Sam Lee (June 18, 1914 in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

– April 9, 2012), was a former

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

champion

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. As a youth tennis player, Lee reached as high as 7 in the U.S. tennis rankings for players 15 and under. He attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and as a sophomore, won the 1933 NCAA Doubles Championship with partner Joe Coughlin. Lee won the Oregon state doubles championships with

Elwood Cooke Elwood Thomas Cooke (July 5, 1913 – April 16, 2004) was an amateur American tennis player 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 sch ...

in 1936, and the Oregon state singles championship in 1937. In 1942, Lee was called to service in

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 opposin ...

. In 1945, with

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 * ...

suspended due to the war, Lee played in the "Military Wimbledon" tournament. In 1947 and 1948, Lee and partner Emery Neale played in the Wimbledon doubles tournament. Lee was instrumental in promoting the construction of the Portland Tennis Center in the 1970s, and has served as president of the

Multnomah Athletic Club The Multnomah Athletic Club is a Social club, private social and Sports club, athletic club in Portland, Oregon, United States. Located in the Goose Hollow, Portland, Oregon, Goose Hollow neighborhood, it was originally founded in 1891 as the M ...

. He was inducted into the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

in 1987, the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

Pacific Northwest Hall of Fame in 2000, and is a member of the

Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

References

1914 births 2012 deaths American male tennis players Stanford Cardinal men's tennis players Tennis players from Oregon {{US-tennis-bio-stub