Lester Rollo Stoefen (March 30, 1911 – February 8, 1970) 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 of the 1930s.

Career

Stoefen, partnering with compatriot

George Lott George Martin Lott (October 16, 1906 – December 3, 1991) was an American tennis player and tennis coach who was born in Springfield, Illinois, United States. Lott is mostly remembered as being one of the greatest doubles players of all time. H ...

, won three Grand Slam doubles titles: 1934 Wimbledon Championships,

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

and

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

U.S. National Championships. In 1933 he was ranked world No. 9 by Pierre Gillou (president of the

Fédération Française de Tennis The French Tennis Federation (french: Fédération française de tennis, FFT) is the governing body for tennis in France. It was founded in 1920, and is tasked with the organisation, co-ordination and promotion of the sport. It is recognised by the ...

) and World No. 10 by

A. Wallis Myers Arthur Wallis Myers (24 July 1878 – 17 June 1939) was an English tennis correspondent, editor, author and player. He was one of the leading tennis journalists of the first half of the 20th century. Family life Myers was son of the Rev. John ...

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

. Stoefen reached the semifinals of the U. S. Championships singles in 1933, losing to

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

in straight sets. In 1934 he played for the US

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team and won all his six matches, including the only match the US won in their defeat in the final against Great Britain. Also in 1934 Stoefen won the U.S. Indoor Tennis Championships singles event, defeating

Gregory Mangin Gregory Sylvester Mangin (November 1, 1907 – October 27, 1979) was an American tennis player and Wall Street broker. He won four U.S. Indoor singles titles in the 1930s. Early life and education Mangin was born in Newark, New Jersey. All fo ...

in the final in three straight sets. Stoefen signed a professional contract in November 1934 with promoter Bill O'Brien. In January 1935, at Madison Square Garden, he started a series of head-to-head matches against

Ellsworth Vines Henry Ellsworth Vines Jr. (September 28, 1911 – March 17, 1994) was an American tennis champion of the 1930s, the World No. 1 player or the co-No. 1 in 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1937, able to win Pro Slam titles on three different surfaces. ...

and by March trailed him 1–25.

Personal life

He was the older brother of basketball player

Art Stoefen Arthur Oscar Stoefen (August 29, 1914 – January 7, 1995) was an American basketball player. He was an All-American college player at Stanford University and played professionally in the American National Basketball League (NBL). Stoefen, a 6 ...

, and both attended

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

. On February 6, 1936 he married actress Ruth Moody in Hollywood. He died on

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, California on February 8, 1970 of

liver cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (3 titles)

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoefen, Lester 1911 births 1970 deaths American male tennis players Sportspeople from Des Moines, Iowa Tennis people from Iowa United States National champions (tennis) Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Professional tennis players before the Open Era