime sports broadcaster whose work ranged from baseball and basketball to the Olympics, hockey, tennis, and auto racing.

Owen Davidson (1943–2023), Billie Jean King’s mixed doubles partner

Owen Davidson was an Australian tennis player who won eight Grand Slam titles in the 1960s and ‘70s as Billie Jean King’s mixed doubles partner.

Dick Savitt (1927–2023), tennis Hall of Famer

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.

Nick Bollettieri (1931–2022), famous coach of tennis stars     

Nick Bollettieri was a pioneering tennis coach who worked with many top pro players including Andre Agassi and Monica Seles.  

Darlene Hard (1936–2021), 3-time major tennis champion

Darlene Hard was a Hall of Fame tennis player who won 3 major singles championships and 13 major doubles championships.

Shirley Fry Irvin (1927–2021), Tennis Hall of Famer

Shirley Fry Irvin was a tennis player who was ranked No. 1 in 1956 and won a career Grand Slam.

Angela Buxton (1934–2020), tennis champion who fought discrimination

Angela Buxton was a British tennis player who won doubles at the French Open and Wimbledon in 1956 as the doubles partner of (1927–2003).

Bob Ryland (1920–2020), first Black professional tennis player

Bob Ryland was a professional tennis player who was the first Black player to compete professionally.

Maria Bueno (1939 – 2018), Brazilian tennis great

Maria Bueno, a Brazilian tennis great who won three Wimbledon singles titles and four at the U.S. Open in the 1950s and 1960s, and helped usher in modern women’s tennis, has died after battling mouth cancer. She was 78.

Ken Flach (1963 – 2018), won 6 Grand Slam doubles titles

Flach and Robert Seguso won 28 men’s doubles titles…

Jana Novotna (1968 – 2017), former Wimbledon champion

Lost heartbreaking match in the 1993 Wimbledon final before winning in 1998…

Pancho Segura (1921 – 2017), tennis great won 3 U.S. Pro Tennis Championship titles

Coached tennis legend Jimmy Connors…

Remembering Althea Gibson (video)

has been called the of tennis. She broke through the color barrier in 1950 and within a few years became a dominant force, winning back-to-back Wimbledon and U.S. National Championships. She is regarded as one of the greatest women’s tennis players of all time. Because tennis was an amateur sport, she never made much money playing it, so she turned to golf and repeated her pioneering achievement, becoming the first Black woman on the LPGA tour. Today she’s remembered for inspiring and paving the way for other Black tennis greats like and Venus and Serena Williams.

Arthur Ashe: A Timeline of Triumph

On the anniversary of his death, we are celebrating Arthur Ashe with a timeline of his athletic triumphs.

Remembering Arthur Ashe (video)

A video tribute to the tennis legend.

Gardnar Mulloy (1913 - 2016), tennis champion

Gardnar Mulloy, a former No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States, died Nov. 14, 2016, in Miami, Florida, according to multiple news sources. He was 102 and would have celebrated his 103rd birthday next week.

Bud Collins (1929 - 2016)

Bud Collins, the former newspaper journalist known best as a TV sportscaster who delivered color commentary for tennis tournaments on NBC and ESPN, has died.

Roland Garros: More Than a Stadium

Anyone who follows tennis knows the name Roland Garros – it's the stadium that hosts the French Open each year. But who was the real Roland Garros?

Althea Gibson, Tennis Trailblazer

In the 1950s, Althea Gibson joined the ranks of trailblazers like , and when she became the first Black woman to compete on the world tennis tour. Her 1956 Grand Slam win was a crucial step in ushering in the integration of professional sports.

World’s Greatest Athletes: Lottie Dod and Babe Didrikson Zaharias

We’re remembering two remarkable women who would give any athlete – man or woman – a run for their money when it comes to all-time greatest: Lottie Dod and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.