Between the wars
United States · born Springfield, Illinois, 1906 · died 1991 · right-handed · five US doubles titles and two Wimbledon doubles titles
All playersBack to the rankings
8
US Championships titles, five in doubles and three in mixed
3
Wimbledon titles: doubles 1931 and 1934, mixed 1931
11-0
Davis Cup doubles record, 1928 to 1934
23
Games in the 1928 US doubles final, the fewest on record
1931
US singles final, lost to Ellsworth Vines in four sets
George Martin Lott Jr. was born in Springfield, Illinois, on 16 October 1906 and grew up in Chicago. He won four Illinois state high school titles from 1922 to 1924, played shortstop for the University of Chicago, and won the Big Ten singles and doubles in 1929 before graduating in 1930. As a teenager he won the Cincinnati tournament in 1924 and 1925; he won it four times in all.
His best years were 1928 to 1934. He won the US doubles five times with three partners: John Hennessey in 1928, John Doeg in 1929 and 1930, and Lester Stoefen in 1933 and 1934. He added three US mixed titles, two with Betty Nuthall and one with Helen Jacobs, and at Wimbledon won the doubles in 1931 with John Van Ryn and in 1934 with Stoefen, and the mixed in 1931 with Anna Harper. In singles he reached the 1931 US final, losing to Ellsworth Vines 7-9, 6-3, 9-7, 7-5. He played Davis Cup in six years between 1928 and 1934 and never lost a doubles rubber.
In November 1934 he signed a professional contract with the promoter Bill O'Brien, and from January 1935 toured with Stoefen, Bill Tilden and Vines. He later wrote for Tennis Magazine, co-wrote How to Play Winning Doubles (1980), and from 1969 until his death in 1991 coached the men's team at DePaul University in Chicago, by then the oldest college coach in the country. He entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964.
| Wimbledon doubles finals | 1930: lost with John Doeg to Wilmer Allison and John Van Ryn 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. 1931: with Van Ryn beat Jacques Brugnon and Henri Cochet 6-2, 10-8, 9-11, 3-6, 6-3. 1934: with Lester Stoefen beat Jean Borotra and Brugnon 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon mixed 1931 | Won unseeded with Anna Harper, beating Ian Collins and Joan Ridley 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 |
| US doubles finals | 1928: with Hennessey beat Gerald Patterson and Jack Hawkes 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, the fewest games in a US men's doubles final. 1930: with Doeg beat Allison and Van Ryn 8-6, 6-3, 4-6, 13-15, 6-4. 1934: with Stoefen beat Allison and Van Ryn 6-4, 9-7, 3-6, 6-4 |
| Davis Cup 1934 | In the Challenge Round against Britain at Wimbledon, Lott and Stoefen won the only point the United States took |
| Grass singles | Won the Newport Casino Invitational in 1928 and the Meadow Club tournament at Southampton in 1931, the year he reached the US final at Forest Hills |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Men's doubles | with John Van Ryn |
| 1931 | Mixed doubles | with Anna McCune Harper |
| 1934 | Men's doubles | with Lester Stoefen |
| US Championships | ||
| 1928 | Men's doubles | with John F. Hennessey |
| 1929 | Men's doubles | with John Doeg |
| 1929 | Mixed doubles | with Betty Nuthall |
| 1930 | Men's doubles | with John Doeg |
| 1931 | Mixed doubles | with Betty Nuthall |
| 1933 | Men's doubles | with Lester Stoefen |
| 1934 | Men's doubles | with Lester Stoefen |
| 1934 | Mixed doubles | with Helen Jacobs |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 1928 | Men's singles Newport Casino Invitational | |
| Southampton (Meadow Club) | ||
| 1931 | Men's singles Southampton Invitational | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Halifax, 1927
In the final of what TIME called a relatively unimportant Halifax championship, Bill Tilden sharply rebuked his opponent for juggling balls before serving. He then lost the match to the 20-year-old University of Chicago student, 3-6, 6-0, 5-7, 3-6.
Source: TIME, 4 April 1927The press box
The writer Allison Danzig called him the "Chief Jester of Tennis" in 1934. Lott liked to tell how he once faked a telegram from Danzig's editor asking for a piece on "the coming tennis wonder, George Lott". Danzig did the interview.
Source: Ray Bowers, "Forgotten Victories", Tennis Server, 2003Newport, 1933
At Newport in 1933 Lott watched the young Lester Stoefen and saw that his serve and overhead would suit his own tactical game. He arranged the pairing for the national doubles, and they won it that year and the next, and Wimbledon in 1934. Lott later said Stoefen was the partner he would have chosen for the long run.
Source: Ray Bowers, "Forgotten Victories", Tennis Server, 2003Pro tour, 1935
On the professional tour Lott called Tilden "Tilly", which Tilden hated, and when Tilden's back was turned he would mimic his walk. In Washington Tilden complained that Lott was serving wide; Lott served wider slices still. By March 1935 he trailed Tilden 5-26 in their singles series.
Source: Ray Bowers, "Forgotten Victories", Tennis Server, 2003Chicago
Besides tennis he played shortstop for the University of Chicago, and the Hall of Fame lists him as an author, teacher, coach, Life Master at bridge and horseplayer. DePaul named its tennis courts after him.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameDePaul, 1991
On his 85th birthday, in October 1991, the oldest college coach in the country spent the day on a recruiting trip, with a full $14,000 scholarship to offer a player he thought could win DePaul a championship. He died less than two months later.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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