Sidney Welby Van Horn (September 8, 1920 - September 17, 2014) was an American professional

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 ...

and tennis coach. As a 19-year-old player, Van Horn reached the finals of the 1939 U.S. Champiomnships beating

John Bromwich John Edward Bromwich (14 November 1918 – 21 October 1999) was an Australian tennis player who, along with fellow countryman Vivian McGrath, was one of the first great players to use a two-handed backhand. He was a natural left-hander, though ...

only to lose 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 ...

in just 56 minutes (6–4, 6–2, 6–4). One of the high points of his career was a 6–0, 6–2, 6–1 defeat of the great

Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...

at a match between U.S. and British Empire service teams at Wimbledon in July 1945, supposedly the worst losses of Tilden's career — Tilden, however, was 52 years old at the time while Van Horn was 25. Van Horn also won the

United States Pro Championship The U.S. Pro Tennis Championships (for a period from 1951 to 1962 billed as the Cleveland International Pro or Cleveland World Pro Tennis Championships) was the oldest professional tennis tournament played until its final year of 1999 and is consi ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

. He was ranked as high as World No. 5 in the professional ranks (the ''Professional Players Association'', instated by

) in 1946.

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 ...

ranked Van Horn as World No. 9 for 1939 in his amateur rankings.United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 425. He lived briefly in Atlanta, Ga., where he had been hired as Head Tennis Professional at the Piedmont Driving Club. In 1951, he moved to Puerto Rico as a coach at the Caribe Hilton Swim and Tennis Club, where he worked with many promising juniors, the most notable being

Charlie Pasarell Charles Manuel Pasarell Jr. (born February 12, 1944) is a Puerto Rican former tennis player, tennis administrator and founder of the current Indian Wells tournament. He has also commented for the Tennis Channel and with Arthur Ashe and Sheridan ...

who was ranked No.1 in the U.S. in 1967 who he continued to coach on the main tour, another notable junior was Manuel Diaz, later to become a star on the University of Georgia tennis team and UGA coach. His career as a coach spawned institutions such as the Welby Van Horn Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Florida, and Welby Van Horn Tennis programs in a number of locations.Sports Illustrated article
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References

1920 births American male tennis players American people of Dutch descent Sportspeople from Boca Raton, Florida 2014 deaths Professional tennis players before the Open Era Tennis people from California {{US-tennisbio-stub