Sidney Wood

For the Swedish phonetician, see Sidney Wood (phonetician).

Sidney Burr Wood Jr. (November 1, 1911 – January 10, 2009) was an American tennis player who won the 1931 Wimbledon singles title. Wood was ranked in the world's Top 10 five times between 1931 and 1938, and was ranked World No. 6 in 1931 and 1934 and No. 5 in 1938 by A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph.^[2]

Sidney Wood

Full name	Sidney Burr Beardslee Wood Jr.
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1911-11-01)November 1, 1911 Black Rock, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	January 10, 2009(2009-01-10) (aged 97) Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Turned pro	1927 (amateur tour)
Retired	1956
Plays	Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1964 (member page)
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 5 (1938, A. Wallis Myers)^[1]
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	3R (1928, 1932)
Wimbledon	W (1931)
US Open	F (1935)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	SF (1931)
US Open	F (1942)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	F (1932)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	F (1934)

Career

Wood was born in Black Rock, Connecticut. He won the Arizona State Men's Tournament on his 14th birthday, which qualified him for the French Championship and earned him a spot at Wimbledon.^[3] He attended The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where he created the tradition of "J-ball." At the French Championships in 1927, 15 year old Wood was the youngest competitor ever in the men's singles event.^[4] In the 1927 Wimbledon Championships, Wood became the youngest competitor in the Men's Singles at 15 years 231 days old and the Men's Doubles at 15 years 234 days old.^[5] He was the third youngest winner of the Wimbledon Championships, which he won in 1931 at the age of 19 (beating Fred Perry in the semi-finals and then Frank Shields withdrew from the final due to an ankle injury).^[6] Shields did so on request of the U.S. Davis Cup Committee, "Frank wanted to play me and it was an insult to Wimbledon and the public that he didn't," recalled Wood.^[7][8] Wood is the only uncontested winner of a Wimbledon final.^[9] He also reached the finals of the Mixed Doubles of the French Championships in 1932, the Davis Cup in 1934, and the U.S. National Championships Men's Singles in 1935 (losing to Wilmer Allison).

Wood is credited with inventing, designing and patenting Supreme Court, a synthetic playing surface used for indoor courts.^[10] It was used by the World Championship Tennis tour from 1973 to 1978. He was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964. In 2000, he led the Parade of Champions at Wimbledon as the oldest surviving title holder. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Hall of Famer.^[11]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1931	Wimbledon	Grass	Frank Shields	walkover	^[12]
Loss	1935	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Wilmer Allison	2–6, 2–6, 3–6	^[13]

Doubles: 1 runner-up

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1942	U.S. Championships	Grass	Ted Schroeder	Gardnar Mulloy   Bill Talbert	7–9, 5–7, 1–6	^[14]

Mixed Doubles: 1 runner-up

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1932	French Championships	Clay	Helen Wills Moody	Betty Nuthall   Fred Perry	4–6, 2–6

Family

Wood's uncle Watson Washburn was a Davis Cup team member. He credited his uncle with introducing him to tennis.^[3]

Wood was the father of David, Colin, Sidney III, and W. Godfrey Wood. Sidney Wood III, a Yale tennis player, died at the age of 22 in an early morning car accident, in a car driven by a tennis teammate on a North Carolina highway in 1961.^[15] Colin is the young boy portrayed by Diane Arbus in the iconic 1962 photograph Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park.^[16] Godfrey became a sports executive.

Wood was survived by three sons and his last wife, Patricia Wood (sister of the fashion editor Catherine Murray di Montezemolo^[17]).

References

1. "Bromwich placed third". The Sydney Morning Herald. October 5, 1938. p. 19 – via Google News Archive.
2. Béla Kehrling, ed. (November 1, 1931). "Külföldi hírek" [International news] (PDF). Tennisz és Golf. III (in Hungarian). Vol. 20. Budapest, Hungary: Egyesült Kő-, Könyvnyomda. Könyv- és Lapkiadó Rt. pp. 16–17. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
3. Tennis Master Sydney Wood Dies Southampton Press, January 15, 2009.
4. "Grand Slam Tennis Statistics". www.tennis.co.nf.
5. . Event Guide - History. AELTC. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
6. "Wimbledon 1931". www.tennis.co.nf.
7. Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780942257700.
8. Sarah Kirkham (August 28, 2014). "Throwback Thursday: Sidney Wood wins without winning". www.wimbledon.com. AELTC.
9. Richard Goldstein (January 14, 2009). "Sidney Wood, 97, only Wimbledon winner by default". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
10. Charles Friedman (February 16, 1975). "Ex‐Champion Seeking the Perfect Court". The New York Times.
11. Tennis Great Sidney Woods Dies Associated Press, January 11, 2009
12. "Wimbledon Rolls of Honour / Gentlemen's Singles". Wimbledon official tournament website. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
13. . U.S. Open official website. Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
14. . U.S. Open official website. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
15. Time Magazine, March 31, 1961
16. Segal, David. "Double Exposure: a Moment With Diane Arbus Created a Lasting Impression." Washington Post, May 12, 2005. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
17. "Patricia Wood, Edward Ney". The New York Times. April 30, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2021.

External links

• Sidney Wood at the International Tennis Hall of Fame  
• Sidney Wood at the Association of Tennis Professionals  
• Sidney Wood at the International Tennis Federation  
• Sidney Wood at the Davis Cup