John Halstead Surface Jr. (August 12, 1913 – September 2, 2001) was an American tennis player. A native of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, Surface picked up the sport of tennis aged 15. He was self taught and trained at the Rockhill Tennis Club in Kansas City. In his senior year at Central High School he won the state interscholastic singles championship. He played collegiate tennis for the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. Surface had a top national ranking of No. 7 in 1937 and was a member of the United States Davis Cup squad that year, without featuring in a tie. He twice reached the singles fourth round at the U.S national championships, including in 1940 when he had a win over

Gardnar Mulloy Gardnar Putnam "Gar" Mulloy (November 22, 1913 – November 14, 2016) was a U.S. No. 1 tennis player primarily known for playing in doubles matches with partner Billy Talbert. He was born in Washington, D.C., and centenarian, turned 100 in Novem ...

en route. Internationally, Surface's title wins included the All-India Championships and he had a fourth round appearance at Roland Garros. Surface won the Jamaican International Championships on clay in Kingston, Jamaica in 1939 defeating Charles Hare, the 1937 world No. 10, in the final. That same year, Surface won the Maryland State Championships defeating in turn

Bill Talbert William Franklin Talbert (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 1999) was an American tennis player and administrator. Tennis career He was ranked in the U.S. top 10 from 1941 to 1954, and he was ranked World No. 3 in 1949 by John Olliff of ''The D ...

Jack Kramer John Albert Kramer (August 1, 1921 – September 12, 2009) was an American tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, and a pioneer promoter who helped drive the sport towards professionalism at the elite level. Kramer also ushered in the serve-an ...

, Wayne Sabin, and Eddie Alloo in the last four rounds.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Surface, Hal 1913 births 2001 deaths American male tennis players Texas Longhorns men's tennis players Tennis players from Kansas City, Missouri 20th-century American sportsmen