Frederick D. Burns (born September 6, 1889, in Nevada, Missouri; died December 22, 1971, in Cincinnati, Ohio) was an important figure in Midwest amateur tennis in the early part of the 20th century. Burns was a journalist by profession from 1911 to 1958, and in the 1920s was a writer for the ''

Cincinnati Times-Star ''The Cincinnati Times-Star'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1880 to 1958. The Northern Kentucky edition was known as ''The Kentucky Times-Star'', and a Sunday edition was known as ''The Sunday Times-St ...

'' (which was absorbed by the

Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetime f ...

in the 1950s). He wrote about tennis, and played the game, including playing in the National Clay Court Championships in 1915 and Cincinnati's own international tennis tournament, now known as the

Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...

, in 1916 and 1923. In 1925 he was ranked No. 5 in doubles by the United States Tennis Association's Midwest Section. Burns served as President of the Southern Ohio Tennis Association (the predecessor of the Ohio Valley Tennis Association), and as Chairman of the National Parks Championships committee in 1940. He also served as President of the USTA Midwest Section and is the namesake of that section's Fred Burns Award which recognizes the author, journalist, sportscaster, newspaper, radio or television station, or other individual which/who contributes the most toward promoting tennis on the local, district or sectional level. In addition to serving as its President, Mr. Burns bequeathed funds to the USTA/Midwest Section to benefit its programs. Burns also was a travel writer for the ''Times-Star'' and created a travel section in 1929 for that paper. He served as President of the Midwest Travel Writers Association in 1954, and that organization's Fred Burns Memorial Award recognizes the travel-related public relations professional or organization who has shown outstanding professional support to travel journalists.

References

*USLTA Yearbooks, 1916, 1917, 1924 & 1941
Past Winners of Fred Burns Award from USTA Midwest Section WebsitePast Winners of Fred Burns Award from Midwest Travel Writers Association
American sportswriters Tennis commentators 1889 births 1971 deaths {{US-tennis-bio-stub