Julius "Julie" Seligson (December 22, 1909, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

– October 13, 1987) was an American

tennis player Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

in the early part of the 20th century. Seligson was ranked as high as # 8 in USTA Singles in 1928. In 1928 he won the

NCAA Men's Tennis Championship The NCAA Men's Tennis Championships are annual tournaments held in the spring to crown team, singles, and doubles champions in American college tennis. The first intercollegiate championship was held in 1883, 23 years before the founding of the N ...

in singles. He was inducted into the

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches' association of United States college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Divi ...

(ITA) Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

Early and personal life

Seligson was born in New York City, New York, and was Jewish, and experienced

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in tennis.Seligson, Julie : Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum
/ref> He attended

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School ("Columbia Grammar", "Columbia Prep", "CGPS", "Columbia") is a school at 5 West 93rd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The oldest nonsectarian independent school in the city, it se ...

. In 1937 he married Gertrude "Gerry" Seligson (nee Goodman). They lived in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

, from 1948 on.

Tennis career

As a junior he was the national boy's 18-and-under champion in 1925 and 1926. In 1927 he won the Eastern Grass Court Championships. He played collegiate tennis at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, from which he graduated in 1930. Seligson never lost a regular season match. In 1928 he won the

in singles, beating Ben Gorchakoff 6–1, 6–1, 6–1, to become Lehigh’s first individual national champion. He won 66 straight matches, before losing in the 1930 NCAA finals 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 8–6 to Cliff Sutter of

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

. He won the NCAA indoor singles championship in 1928, 1929, and 1930. Seligson won the inaugural edition of the Eastern Grass Court Championships in 1927 at the

Westchester Country Club Westchester Country Club is a private country club located in Harrison, New York. Founded in 1922 as a destination for sportsmen, it was known to professional golfers and spectators for more than four decades as the home of the Westchester Cla ...

in Rye, N.Y. That same season he was runner-up at the inaugural

Eastern Clay Court Championships The Eastern Clay Court Championships was a combined men's and women's international tennis tournament on clay courts founded in 1927 by the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association of the USLTA. The championships were held in various locations in the New Yo ...

at the Jackson Heights Tennis Club in Queens, N.Y. and also won the Kings County Championships in Brooklyn. In 1928, 1930, and 1932 he won the New York Metropolitan Clay Court Championships. Seligson also won the Metropolitan Grass Court Championships in 1928 defeating

Berkeley Bell Richard Berkeley Bell (November 8, 1907 – June 15, 1967) was an American male tennis player who ranked No. 7 among the U.S. amateurs in 1934. He twice reached the final of the men's doubles competition at the U.S. National Championships (now ...

in the final in four sets. In 1928 and 1930, he was a singles finalist at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. In 1929, at the

Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...

, he reached the singles final, where he lost to

Herbert Bowman Herbert L. Bowman (21 April 1897 – April 1980) was an American tennis player in the early 20th century.”Anderson Reaches Semifinal Round; Holder of Castle Point Tennis Trophy Downs Emerson in Hard Fought Match,” New York Times (Sept. 2319 ...

in four sets: 6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 1–6. Seligson was ranked as high as # 8 in USTA Singles in 1928.

Halls of Fame

In 1992, he was inducted into the Lehigh University Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2002 he was enshrined into the

(ITA) Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

After tennis career

After graduation he became an insurance broker. Seligson died in 1987 of a

malignant melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

at his home in

. He was 77 years old.

References

External links