Henry Prusoff
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Henry J. Prusoff (nicknamed "the Russian Bear"; December 10, 1912 – May 1943) was a top-ranked American
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 ...
in both singles and doubles in the 1930s. Prusoff was ranked No. 3 in doubles during the 1930s, and No. 8 in singles in the U.S. in 1940.">"Prusoff, Henry": Jews In Sports
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Early life

He was born in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, and was Jewish. He later lived in
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. He attended Garfield High School in Seattle.


Tennis career

Prusoff won the singles and doubles titles at the Oregon State Tennis Championship in 1932. In 1933 he played in the US Championships, but was defeated in the round of 128 by
Keith Gledhill Keith Gledhill (February 16, 1911 – June 2, 1999) was an American tennis player of the 1930s. Playing career In 1929 Gledhill won the national junior singles and, partnering Ellsworth Vines, doubles title. He attended Stanford University and ...
. Prusoff also won the singles title and reached the doubles final at the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
in 1934, and played in the US Championships where he was defeated in the round of 64 by
John Van Ryn John Van Ryn (June 30, 1905 – August 7, 1999) was an American tennis champion of the 1930s. He was primarily known as the doubles partner of Wilmer Allison. Van Ryn won the Men's Doubles at Wimbledon three straight years (1929–31). He t ...
. He also won the Tri-State Tennis Tournament that year. In 1935, while ranked 13th in the United States and after defeating Sandy Davenport at the U.S. Championships in the round of 64 (but losing in the round of 32 to
Frank Shields Francis Xavier Alexander Shields Sr. (November 18, 1909 – August 19, 1975) was an American amateur tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s, and an actor known for ''Hoosier Schoolboy'' (1937). Tennis career Between 1928 and 1945 he was ranked e ...
), Prusoff sustained a very bad, near-fatal back injury from which he nevertheless eventually made a surprising recovery. By 1939, Prusoff was ranked No. 10 in singles in the US (after returning to the U.S. Championships, where he beat Lewis Duff in the round of 128 and Ernest Sutter in the round of 64, but lost to
Gilbert Hunt Gilbert Agnew Hunt, Jr. (March 4, 1916 – May 30, 2008) was an American mathematician and amateur tennis player active in the 1930s and 1940s. Early life and education Hunt was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Eastern High School (Washing ...
in the round of 32), and in 1940 he was ranked No. 8 (after at the U.S. Championships he beat Gilbert Hall in the round of 64 and Edwin Armark in the round of 32, but lost to
Jack Kramer John Albert Kramer (August 1, 1921 – September 12, 2009) was an American tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s. He won three Grand Slam tournaments (the U.S. Championships in 1946 and 1947, Wimbledon in 1947). He led the U.S. Davis Cup tennis ...
in the round of 16). In both 1935 and 1939 he was nominated for the ''
Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...
'' Man of the Year sports award. He died in 1943 at the age of 30 of a rare blood disease.


See also

* List of select Jewish tennis players


References


External links


Jews in Sports bio


{{DEFAULTSORT:Prusoff, Henry 1912 births 1943 deaths American male tennis players Jewish American tennis players Sportspeople from Cleveland Tennis players from Seattle Tennis players from Ohio 20th-century American Jews Jews from Ohio Jews from Washington (state)