The Life of Tony Trabert
Part 5
Mark Winters
Though Tony Trabert possessed Gentleman's Quarterly good looks augmented by a charming personality, he didn't act like an entitled elitist.
He was humble and enjoyed tremendous popularity, which extended beyond the world of sports. But, with a wife, trying to live on "travel expenses" and "per diem" wasn't a promising way to establish a solid future. So, he signed for a guarantee of $75,000 and joined the Kramer Pro Tour.
Jack Kramer was a slashing serve and volleyer who tempered his aggressive play with savvy tactics. These traits carried over to his professional tennis promotion efforts. Though I never spoke with Jack or Tony directly about this, it seems that the appeal of a Tony Trabert – Richard Gonzalez tour was The Golden Boy Versus Mr. Sullen.
Richard, always felt that Jack low-balled him financially when he was the best player in tennis and hated Trabert because he was always portrayed in exemplary fashion and also happened to be Kramer's good friend.
The Trabert – Gonzalez Tour began December 9, 1955, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The total was 101 matches on five continents. (For an article on Gonzalez as the greatest player of all time, Click Here.)
Gonzalez dominated the series 74-27. But most of the matches were played indoors on a quick canvas court that traveled with the players and had to be laid-out on different underlying surfaces from city to city.
A closer look at the numbers on outdoor courts is revealing. In outdoor play, Trabert won 15 – 11. Each had five wins on hard courts and each had one on grass. But on clay it was Trabert, 9 wins to 5.
Never the less Gonzalez, had proved once again that he was the best in the pro game. This meant finding another challenger other than Tony. So Ken Rosewall followed Trabert taking on the champ. Again Gonzalez dominiated 50-26.
Lew Hoad was next up in 1957 and also finished on the short end of the tour with Gonzalez winning 51-36. Gussy Moran who observed the tour said that playing Gonzalez was like facing, "A God patrolling his personal heaven."
Open Tennis was a dream that was still ten years away. So Kramer was forced to recruit new challengers at the end of each season to maintain interest in the pro tour.
Because Trabert was still charismatic, in 1958 he faced the entertaining Pancho Segura in the warmup match. Trabert defeated Segura, 34-31.
Over the next few years, playing a limited schedule Trabert enjoyed moderate success. He defeated Gonzalez in 1956, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 8-6, 6-2 to win the French Pro Championship at Roland Garros. He claimed the title again in 1959 downing Australian Frank Sedgman, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
In 1960 Trabert, along with Shauna and their two young children moved to Paris to run the Kramer Tour in Europe.
In a story I wrote in September 2001, he explained, by his own admission, Chatrier did not have the greatest nerves for competition and that was the reason he moved into the administration of the game.
Philippe Chatrier found them an apartment near the Arc de Triomphe and gave Trabert an office at Tennis de France--a publication Chatrier had founded. According to Trabert Chatrier was an unusual character not always attached to the truth.
Trabert explained: "When I came to Europe with Bill Talbert for the first time in 1950, I played Philippe Chatrier at Monte Carlo. I was 19 and he was 21. I won in straight sets, but he always told everyone that I won 10-8 in the fifth set."
"He also forced me to learn to speak French. He would call up and say he wanted to have lunch and that a friend would join us. I would show up, the friend, who spoke no English, would be there and Phillipe wouldn't show up."
Chatrier, a 1992 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, passed away June 22, 2000. On Friday, May 25, 2001, prior to the beginning of Roland Garros, Court Central was renamed Court Philippe Chatrier. Reflecting on the honor, Trabert told me, "Philippe, Jack Kramer and Donald Dell helped grow the game. They were pioneers in expanding tennis. I remember how he spoke in the late '80s about buying additional land around the facility so Stade Roland Garros could expand.
"At the time, the tournament had become a second-class status event. But he brought about the changes that have made Roland Garros a fabulous success. Philippe didn't think about check presentations and sponsor signage. He was a big thinker who saw the big picture. He worked for what was best for tennis."
Trabert added, "All that Philippe did for the Fédération Française de Tennis and the International Tennis Federation was done gratis. His long-time assistant Regine Torres told me that he would not be happy with his name on the stadium.
"He felt that an honor like this should go to people like the legendary Four Musketeers (Les Quatre Mousquetaires – Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste) but I don't agree. I think Philippe Chatrier deserves the recognition."
The early '60s was an exciting and stimulating time in Paris and the Traberts were the "Golden Couple". They had pizazz and enjoyed everything the city had to offer.
A friend of Shauna's pointed out, "Shauna adored Philippe and since Tony was his close friend, they saw Philippe and his wife, Suzanne Partridge, who had been a British tennis player, a lot during their time in Paris".
While in Paris, Trabert expanded the Kramer Tour to Africa and Asia, as well as in Europe. In addition, he worked with Lacoste, who following his successful playing career, became even more famous as an inventor and a businessman.
Thanks to Trabert's suggestions, Lacoste's steel racket creation, which Wilson named the T2000, became a better playing tennis racquet. Known as The Crocodile when he was a competitor, Lacoste designed the popular polo shirt (with that alligator logo) bearing his name. With his GQ good looks, Trabert was an ideal promoter of the fashion trendsetter.
Tall and vivacious, Shauna Trabert found a way to maximize living in Paris. She was one of Coco Chanel's house models. The iconic French couturier developed fashion collections specifically for Shauna. Because of her striking appearance, she regularly appeared in Vogue and Elle magazines.
The Independent Tennis Players' Association (a precursor of the Association of Tennis Professionals) was launched in 1962 and Trabert was named the Executive Director. A year later, he signed Rod Laver, who had just become the first player since J. Donald Budge in 1938 to win the four majors in a single season. He then spent six months traveling, (the family remained in Paris), with Laver on his first US tour.
In a September 16, 1963, New York Times story by Robert Daley, Trabert said that he was retiring from the pro tour and as the head of the players group on November 1st. He added that the family was moving back to the US (initially to Cincinnati then Los Angeles) and he would become the regional sales manager for the Adler Company, which made men's and women's stockings. The transition was made easier because a close Cincinnati friend was an executive at Adler which was owned by Burlington Industries.
Though he was no longer competing, Trabert remained involved in the game. Having always played with a Wilson tennis racquet (the company began producing an autograph model after he turned pro), and the fact that his friend, Jack Kramer was "Mr. Wilson", it made perfect sense that Trabert became a member of the company's tennis promotional team. He also played an advisory role when Kramer and Chatrier began seriously discussing Open Tennis in 1962.
Kramer told me, "Initially, Philippe thought pro tennis was a circus. Then he came and saw us play in the south of France. Pancho Segura and Ken Rosewall went three. Lew Hoad and I were involved in a deuce set. Segura and I won the doubles. That night we all went to dinner and Philippe was in the same restaurant. He came over and said "I had no idea you cared so much and tried so hard. You opened my eyes."
Judge Robert Kelleher, then president of the USLTA along with British administrators, brought pressure to bear. Finally, the continued effort, almost a Crusade, realized success, bringing about Open Tennis in 1968. Kelleher was eventually elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000. (For more on Bob Kelleher and his pivotal role in creating Open tennis, Click Here.)
