Armistead Neely (born March 19, 1947) is an American former professional

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. He is a member of the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame.

Biography

Neely grew up in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, where he moved to as a child from

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. He played collegiate tennis for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, earning All-American honors in 1968 and 1969. During his time at the University of Florida he remained unbeaten in SEC singles dual matches. A right-handed player, Neely competed on the professional tour in the 1970s and had a career high singles ranking of 144 in the world. He featured regularly in the main draw of the US Open and also made appearances at the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

and

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 * ...

. His best grand slam performance came at the 1975 US Open, where he reached the quarter-finals of the men's doubles, partnering Tenny Svensson. From 1977 to 1981 he was head coach of men's tennis at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neely, Armistead 1947 births Living people American male tennis players Sportspeople from Mobile, Alabama Tennis players from Florida Tennis players from Tampa, Florida Florida Gators men's tennis players American tennis coaches Alabama Crimson Tide men's tennis coaches