Sam Giammalva Sr. (born August 1, 1934), is an American former professional

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 mid-20th century. Giammalva played for the United States

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

team, earning a 7–3 record in match play between 1956 and 1958. He was on the victorious U.S. teams of 1957 and 1958. In 1958, he teamed up with Barry MacKay to reach the doubles final at the

U.S. Nationals United States nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds United States nationality. In the United States, nationality is typically obtained through provisions in the U.S. Constitution, various laws, and international agree ...

. The pair fell to

Alex Olmedo Alejandro "Alex" Olmedo Rodríguez (March 24, 1936December 9, 2020) was a tennis player from Peru with American citizenship. He was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player for 1958, but as a U.S. player for 1959. He helped win the Davis Cup f ...

and

Ham Richardson Hamilton Farrar Richardson (August 24, 1933 – November 5, 2006)"Former tennis sta ...

, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4. It was Michigan’s MacKay who beat Giammalva, of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, 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 stud ...

, in the final of the 1957 NCAA Championship in five sets. Giammalva also reached the NCAA doubles final in 1955. He won three straight Southwest Conference singles titles from 1956-1958. Giammalva won the Eastern Grasscourt Championships in 1955, defeating Seixas, Nielsen, and Shea to win the title. Giammalva also reached four finals 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 ...

: two singles finals and two doubles finals. In 1958, he knocked out Crawford Henry, Gustavo Palafox, and

Donald Dell Donald L. Dell (born June 17, 1938) is an American sports attorney, writer, commentator, and former tennis player. Dell was the first sports agent in professional tennis, and represented Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl d ...

before falling to fellow Texan

Bernard Bartzen Bernard "Tut" Bartzen (November 25, 1927 – July 10, 2019) was an American former tennis player in the mid-20th century, who later became a winning college tennis coach. Biography Born in 1927 in Austin, Texas, Bartzen moved with his family to ...

in the singles final by a score of 7–5, 6–3, 6–2. He also reached the singles final in 1954Smith, Phillip S
From Club Court to Center Court: The Evolution of Professional Tennis in Cincinnati
pp25 and doubles finals in 1952 and 1958. Giammalva's best grand slam singles result was reaching the quarter-finals of the 1955 U.S. National Championships, where he lost to No. 4 seed

Lew Hoad Lewis Alan Hoad (23 November 1934 – 3 July 1994) was an Australian tennis player whose career ran from 1950 to 1973. Hoad won four Major singles tournaments as an amateur (the Australian Championships, French Championships and two Wimbledons ...

in four sets. Sam Giammalva started as tennis professional in 1959 on The Jack Kramer Championships, playing in the Forest Hills Professional Tournament of Champions that year. He won the 1959 Southern U.S. Pro Grasscourt title beating Budge and Riggs. He played the US Pro Championships in 1960, 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967. Giammalva went on to coach at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

for 14 years from 1959 to 1972, leading the Owls to 10 Southwest Conference titles and second-place NCAA tournament finishes in 1968 and 1970. Giammalva’s sons,

Tony Giammalva Tony Giammalva (born April 21, 1958) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During his career he won 4 doubles titles and achieved a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 32 in 1985. His best singles ranking was reach ...

and Sammy Giammalva Jr., were also tennis players. Sam Jr. won two singles titles and four doubles titles on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...

, and was ranked as high as world no. 28 in singles and no. 22 in doubles during his career. Elder son Tony won 4 doubles titles and reached a career high singles ranking of 70 in 1981.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 runner-up

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giammalva, Sam 1934 births Living people American male tennis players American people of Italian descent Tennis players from Houston Rice Owls men's tennis coaches Texas Longhorns men's tennis players Professional tennis players before the Open Era Tennis coaches from Texas 20th-century American sportsmen