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Frank Parker (tennis)

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Frank Parker
Parker, circa 1944
Full nameFrank Andrew Parker
Country (sports) United States
Born(1916-01-31)January 31, 1916
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedJuly 24, 1997(1997-07-24) (aged 81)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Turned proOctober 1949
(amateur from 1930)
Retired1971
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF1966 (member page)
Singles
Career record770–231 (76.9%)[1]
Career titles74[1]
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1948, John Olliff)[2]
Grand Slam singles results
French OpenW (1948, 1949)
WimbledonSF (1937)
US OpenW (1944, 1945)
Professional majors
US ProQF (1950, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenW (1949)
WimbledonW (1949)
US OpenW (1943)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (1937, 1948)

Frank Andrew Parker (born Franciszek Andrzej Pajkowski, January 31, 1916 – July 24, 1997) was an amateur & later professional American male tennis player of Polish immigrant parents who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. He won four Grand Slam singles titles as well as three doubles titles.

Early life

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Parker was born on January 31, 1916, in Milwaukee as Franciszek Andrzej Pajkowski and had three brothers and a sister.[3] Franciszek changed his name to Frank Parker when the sports announcers couldn't pronounce his Polish name. He learnt to play tennis at age 10, hitting discarded tennis balls at the Milwaukee Town Club.[4] There he was discovered by the club coach Mercer Beasley who noticed his quickness and accuracy.[5] Aged 12, he won his first national title, the boys' indoor championship played at the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York.[3] At age 15, Paikowski become the national boys' champion in singles, defeating Gene Mako in the final, and a year later, at age 16, he won the national junior singles title as well as the men's singles title at the Canadian National Championships.[6][7] In 1933, when he was 17, he won the singles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, defeating Gene Mako in the final in straight sets.[8][9] Following success in these championships, Frank earned the nickname "Boy Wonder of Tennis."

Career

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Parker is one of the few Americans to win both the French Championships (1948, 1949) and the U.S. Championships (1944, 1945).[a][10]

Parker became the singles champion at Cincinnati, then called the Tri–State Tennis Tournament, in 1941 and was a four-time singles finalist (1932, 1933, 1938, 1939). He won the Canadian title in 1932 and again in 1938. He won five U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships and four Eastern Clay Court Championships. He was ranked World No. 1 amateur in 1948 by John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph.[2]

Writing about Parker in his 1949 autobiography, Bobby Riggs, who had played Parker many times, stated "Parker is a tough man to get past. Equipped with a wonderful all-court game, he plays intently and with classic form. His footwork is marvelous. You never see Frankie hitting the ball from an awkward position."[11] In his autobiography, Jack Kramer wrote "even as a boy (Parker) had this wonderful, slightly overspin forehand drive. Clean and hard. Then for some reason, Frankie's coach, Mercer Beasley, decided to change this stroke into a chop. It was obscene." It impaired his game, particularly in preventing him from getting to the net, and Parker dropped in the rankings. A few years later, he worked hard to regain his original forehand, and according to Kramer, greatly improved his stroke, but it never was as good as it had once been.[12] Parker was known for having a "deadpan" persona on court.[13]

Parker took part in the 1968 US Open at the age of 52, becoming the oldest player to compete in the US Open men's singles.[14] He also had the longest span in Grand Slam men's singles history (36 years from his first appearance at the U.S. Championships in 1932 to his last appearance in 1968).[15]

Between 1937 and 1948, Parker took part in seven Davis Cup ties with the U.S. team and won the Davis Cup in 1937 and 1948.[16] He compiled a Davis Cup record of 12 wins and two losses.[17]

In October 1949, Parker signed a one-year contract with Bobby Riggs to become a professional tennis player.[18]

Parker was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1960.

Parker was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1966 and into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.[19]

Personal life

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On March 17, 1938, Parker married Audrey Beasley who previously divorced Parker's coach Mercer Beasley.[4][20] She became his adviser and tailored his tennis wardrobe.[4] His wife died in 1971, and in 1979, Parker retired from his position of salesman for a corrugated box company.[3][4]

Grand Slam finals

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Singles (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1942 U.S. Championships Grass United States Ted Schroeder 6–8, 5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 2–6
Win 1944 U.S. Championships Grass United States William Talbert 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Win 1945 U.S. Championships Grass United States William Talbert 14–12, 6–1, 6–2
Loss 1947 U.S. Championships Grass United States Jack Kramer 6–4, 6–2, 1–6, 0–6, 3–6
Win 1948 French Championships Clay Czechoslovakia Jaroslav Drobný 6–4, 7–5, 5–7, 8–6
Win 1949 French Championships Clay United States Budge Patty 6–3, 1–6, 6–1, 6–4

