Word: hams
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Where is the U.S. going to find its next great tennis star? Watching the play of a pink-faced, cowlicked 16-year-old last week, Davis Cup Selection Committee Chairman James H. Bishop thought he had found the answer. As Hamilton Farrar ("Ham") Richardson of Baton Rouge, La. went about winning the National Junior championship with one of the most stylish all-court games seen this year, Jim Bishop pronounced him "the best [tennis] prospect in a quarter of a century...
That took in a lot of territory, and other U.S. tennis scouts might not be ready to go so far, just yet. Nonetheless, as Ham Richardson raced through the National Junior field at Kalamazoo, Mich., there was plenty to watch. Slim (155 Ibs.), tall (5 ft. 11½ in.), and still growing, Ham had a solid service, a clean, running forehand that took the ball on the rise, Fred Perry fashion, and a flat, whistling backhand (at present, his best stroke), apparently so effortless that his placements with it seemed almost accidental. He could volley and drop-volley with...
After disposing of a couple of California hopefuls in the early rounds, Ham beat New Jersey's Pablo Eisenberg,† 18, with 6-1, 6-1 ease. In the final, against Californian Whitney Reed, 17, he won again...
Drill the Forehand. Ham Richardson has been playing serious tennis for four years. He picked up a racket one day, while his older brother was taking a lesson from a Baton Rouge pro named Jim Bateman. Bateman took one look at the twelve-year-old's swing, declared him a natural. After that, Ham gave up baseball and settled down for a few tennis lessons himself. After five lessons, Bateman packed him off to Chicago to play in a "13-and-under" tournament; Ham was runnerup...
...year after that he won his first national title, the boys' doubles. His engineer-father sent him to Tulane Coach Emmett Paré for more drill, with special attention to his forehand. The drill paid off. In 1948, Ham entered six singles tournaments, won them...