Dennis Ralston

An NCAA champion at Southern California, a Grand Slam doubles champion and a Davis Cup champion as a player and captain, Ralston had great success at all levels of tennis. In 1963 and ’64, Ralston captured the NCAA singles and doubles titles. He won the doubles with Rafael Osuna in 1963 and with William Bond the following year. Ralston was part of a dominant Trojan program that won the team championship three years in a row, 1962-64. Before arriving at USC, Ralston and Osuna teamed up to win the 1960 Wimbledon doubles championship. Ralston went on to win the U.S. Championships (now the U.S. Open) doubles titles in 1961, ’63 and ’64 with partner Chuck McKinley, as well as the French Open in 1966 with Clark Graebner. He also reached the finals of the Wimbledon singles in 1966. Ralston ended his career with a singles record of 576-251 and won 41 titles. In 1963, Ralston helped the United States win the Davis Cup. He later captained the team from 1972-75, guiding the Americans to a win over Romania in the final in 1972. After his great playing career, Ralston coached professional players such as Chris Evert, Roscoe Tanner and Yannick Noah. He then served two stints as the men’s coach at SMU in the 1980s and ’90s. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. He died in 2020 at age 78.