Doubles (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1933 U.S. Championships Grass United States Frank Shields United States George Lott
United States Lester Stoefen		 13–11, 7–9, 7–9, 3–6
Win 1943 U.S. Championships Grass United States Jack Kramer United States Bill Talbert
United States David Freeman		 7–5, 8–6, 3–6, 6–1
Loss 1948 U.S. Championships Grass United States Ted Schroeder United States Gardnar Mulloy
United States Bill Talbert		 6–1, 7–9, 3–6, 6–3, 7–9
Win 1949 French Championships Clay United States Pancho Gonzales South Africa Eustace Fannin
South Africa Eric Sturgess		 6–3, 8–6, 5–7, 6–3
Win 1949 Wimbledon Grass United States Pancho Gonzales United States Gardnar Mulloy
United States Ted Schroeder		 6–4, 6–4, 6–2

Performance timeline

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Parker joined the professional tennis circuit in 1949 and as a consequence was banned from competing in the amateur Grand Slams until the start of the Open Era.

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

(A*) 1-set matches in preliminary rounds.

1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962-1967 1968 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments 4 / 24 86–20 81.1
Australian Open A A A A A A A A A Not held A A A A Not eligible 0 / 0 0–0 –
French Open A A A A A A A A Not held A A W W Not eligible A 2 / 2 12–0 100
Wimbledon A A A A A SF A A Not held A A 4R QF Not eligible A 0 / 3 12–3 80.0
US Open 3R 3R QF 4R SF SF 4R 4R QF QF F QF W W QF F QF SF Not eligible 2R 2 / 19 62–17 78.5
Pro Slam tournaments 0 / 9 3–13 18.8
U.S. Pro A A A A A A A A A A A A NH A A A A A QF QF 5th A A A A QF QF QF QF QF QF A* A NH 0 / 9 3–13 18.8
French Pro A NH A A A A A A Not held A NH A A A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0 –
Wembley Pro NH NH A A NH A NH A Not held A A A A A NH NH A A A A A A A NH 0 / 0 0–0 –
Win–loss 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 4–1 10–2 2-1 3-1 3–1 3–1 5–1 2–1 5–0 5–0 4–1 6–1 12–2 14–2 1–1 1–6 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0-1 4 / 33 89–33 73.0

Notes

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  1. ^ Other American players who have won singles titles at both the French and US Championshipba are Don Budge (1937), Don McNeill (1939-1940), Tony Trabert (1953-1954) and Andre Agassi (1994, 1999).

References

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  1. ^ a b "Frank Parker: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. TennismemSL. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  2. ^ a b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 426.
  3. ^ a b c Kenan Heise (July 25, 1997). "Wimbledon Doubles Titlist Frank Parker". Chicago Tribune.
  4. ^ a b c d Richard Goldstein (July 28, 1997). "Frank Parker, U.S. Tennis Champion, 81". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Mercer Beasley". Sports Illustrated. July 29, 1957.
  6. ^ "Frank Parker Wins National Boys' Tennis Title". The Milwaukee Journal. August 16, 1931.
  7. ^ "Frankie Parker Seen As Future Davis Cup Hope". Berkeley Daily Gazette. July 7, 1933.
  8. ^ "Parker Beats Mako for National Clay Court Title". The Milwaukee Journal. July 10, 1933. p. 4.
  9. ^ "Polish Youth Tennis Champ". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 10, 1933. p. 11.
  10. ^ "Frank Parker Wins National Tennis Title". The Milwaukee Journal. September 5, 1944.
  11. ^ Tennis Is My Racket, by Bobby Riggs, New York, 1949, page 58.
  12. ^ The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford, page 48
  13. ^ "Frank Parker". www.tennis.co.nf.
  14. ^ "Frank Parker, Early Tennis Professional, Dies at Age 81". Los Angeles Times. July 26, 1997.
  15. ^ "Grand Slam Tennis Statistics". www.tennis.co.nf. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  16. ^ "Critics Agree That Frank Parker Exhibited Nearly Perfect Tennis". The Milwaukee Journal. July 28, 1937.
  17. ^ "Davis Cup – Player profile". International Tennis Federation (ITF).
  18. ^ "Frank Parker Abandons Amateur Tennis Career". Star-News. October 17, 1949.
  19. ^ "Inductees – Frank Parker". National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013.
  20. ^ "Net Start, Ex-Wife Of Coach, Married". Berkeley Daily Gazette. March 17, 1938. p. 9.

Sources

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  • Tennis Is My Racket, by Bobby Riggs, New York, 1949
  • The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis, Jack Kramer with Frank Deford, New York, 1979
  • How to Play Tennis, by Mercer Beasley, 1935
  • Frank Parker: Champion in the Golden Age of Tennis, by Cynthia Beardsley, 2002
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