The oldest living Grand Slam champ didn't get rich during his long tennis career. At 95, though, he was just offered his first apparel deal. reeveswiedeman reports
Seixas at Wimbledon on June 27, 1953. Photo: Leslie Priest In 1953, Vic Seixas had a year that most tennis players not named Roger, Serena, Novak, or Rafael could only dream of. He started the season by making the semifinals at the Australian Championships, then took second at Roland Garros, won Wimbledon, and was the runner-up at the U.S. National Championships in Queens.
Seixas grew up in Philadelphia near a local club where his father was “a mediocre club player.” Vic picked up a racket at 5 or 6, and when asked how long it took for him to beat his dad, he says, “I think about two weeks.” In 1940, at 17, he played in his first U.S. Championship, winning his opening match and going up two sets to none against Frank Kovacs. “Everybody said, ‘Who’s this kid from Philly with a funny name who’s beating Frank Kovacs?,’ ” says Seixas, which is pronounced Say-shus.
Like many top athletes who played before being good at sports meant becoming rich, Seixas occasionally struggled financially. In the late ’70s, when the price of silver soared, he sold some of his trophies for cash. Seixas moved to the Bay Area in 1989, after his second divorce, and got a job as the “morning bartender” at a café, serving screwdrivers and martinis to anyone getting off the night shift at 6 a.m.
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