Syd Levy
Sydney Levy (17 October 1922 – 22 November 2015) was a South African tennis player.[1][2][3][4] He competed at Wimbledon, the French Championships, the U.S. Open, and Davis Cup, and won a silver medal at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
| Full name | Sydney Levy | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country (sports) | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} South Africa | ||||||||
| Born | 17 October 1922 South Africa | ||||||||
| Died | 22 November 2015 (aged 93) Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. | ||||||||
| College | University of the Witwatersrand | ||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||
| French Open | R2 (1949, 1951) | ||||||||
| Wimbledon | R3 (1949) | ||||||||
| US Open | R2 (1951) | ||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||
| Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||
| Wimbledon | R1 (1949) | ||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||
| Davis Cup | 1949, 1951 | ||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||
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Biography
Levy attended the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and won the university singles title in tennis in 1942.[5]
Levy competed in singles at the 1949 French Championships in Paris. In Round 1 Levy defeated Belgian Pierre Geelhand de Merxem in straight sets, and in Round 2 he lost to Marcel Bernard of France in four sets.[6]
Levy competed in Men Singles Tennis at the 1949 Wimbledon Championships in England.[7] In Round 1 he defeated Esmail Sohikish of Iran, in Round 2 he defeated Paul Rémy of France in five sets, and in Round 3 he was beaten by Vladimír Černík of Czechoslovakia.[7] He also played in Gentlemen's Doubles in the competition, with Nigel Cockburn of South Africa, losing in Round 1 to American Budge Patty and South African Eric Sturgess.[8]
Levy competed at the 1951 U.S. Open in New York City. In Round 1 Levy defeated American Frank Shields in straight sets, and in Round 2 he lost to American Straight Clark in straight sets.[6] He also competed in men's singles in the 1951 Wimbledon Championships, where he was defeated by Jean Claude Molinari of France in five sets.[9][10]
Levy competed as well in men's singles in the 1951 French Championships.[9][10] There, in Round 1 he defeated Marcello Del Bello of Italy in straight sets, and in Round 2 he was defeated by Dick Savitt of the United States in five sets.[9][10]
At both the 1949 Welsh Championships and the 1949 Bristol Open, Levy lost in the finals to Felicisimo Ampon of the Philippines. At both the 1951 and 1952 South African Open, he lost in the finals to Eric Sturgess of South Africa.
Levy played Davis Cup for South Africa in 1951 against the Netherlands and Italy.[11][12]
Levy was Jewish, and competing at the 1953 Maccabiah Games in Israel, he won a silver medal, losing in the finals to American Grant Golden.[13][14][15][16][17]
Levy died in Mount Vernon, New York on 22 November 2015, at the age of 93.[18]
References
- "Tennis Draw in South Africa," Cairns Post, 31 March 1952.
- Jack Leon (28 June 1957). "Israeli Tennis Champions to play in U.S." Jewish Post.
- "Sydney Levy | Overview | Tennis". ATP Tour.
- Gordon Forbes (2012). A Handful of Summers
- Jonty Winch, Bella Forsyth (1989). Wits Sport; An Illustrated History of Sport at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
- "Sydney Levy | Player Activity | Tennis". ATP Tour.
- "Men Singles Tennis Wimbledon Championships 1949 Winner". todor66.com.
- "The Championships 1949; Gentlemen's Doubles" (PDF).
- "Sydney Levy Men's Singles Grand Slams," ITF Tennis.
- "Syd Levy Match Results, Splits, and Analysis". Tennis Abstract.
- Israel Digest; A Bi-weekly Summary of News from Israel, Volumes 6-8, 1955.
- "Sydney Levy Men's Singles Activity," ITF Tennis.
- Potgieter, D J, Ed-in-Chief (1972). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Nasou Limited, Capetown, Volume 6.
- Peter S. Horvitz (2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes; An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and the 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars
- "GOLDEN AND LEVY IN TEL AVIV FINAL; American Beats Dr. Geller in Maccabiah Tennis as South African Tops Eisenberg" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 September 1953.
- "Golden, Grant," Jews in Sports.
- Vigor, Volumes 11-12, 1957.
- "Sydney Levy". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved 3 March 2023.