Gardnar Putnam "Gar" Mulloy (November 22, 1913 – November 14, 2016) was a U.S. No. 1 tennis player primarily known for playing in doubles matches with partner Billy Talbert. He was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and turned 100 in November 2013. During his career he won five Grand Slam doubles tournaments and was a member of the winning

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 on three occasions. Mulloy played collegiate tennis for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

Tennis career

While he was the tennis coach at the

, Mulloy recruited

Pancho Segura Francisco Olegario Segura (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but m ...

for the tennis team. Segura won three straight NCAA singles titles in 1943, 1944, and 1945. Segura went on to enjoy a successful professional tennis career, competing against the top touring professional players from 1947 until his retirement in 1962. Mulloy was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1967 as part of its inaugural class of inductees. Mulloy reached the U.S. Championships men's singles final in 1952, losing to second-seeded

Frank Sedgman Francis "Frank" Arthur Sedgman (born 29 October 1927) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Over the course of a three-decade career, Sedgman won five Grand Slam singles tournaments as an amateur as well as 22 Grand Slam doubles ...

in three straight sets. He reached the U.S. No. 1 ranking the same year and was ranked world No. 6 by

Harry Hopman Henry Christian Hopman Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 August 1906 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian tennis player and coach. Early life Harry Hopman was born on 12 August 1906 in Glebe, New South Wales, Glebe, Sydney as the third c ...

in 1947 and world No. 7 by American Lawn Tennis Magazine in 1949."Gardnar Mulloy Tentatively Ranked No. 1 in Net World"
''The Palm Beach Post'', December 14, 1952."Richard Gonzalez World's No. 1: Amateur Lawn Tennis Rankings"
''The Sunday Indian Express'', November 18, 1949. The pair of Mulloy and Talbert won the U.S. men's doubles title in 1942, 1945, 1946, and 1948. He also won the Wimbledon doubles with

Budge Patty Edward John Patty (February 11, 1924 – October 4, 2021), better known as Budge Patty, was an American world no. 1 tennis player whose career spanned a period of 15 years after World War II. He won two Grand Slam singles titles in 1950. He was ...

in 1957, at age 43. Mulloy was a Davis Cup team member in 1946, 1948–50, 1952–53 and 1957, winning the Cup on three occasions against Australia. His Davis Cup record stands at 11 wins and 3 losses. Mulloy, who served as the commanding officer of USS ''LST-32'' during World War II in the Mediterranean Theater, was inducted into the

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 ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, in 1972. In 2015 Mulloy was awarded a French Legion of Honor knighthood for his service in the US Navy in relation to operations in Italy and Provence. As such he became the oldest first time recipient of the order ever since it was created by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. Mulloy was a 1936 graduate of the

, and tennis coach at the school. He also was a member of

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

fraternity. He recruited to Miami and played doubles with George Toley, who went on to win 10 NCAA team titles at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. Probably Mulloy's greatest contribution to tennis was advancing the popularity of senior tennis. He played the senior circuit around the world into his nineties, and established the Mulloy Cup for international competition between men tennis players 80 years of age and over. He won over 127 national championships and 25 international titles in 75 years of playing competitive tennis. As of 2006, Mulloy was still participating in and winning senior matches.

Personal life

In 1938, Mulloy married Madeleine L. Cheney (1917–1993), with whom he had two daughters, Diane Mulloy Mazzone and Janice Mulloy Poindexter. He married his second wife, Jacqueline Mayer, in 2008, when he was 95 years old. Mulloy died in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

on November 14, 2016, from stroke complications, aged 102, survived by his second wife, his daughters, four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Doubles (5 titles, 9 runners-up)

Mixed doubles (2 runner-ups)

Book

Mulloy wrote an autobiography, ''The Will To Win,'' that was published in 1960. In 2009, he released an update to his autobiography, titled ''As It Was'', with an introduction by

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...

. According to the book, Mulloy is enshrined in a record nine Halls of Fame.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Mulloy, Gardnar. ''The Will To Win. An insider view of the world of tennis''. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, Inc., 1960. * Mulloy, Gardnar. ''Advantage Striker''. London: Allan Wingate, 1959. * Mulloy, Gardnar P. ''As It Was''. Flexigroup, 2009. . A print-on-demand paperback book. * Toley, George "The Golden Age of College Tennis" 2009

External links

* * * *
Boston Globe article, Aug 31, 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulloy, Gardnar 1913 births 2016 deaths American male tennis players International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Tennis players from Washington, D.C. United States National champions (tennis) Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) University of Miami alumni Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles American centenarians Men centenarians