Elwood Thomas Cooke (July 5, 1913 – April 16, 2004) was an amateur American
tennis player
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 cove ...
in the 1930s and 1940s.
Tennis career
Elwood Cooke started playing tennis before his junior year at
Benson Polytechnic High School. He played for the school team in the Portland Interscholastic League, never losing in singles matches and finishing with the team in 2nd place in his junior and senior years.
Cooke was ranked in Top 10 in the United States in 1938 (ranked No. 7), 1939 (No. 6), 1940 (No. 9), and 1945 (No. 4), whilst reaching as high as World No. 8 in
Gordon Lowe
Sir Francis Gordon Lowe, 2nd Baronet (21 June 1884 – 17 May 1972) was a British male tennis player.
Lowe is best remembered for winning the Australasian Championships in 1915 (where he beat champion Horace Rice in the final). and for winni ...
's amateur rankings for 1939.
At Wimbledon, Cooke reached the singles final in 1939 (beating
Bunny Austin and
Henner Henkel
Heinrich Ernst Otto "Henner" Henkel (; 9 October 1915 – 13 January 1943) was a German tennis player during the 1930s. His biggest success was his singles title at the 1937 French Championships.
Biography
Henner was born in 1915 the son of ...
before falling to
Bobby Riggs
Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 amateur in 1939 and World No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...
), but won the doubles title that year with Riggs. He was the U.S. Indoor Doubles champion with Riggs in 1940. Cooke reached the semifinals of the
French Championships
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 ...
in 1939 (losing to
Don McNeill)
and the
U.S. National Championships in 1945 (losing to
Frank Parker).
He reached the U. S. quarterfinals in 1940 and 1943.
At the
Cincinnati Masters, he reached both the singles and the doubles final in 1945. He lost the singles final to future
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 indo ...
enshrinee
Bill Talbert
William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator.
Tennis career
He was ranked in the U.S. top 10 13 times between 1941 and 1954, and was ranked World No. 3 in 1949 by John Olliff ...
.
In the Oregon State Tournament, he won the singles title in 1936.
In the Pacific Northwest Sectional, he won the singles title in 1935 and 1936.
He was a naval officer 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, and was married to International Tennis Hall of Famer
Sarah Palfrey Cooke.
After he retired from tournament play, he was the head tennis professional at Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale, New York from 1961 to 1981.
Personal life
He was married to tennis star
Sarah Palfrey from 1940 to 1949.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Elwood
1913 births
2004 deaths
American male tennis players
French Championships (tennis) champions
Sportspeople from Ogden, Utah
Tennis people from Utah
Benson Polytechnic High School alumni
Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
Professional tennis players before the Open Era