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The original tennis playing long hair: Torben Ulrich.
Long before the long haired tennis days of Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and Andre Agassi, there was Torben Ulrich. The bearded, pony-tailed Dane was a favorite with fans and the press in the 1950s and 1960s for his tennis, his catchy quotes, and Renaissance qualities.
For four decades he was competitive and entertaining, renowned (according to the press of the day) for his “dangerous left handed serve, delicate touch, leaps to pull off incredible returns, and volley angles never learned in geometry class.”
Although Torben was never an elite world class player, he had success at the Grand Slams. At Wimbledon, he made the semis in doubles twice with his younger brother Jorgen. At the French, he reached the round of 16 in singles. At the U.S.Open, he took the great Pancho Gonzales to five sets.
When Open tennis arrived, he played on Lamar Hunt’s World Championship Tennis Tour from 1969-1974. Once past 45, he joined the Tennis Grand Masters for 8 more years.
Torben was also a serious musician who had his own jazz band and would take his sax or clarinet on the road for relaxation and to entertain at…