My Life in Tennis: From World War II to Wimbledon

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My eyes were good enough to be number one in Northern California, but not good enough for the Air Force.

In my senior year at Cal, at the age of twenty I enlisted in the Army for service in World War II. I would have preferred to join the Air Force, but the examining optometrist said my depth perception was lousy and that I could never land a plane, let alone, and I’m quoting him, “play an eye coordination sport like tennis.”

I didn’t enlighten him that at that very time, in 1943, I was the reigning tennis champ of Northern California. The Army assigned me to complete my college degree and even get in a first semester at the University of California’s Boalt Hall law school before calling me to active duty.

I packed my tennis racket, in case–one never knows–there might be a chance to use it. And, sure enough, on weekend leaves from basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and Camp Campbell, Kentucky, there were opportunities. As Pfc. Brown, I won the state tennis titles of Kentucky and Alabama.

Among my former tennis buddies, Vie Seixas was in the Air Force, piloting replacement planes across…