Seymour Greenberg (August 10, 1920 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

– March 3, 2006 in

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a Chicago suburb. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located northwest of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways, a ...

) was an amateur

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

clay-court specialist A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Clay courts are made of crushed stone, brick, shale, or other unbound mineral aggregate depending on the tournament. T ...

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 the 1940s and 1950s. Greenberg was ranked U.S. No. 5 in singles in 1943 and 1944, and also in 1942, 1945, and 1947.

Early life

Greenberg was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to Jacob and Sylvia Greenberg, lived in Highland Park, Illinois, and was Jewish.

Tennis career

He won the Western Boys’ 15 and Under Championship, and was runner-up in the National 15s. Greenberg won the National Public Parks Championship. He also won the Illinois State high school singles titles in 1936 and 1937 while at

Lane Technical College Prep High School Lane Tech College Prep High School (often shortened to Lane Tech, full name Albert Grannis Lane Technical College Preparatory High School), is a public 4-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on ...

in Chicago, where he was

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

. Greenberg won the City of Chicago Championship in 1939. Greenberg won the Illinois State Championships nine times. Attending the school on scholarship, Greenberg was captain of the

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

tennis team and became that school's first

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

singles champion when he won the title in 1940. He repeated in 1941 and won the Big Ten doubles championships in 1940 (with Jerry Clifford), 1941 (with Gene Richards), and 1942 (also with Richards). Greenberg's three doubles titles still rank first all-time in Big Ten history. He led the Northwestern Wildcats to the Big Ten team championships in 1940 and 1942. He was a member of the

Phi Epsilon Pi The Phi Epsilon Pi () fraternity, active between 1904 and 1970 with a predominantly Jewish membership, was founded in New York City and eventually opened at least 48 chapters on college campuses across the United States and one in Canada. After se ...

fraternity. Greenberg won the

U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships is an annual ATP Tour tennis tournament that started in 1910. It is the last remaining ATP World Tour-level tournament in the United States to be played on clay courts. The tournament began in 1910 when the ...

in 1942 and 1943. Greenberg was also a singles quarterfinalist at the U.S. Championships in 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945. He won the men's singles in the

Ojai Tennis Tournament The Ojai Tennis Tournament, often shortened to The Ojai, is an annual tennis tournament in Ventura County, California, headquartered at Libbey Park in downtown Ojai, about north of Los Angeles. The event, first held in 1896, is the oldest and l ...

in 1947.http://ojaitourney.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Past_Champions-070513.pdf In 1943 at the tournament in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, Greenberg reached the singles and doubles finals but lost the singles final to future

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 ...

inductee

Bill Talbert William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator. Tennis career He was ranked in the U.S. top 10 13 times between 1941 and 1954, and was ranked World No. 3 in 1949 by John Olliff ...

. He lost the doubles final to Talbert and partner Alvin Bunis. Greenberg had partnered with Joe Scherr to reach the final. During World War II he was a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...

Halls of Fame

Greenberg has been inducted into: *the Chicago Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1982), *the United States Tennis Association/Midwest (formerly Western Tennis Association) Hall of Fame (in 1990), *the Northwestern University Athletic Hall of Fame (2000), and *the Chicago Tennis Hall of Fame (2004)

Personal life

Greenberg married the late Wanda Henderson in 1952. Greenberg's sister Toby played in the Maccabiah Games in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Greenberg's death resulted from complications of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

References

External links