Herbert Fitzgibbon (born July 14, 1942) is a former

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player who was nationally ranked in the 1960s and 1970s. Fitzgibbon played four years of high school tennis for Garden City High School and never lost a match. He played collegiate tennis at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and was a gold and bronze medalist at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

in 1968 when tennis was a demonstration sport. Fitzgibbon won the singles title at the tournament in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

in 1964 and was a two-time singles runner-up (1965 and 1963) there as well. He also reached the Cincinnati doubles final with Butch Newman in 1965. That year, he also won the Long Island Championships and the Eastern Clay Court title. In 1968, Fitzgibbon won against 16th-seeded

Nikola Pilić Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. He was one of the Handsome Eight. Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tinga ...

in the first round at Wimbledon, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–2. The same year he won the La Coruna International in Spain against Juan Gisbert Sr.. Fitzgibbon also was an accomplished platform tennis player, winning national doubles titles in 1974 with John Beck and in 1977 and 1978 with Hank Irvine. In 1974, Fitzgibbon and Beck defeated Keith Jennings and Chauncey Steele III 7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–2. In 1977, Fitzgibbon and Irvine defeated Gordon Gray and Doug Russell 6–3, 7–5, 1–6, 6–4. Fitzgibbon and Irvine also played in the 1980 National Championship final losing to Steve Baird and Rich Maier 6–1, 3–6, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3 Fitzgibbon authored the book ''The Complete Racquet Sports Player''.

References

External links

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Official website of the American Platform Tennis Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgibbon, Herb 1942 births Living people American male tennis players People from Garden City, New York Sportspeople from Hempstead, New York Platform tennis players Princeton Tigers men's tennis players Tennis people from New York (state) Tennis players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in tennis Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Tennis players at the 1967 Pan American Games Garden City High School (New York) alumni Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games