| Full name | Eugene L. Scott |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  United States |
| Born | (1937-12-28)December 28, 1937 New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 20, 2006(2006-03-20) (aged 68) Rochester, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Turned pro | 1968 (amateur tour from 1951) |
| Retired | 1975 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 2008(member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 322-220 |
| Career titles | 16 |
| Highest ranking | No. 7[1](1965,World's Top 20)[2] |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (1964) |
| French Open | QF (1964) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1964,1965) |
| US Open | SF (1967) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 12–22 |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (1964) |
Eugene Lytton Scott (December 28, 1937 – March 20, 2006) was an Americantennis player, tournament director, author, and publisher. His active tennis career lasted from the 1950s to mid-1970s. Scott's highest U.S. ranking as an amateur was No. 4 in 1963, and he reached as high as World No. 7 in 1967.
Scott was the grandson of Dr. Eugene C. Sullivan, one of the inventors ofPyrex and chair and president ofCorning Glass Works.[3] He graduated with a BA in history from Yale University in 1960, where he was a member ofSkull and Bones[4] and lettered in tennis, ice hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.[3] He earned a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1964.[3]
Scott's highest U.S. ranking as an amateur was No. 4 in 1963, and he reached as high as World No. 7 in 1967.[1][2] At the time, he was a member of the United StatesDavis Cup team, and was both teammate and roommate ofArthur Ashe. They remained friends, and with Charlie Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder, founded the National Junior Tennis League in 1969. He founded the magazineTennis Week in May 1974.[5]
In 1963, he won the singles title at theEastern Grass Court Championships in South Orange after a straight-sets victory in the final against compatriotMarty Riessen.[6]
Scott made it to the quarterfinals of the French Championships in 1964, defeatingAntonio Palafox andMarty Mulligan in a close five sets, but losing the quarterfinal to eventual finalistPierre Darmon. Scott won theSouthampton Invitation (Long Island) at the Meadow Club, defeatingMichael Sangster,Dennis Ralston, andCharlie Pasarell in long close matches.
In 1967 Scott won theEastern Indoor Championships at Waldwick, N.J. defeatingFrank Froehling in the final in three straight sets. That same season he won the Long Island Championships at Great Neck, N.Y. defeatingDick Stockton andPeter Fishbach. At the 1967U.S. National Championships Scott defeatedTom Gorman,Ron Holmberg in a close five sets, andOwen Davidson in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal he lost to the eventual championJohn Newcombe.
Later, Scott remained among the best players in the world in his age group. He won the USTA Men's 65 Clay Court Championships held at New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club in 2002. He won the USTA Men's 65 Grass Court Championships in September 2004 and the International Tennis Federation's Men's Super-Seniors World Individual Championships in the 65 division a week later. Scott also playedreal tennis at New York City'sRacquet and Tennis Club.
Scott grew up in St. James, New York and played varsity hockey, track, soccer, and tennis atSt. Mark's School inSouthborough, Massachusetts.[5]
Scott competed in the Davis Cup in 1963 and 1965, and his 1963 singles and doubles victories helped the United States win the Cup that year.
Although Scott remained active as acourt tennis player, which he played at The Racquet Club on Park Avenue, he became one of the major figures in American tennis through his publicationTennis Week, which he founded, published, and edited. His editorials—perceptive, authoritative and sometimes whimsical—were considered a must read for all the game's insiders as well as a tennis public who became educated about the game as a result of reading them.[5]
He was a mentor on and off court toVitas Gerulaitis. Scott ran tournaments in New York and New Jersey for many years before taking over as tournament director of the ATP Masters atMadison Square Garden.[5] In 1990, he was asked to start up theKremlin Cup, an ATP event in Moscow, with a remit to produce with $1 million in sponsorship in nine months. With some assistance from the Kremlin, whenBoris Yeltsin became president of Russia, Scott came up withBayer as his first title sponsor and the tournament, played inside the vast Olympic Arena, immediately drew some of the largest crowds on the ATP tour.
In 1987, Gene Scott joined the board of directors of the USA based China Tennis Foundation in America, Inc. (CFTA Inc.). He was instrumental in helping thePeople's Republic of China start to consider world championship tennis tournaments. He traveled to China and met with the Davis Cup players, and government officials that loved playing tennis including then the Vice PremiereWan Li. (Other top officials involved includedLi Peng, GeneralLu Zheng,Hu Qili and Deputy Mayor of Beijing Zhang Bei Fa.) Gene Scott was joined by Oto Merunka, a former Czechoslovakian Davis Cup tennis player that had played tennis in China many years before, and worked for the CFTA Inc. and resided in the US. The founder of CFTA, Inc. an Asian-American, perky female who was the daughter of Hong Kong's L.K. Lau from the Golden Harvest films that produced some of the Bruce Lee martial arts films. During this time, China was just known internationally for table tennis, not tennis, and Gene Scott helped to provide a how-to international tourney infrastructure guide to build on in order to create a more dominant international tennis scene in China.
Scott died ofamyloidosis at the age of 68[3] and was elected to theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) in 2008 in the "contributor" category.[7] Since 2006, the ITHF annually presents the Eugene L. Scott Award to an individual who "embodies Scott's commitment to communicating honestly and critically about the game, and who has had a significant impact on the tennis world."[5]
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