Sven Viktor Davidson (13 July 1928 – 28 May 2008) was a
Swedish 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 cov ...
player who became the first Swede to win a
Grand Slam title when he won the
French Championships
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...
in
1957, beating
Ashley Cooper and
Herbert Flam.
Career
Davidson also reached the French championships final in the two previous years. In 1955 he beat
Budge Patty before losing to
Tony Trabert.
In 1956 he beat Flam and Cooper before losing to
Lew Hoad.
He also reached the Wimbledon semi finals in 1957 (beating Seixas before losing to
Lew Hoad).
At the 1957 U. S. Championships, Davidson lost in five sets in the semifinals to
Mal Anderson. In 1958 Davidson partnered with
Ulf Schmidt
Ulf "Uffe" Christian Johan Schmidt (born 12 July 1934) is a former Swedish tennis player. He competed for AIK from Stockholm.
He won 14 singles' tournaments, among them the International Swedish Championships in Båstad in 1957 and 1961. In 19 ...
to win the doubles title at the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...
defeating the Australian pair
Ashley Cooper and
Neale Fraser in three straight sets. He played his last Grand Slam event at Wimbledon in 1959.
Davidson reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 2.
He played for the Swedish
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 organi ...
team between 1950 and 1960.
Davidson was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.
Personal life
Davidson lived in
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...
since the 1970s. In 1981, at age 52, he suffered a heart attack while playing a tennis match in Los Angeles. He died in Arcadia on 28 May 2008 as a result of pneumonia.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1 title, 2 runners-up)
Doubles (1 title)
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
Singles
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Sven
1928 births
2008 deaths
People from Borås
French Championships (tennis) champions
Swedish expatriates in the United States
Swedish male tennis players
International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Sportspeople from Västra Götaland County