Ham Richardson

This article is about the American tennis player. For the Wisconsin businessman and legislator, see Hamilton Richardson.

Hamilton Farrar Richardson (August 24, 1933 – November 5, 2006) was an American tennis player, who was active in the 1950s and 1960s.

Ham Richardson

Ham Richardson in 1955
Full name	Hamilton Farrar Richardson
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1933-08-24)August 24, 1933 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	November 5, 2006(2006-11-05) (aged 73) New York City, U.S.
Turned pro	1950 (amateur tour)
Retired	1969
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
College	Tulane University
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 3 (1956, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1953, 1954)
French Open	SF (1955)
Wimbledon	SF (1956)
US Open	SF (1952, 1954)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open	W (1958)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1954, 1958)

Life

Richardson was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Tulane University, where he won two NCAA Singles Championships (in 1953 and 1954). He was named a charter member of the Tulane University Athletic Hall of Fame.

He was named a Rhodes scholar and earned a master's degree at Oxford University during which he achieved the U.S. No. 1 ranking, both in 1956 and 1958 (Richardson was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 in nine other years). Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph ranked Richardson the World No. 3 in 1956, No. 6 in 1958, No. 7 in 1955 and No. 10 in 1954.

Richardson reached four Grand Slam singles semifinals. At the French championships in 1955, Richardson lost in the semifinals to Tony Trabert. In 1956, Richardson reached the Wimbledon semifinals (beating Neale Fraser, then lost to Lew Hoad). At the U.S. championships, Richardson reached the semifinals in 1952 (losing to Gardnar Mulloy) and 1954 (beating Hoad before losing to Vic Seixas). In 1958, he won a U.S. National doubles title in 1958 with Alex Olmedo and reached the mixed doubles final at the Australian National Championship with Maureen Connolly.

At the Cincinnati Masters, Richardson reached two singles finals, losing in 1950 to Glenn Bassett and in 1953 to Tony Trabert, and won two doubles titles, in 1950 with George Richards, and in 1953 with Trabert. He played on seven U.S. Davis Cup teams, including the winning Cup teams of 1954 and 1958. He was 20–2 in Davis Cup play.

After retiring from tennis, he founded Richardson and Associates, a New York investment and venture capital firm.

Personal life

Richardson had three children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. He was later married to author and editor Midge Turk Richardson from 1974 until his death from complications from diabetes in 2006.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1956	U.S. Championships	Grass	Vic Seixas	Lew Hoad Ken Rosewall	6–2, 6–2, 3–6, 6–4
Win	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Alex Olmedo	Sam Giammalva Barry MacKay	3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1953	Australian Championships	Grass	Maureen Connolly	Julia Sampson Rex Hartwig	6–4, 6–3

Rankings

Richardson's Top Ten U.S. Rankings

• 1951 – 9
• 1952 – 7
• 1953 – 6
• 1954 – 3
• 1955 – 7
• 1956 – 1
• 1957 – N/A
• 1958 – 1
• 1959 – N/A
• 1960 – N/A
• 1961 – N/A
• 1962 – 3
• 1963 – 7
• 1964 – 7
• 1965 – 6

External links

• Ham Richardson at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Ham Richardson at the International Tennis Federation
• Ham Richardson at the Davis Cup