Alexander Wellford (April 15, 1911 – September 29, 1993) was an American

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player who played in the 1953 Wimbledon singles championships.

Career

He was, at age 42, perhaps the oldest player in the draw at Wimbledon. He lost at Wimbledon in four sets to

Ivor Warwick Ivor Warwick (19 March 1934 — 4 June 2017) was a British tennis player of the 1950s and 1960s. Raised in the Manchester area, Warwick was most successful on the tennis tour in the 1950s, with his title wins that decade including the East of Eng ...

, who two rounds later, played a competitive match against Ken Rosewall. That year, he also played in the French Championships, losing a close match to Paul Jalabert, who won a set off Lewis Hoad in the next round. Wellford had won the

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

state men's singles title in 1953 before playing in Europe. In the spring at

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

, he played a good match against

Vic Seixas Elias Victor Seixas Jr. (; pronounced SAY-shus; born August 30, 1923)

, who won

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in June 1953. In the first set against Seixas, Wellford took the ball on the rise and passed Seixas at the net a number of times, getting a 5–2 lead before eventually losing the match. This was a time of amateur tennis, and it was not unusual for a player who was not always the best in his own city or state to play a competitive match against one of the world's top players.

Personal life

In 1953, Wellford took on the job of chairman of the board for a group seeking to establish a private boys'

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He was chairman of the board for

Memphis University School , motto_translation = Truth and Honor , streetaddress = 6191 Park Avenue , city = Memphis , state = Tennessee , zipcode = 38119 , province = , country = United States , coordinates ...

until 1978. In 1952, he was one of the founding members of the Memphis Tennis Association, serving as its first president.

Awards and legacy

In 1970, Wellford was inducted into the Tennessee Amateur Sports Hall of Fame. In 1984, he was inducted into the Memphis Tennis Foundation Patrons Hall of Fame. Wellford died at the age of 82 on September 29, 1993. Posthumously, he was inducted posthumously into the Tennessee Tennis Association Hall of Fame in November 1993 and the Southern Tennis Association Hall of Fame in January 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellford, Alexandar 1911 births 1993 deaths American male tennis players Tennis players from Tennessee Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee