Gardner Malloy

A Miami man through and through, Mulloy stayed home for college after getting a football scholarship to the University of Miami. He seldom played, which led him to inquire about starting a men’s tennis team, while also competing on the boxing team. He reached the quarterfinals of the 1936 NCAA singles tournament, and later became the Hurricanes’ coach. Long before professional tennis’ Open era began, Mulloy won four doubles titles at the U.S. Nationals. In 1952, at age 38, he was the No. 1-ranked player in the U.S. From 1939-54, he was ranked among the top 10 in the U.S. every year but two, when he was away serving in the Navy. And in 1957, at age 43, he became the oldest player to win a men’s doubles title at Wimbledon. Mulloy’s greatest recruit as coach was Pancho Segura, whom Mulloy first saw play in Ecuador. Segura won three straight NCAA singles titles (1943-45) before going onto a great pro career. Mulloy was a Navy officer in World War II, commanding landing ships in North Africa and Italy. Mulloy, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1972, played senior events into his 90s, and throughout his career he won more than 125 national tournaments. He died in 2016 at age 102.