Between the wars
United States · born San Antonio, Texas, 1904 · died 1977 · right-handed · US champion 1935 and twice Wimbledon doubles champion with John Van Ryn
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1930
Wimbledon singles final, the first unseeded man to reach it
2
Wimbledon doubles titles with John Van Ryn, 1929 and 1930
1935
US champion at Forest Hills, beating Fred Perry and Sidney Wood
2
US doubles titles with Van Ryn, 1931 and 1935
1934, 1935
Years ranked US No. 1
Wilmer Lawson Allison was born in San Antonio, Texas, on 8 December 1904 and grew up in Fort Worth, where he was a strong amateur baseball player. His father would not let him sign a professional contract with the Beaumont club of the Texas League, and in 1925 he went to the University of Texas instead. He joined the tennis team there under coach Daniel Penick as its lowest-ranked player, and in 1927 he won the national intercollegiate singles title.
With John Van Ryn he formed one of the leading doubles teams of the period. They won Wimbledon in 1929 and 1930 and the US Championships in 1931 and 1935, and reached the Wimbledon final again in 1935. In singles he beat the holder Henri Cochet at Wimbledon in 1930 and went on to the final, where he lost to Bill Tilden. He lost the 1934 US final to Fred Perry in five sets, then in 1935 beat Perry in the semi-finals and Sidney Wood in the final to win the US title. He was ranked US No. 1 in 1934 and 1935 and played Davis Cup for the United States from 1928 to 1937.
A serious abdominal injury ended his full-time playing career in 1937. He became Penick's assistant at Texas, then served in the US Army Air Forces in the Second World War and reached the rank of colonel. He returned to the university, became head coach in 1957 and led Texas to four Southwest Conference team titles before retiring in 1972. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1963 and died of a heart attack in Austin on 20 April 1977, aged 72.
| Wimbledon 1930 | Unseeded, beat the holder and top seed Henri Cochet in the quarter-finals in straight sets. Final: lost to Bill Tilden 6-3, 9-7, 6-4. The doubles final was moved from Saturday to Monday 7 July so that Allison could rest after the singles final |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon doubles finals | 1929 with Van Ryn: beat Ian Collins and Colin Gregory 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 10-12, 6-4. 1930: beat John Doeg and George Lott 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. 1935: lost to Jack Crawford and Adrian Quist 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, after holding a match point at 5-4 in the fifth set |
| US Championships, Forest Hills | 1934 final: lost to Fred Perry 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 1-6, 8-6. 1935 semi-final: beat Perry 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. 1935 final: beat Sidney Wood 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Men's doubles | with John Van Ryn |
| 1930 | Men's doubles | with John Van Ryn |
| US Championships | ||
| 1930 | Mixed doubles | with Edith Cross |
| 1931 | Men's doubles | with John Van Ryn |
| 1935 | Men's doubles | with John Van Ryn |
| 1935 | Men's singles | |
| Longwood Bowl | ||
| 1928 | Men's singles | |
| 1934 | Men's singles | |
| 1937 | Men's singles | |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1930 | Men's singles | |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 1934 | Men's singles Newport Casino Invitational | |
| Pennsylvania Grass Court Championships (Merion) | ||
| 1934 | Men's singles | |
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.
Fort Worth, 1925
Allison was a baseball player before he was a tennis player. He went to the University of Texas in 1925 only after his father refused to let him sign a professional baseball contract with the Beaumont team of the Texas League.
Source: Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical AssociationAustin, 1925 to 1927
He joined the Texas tennis team as its lowest-ranked player. By his second year he had won both the Southwest Conference singles and the national collegiate singles title, and within a decade of picking up a racquet he was among the best players in the world.
Source: Texas Sports Hall of FameForest Hills, 1935
TIME called Allison a "weather-beaten, drawling, lantern-jawed Texan" who was thought to be past his best at 30. In the US semi-final the first rally of one game ended when Fred Perry fell flat on his face chasing a drive. Perry got up grinning, but was slower from then on and was later found to have a displaced kidney. Allison won in straight sets and beat Sidney Wood the next day.
Source: TIME, 23 September 1935Austin, 1957 to 1972
As head coach at Texas he brought in a policy restricting tennis scholarships to players from Texas. His teams won four Southwest Conference team titles.
Source: Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical AssociationAustin, April 1977
In 1977 the university renamed the Penick Courts the Penick-Allison Courts. Allison died of a heart attack on 20 April 1977, four days after the new tennis facility was dedicated in his and Penick's honour.
Source: Handbook of Texas Online; Texas Sports Hall of FameFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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