Vic Seixas

Vic Seixas: a champion with a life path from the golden age of amateur tennis. Seixas rhymes with gracious. And Vic Seixas is gracious. The other day, at The Club at Harbor Point, Mill Valley, California, a few miles over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, I had the pleasure of chatting with E. Victor Seixas, Jr., American tennis champion. (The E. stands for Elias.) Now 90, Vic is third oldest of the living male in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. (Gardnar Mulloy tops the list at 100. Pancho Segura is second at 92). For those of you who might be unaware, Vic won the singles title at Wimbledon in 1953, was a finalist at the French that same year and won the US title a year later in 1954. He won 5 Grand Slam titles in doubles, four of those with Tony Trabert. Trim, white-haired, nearly as handsome as in his heyday, but possibly slightly slower, Vic hasn't touched a racket in 20 years. "But I love talking tennis," he smiles. His story is a window into the glory days of amateur tennis. Today players begin single minded preparation for the tour in their teens. They chase...