Arthur David "Art" or "Tappy" Larsen (April 17, 1925 – December 7, 2012) was an American No. 1 male

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 c ...

player best remembered for his victory at the U.S. Championships in 1950 and for his eccentricities. He won the "Times" national sports award for the outstanding tennis player of 1950. Larsen was inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an ind ...

in 1969.

Biography

Jack Kramer, tennis player and long-time promoter, stated in his 1979 autobiography that "Larsen was fascinating to watch. He had concentrated on tennis as mental therapy after serving long stretches in the front lines during (

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

). He was called Tappy because he went around touching everything for good luck, and sometimes he would chat with an imaginary bird that sat on his shoulder. This was good theatre, but it could never have made Larsen a candidate for a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

tour." John Olliff of ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked Larsen as World No. 3 in 1950. A member of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, he previously attended the University of San Francisco, where he was a member of the 1949

NCAA Men's Tennis Championship The NCAA Men's Tennis Championships are annual tournaments held in the spring to crown team, singles, and doubles champions in American college tennis. The first intercollegiate championship was held in 1883, 23 years before the founding of the N ...

team. He was 5 feet 10 inches and 150 pounds and was known for his partying before and during his tournament appearances. It frequently was written that Larsen would arrive for an important match directly from an all-night party with no benefit of sleep. He was the first man to win the American amateur championships on the four court surfaces that existed at the time, grass, clay, hardcourt, and indoor. Since then, only Tony Trabert has equaled his feat. Larsen's tennis career ended abruptly in November 1956 after a motor scooter accident in Castro Valley, California. He partially was paralyzed and lost sight in one eye. He was the no. 8 ranked American amateur at the time. Larsen died on December 7, 2012 at the age of 87.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

References

Sources

* ''The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis'' (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford ()

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Arthur 1925 births 2012 deaths American male tennis players Sportspeople from Hayward, California San Francisco Dons men's tennis players International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Tennis people from California Tennis players at the 1955 Pan American Games United States National champions (tennis) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in tennis Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games