Robert Falkenburg

During his great playing career at Southern California, Robert Falkenburg not only won the NCAA singles title in 1946, he also won the doubles with his brother Tom. Two years after taking the top title in collegiate tennis, Falkenburg won the Wimbledon singles title in 1948. He won the Wimbledon doubles in 1947 with fellow Hall of Famer Jack Kramer. Falkenburg was ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. in singles five times, starting at age 17, and he won the U.S. Nationals doubles title in 1944 with Hall of Famer Don McNeill. In the Wimbledon final, he fought off three match points against John Bromwich before rallying to win the championship. Born in New York before moving to Los Angeles, Falkenburg served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He later moved to Brazil after marrying a Brazilian woman and played for Brazil in the 1954 and ’55 Davis Cups. Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1974, Falkenburg died in 2022 at age 95.