Dick Savitt, Tennis Hall of Famer, Dead at 95

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Dick Savitt, who won Wimbledon in 1951 and was later inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976, has died. The tennis legend was 95.

Savitt's son, Bob, confirmed his death to The Washington Post on Monday.

Columbia University Athletics, who named their tennis center after Savitt, also posted an obituary for Savitt on their website on Saturday.

Savitt, a self-taught tennis player, learned to play when he worked as a ballboy at the Berkeley Tennis Club in Orange, New Jersey, at the age of 13, according to The Post.

The sportsman lived in El Paso, Texas, where he played basketball for some time, earning him a scholarship at Cornell University, according to the publication. He served in the Navy at the end of World War II and enrolled at the university in 1946. A knee injury forced his basketball career to come to an end, but he racked up a collegiate tennis record of 57-2 before graduating with a degree in economics in 1950.

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With his Wimbledon win the following year, Savitt became the first Jewish player to win the championship and the second American to win both Wimbledon and the Australian championships in the same year. Don Budge was the first in 1938, according to The Post.

Within a year, Savitt chose to retire from international play, according to The New York Times. He returned to the sport a few years later and went on to win the U.S. National Indoor Championships in 1952, 1958 and 1961.

In 1961, he won singles and doubles gold medals at the Maccabiah Games, the Jewish Olympics, held in Israel.

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Savitt was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on March 4, 1927, to Morris and Kate (Hoberman) Savitt.

Savitt's first marriage ended in divorce. His second wife, Annelle Warwick Hayes, died in 2013, according to The Times. He is survived by three grandchildren and his son, Bob, whom he won the U.S. Father and Son doubles title with in 1981.

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During his time as a competitor, the amateur tennis world offered trophies but no cash prizes.

After his Wimbledon win, Savitt was awarded a shopping certificate worth 10 British pounds, according to The Star-Ledger in New Jersey.

"In those times, it was different," Savitt told The Ledger in 2011. "You either kept playing and taking under-the-table type payments, or you ended up teaching at a club. I didn't want to do that. I had to decide to keep playing a few more years or get out of the game and go to work in a normal position. That's what I did."

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After his retirement in the 1950s, Savitt worked on oil rigs in Texas and Louisiana before becoming an investment banker in New York, The Times reported.

Savitt went on to mentor many tennis players at Columbia University.

In a statement, Columbia University's Campbell Family Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Peter Pilling said the school was "incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of Dick Savitt."

"We will always remember him as a world-renowned tennis champion who modestly gave of his time and talent to our men's tennis program," Pilling said. "His impact on our program and the tennis community will be felt forever. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time."