1977 USTA Southern Tennis Rankings Revealed Future OPRC Talent

By Mike Holder:

Since 1937, the USTA Southern has issued their annual yearbook, which is chock full of information on players, tournaments, coaches, and much more. Browsing through one is a walk through the history of tennis in the south. You will find players who went on to play Grand Slams, information on legendary clubs, coaches, and tournaments.  Reading through the publication year-to-year truly gives you a sense of how tennis has evolved in the United States.

In the inaugural issue, the reader is given a wonderful history lesson on the origins of tennis in the south and the oldest tennis club in the United States. We learn that the first Southern Champion was C.B. Davis in 1886, and the number one ranked tennis player in the south in 1937 was Bryan "Bitsy" Grant, who went on to twice reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals, and the US Open semifinals.

However, it was the 1978 issue that caught my eye. As I scrolled through the pages, I came across the 1977 rankings and five names jumped out at me. Five players from five different towns, and three different states. As it turns out, those five players are currently Olde Providence Racquet Club members. 

On this one page, the names of Tim Wilkison, Keith Richardson, Andy Avram, Pender Murphy, and Ken Koelling appeared. Wilkison was ranked second in the Southern Tennis Association Rankings that year, while Richardson was third. Both were ranked higher than future Australian Open finalist John Sadri of Charlotte.

Elsewhere, in the Boys’ 18 singles rankings, Avram, Murphy, and Koelling were ranked in the top-14.

1977 was quite a year for this group and all five would go on to find success both on and off the court. I wonder if they had any idea, they would find themselves sharing the same courts nearly 45 years later.




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