Southern Tennis Foundation

Southern Tennis Foundation

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Roberta Alison Baumgardner, Alabama, 1989

Roberta Alison Baumgardner, Alabama, inducted in 1989Roberta A. Baumgardner

  • Accumulated numerous junior titles including the Southern Open, Southern Closed, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Kentucky State, Florida Yacht Club and Tampa Bay
  • Held the #1 ranking as a junior in both Alabama and the South, and was nationally ranked in the top 20 four times
  • Played on two National Junior Wightman Cup Teams and was a member of the Southern Intersectional Team five years
  • Received the first varsity letter and athletic scholarship awarded by the University of Alabama where she played #4 singles and #2 doubles on the men’s team
  • During her college years she won the Women’s College Championships and the USLTA National College Girls’ Tennis Championships in both singles and doubles
  • Served several years as a volunteer high school tennis coach
  • Inducted into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame and the National College Women’s Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987 and the University of Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988

Colette Lewis of ZooTennis wrote this story about Baumgardner for TennisRecruiting.net.

Victor Sheshunoff, Arkansas, 1988

Victor Sheshunoff, Arkansas, inducted in 1988Victor Sheshunoff

  • Nationally known in the field of metallurgy and in the sport of tennis
  • Born in Moscow, Russia and educated in Harbin, China, he came to the United States to attend Columbia University where he played #4 on the tennis team
  • Member of the Knoxville, Tennessee tennis team and President of the Knoxville Tennis Club
  • Moved to Magnolia, Arkansas in 1951 where he served the Arkansas Tennis Association as a Director and Vice President.
  • Held eleven different positions with the Southern Tennis Association and served as the President in 1966-67
  • Served on numerous USTA committees
  • Inducted into the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame and a received the Southern Tennis Association Jacobs Bowl

William Jacobs, South Carolina, 1988

William Jacobs, South Carolina, inducted in 1988William Jacobs

  • Responsible for bringing the South out of the “Tennis Dark Ages” during the late 1930’s
  • President of Presbyterian College where he became known as the “Founder of the Tennis Clinic” in 1936 when he hosted the first regional tennis clinic, a format adopted by the USLTA the following year as its model for the organization
  • Organized South Carolina’s first big time tennis exhibition in 1940 featuring Don Budge, Mary Hardwick, Bill Tilden and Alice Marble.
  • Appointed Bobby Riggs as a traveling public relations representative for Presbyterian College and hired Bill Lufler as clinic director and the school’s first full time tennis coach, and Presbyterian was ranked in the top 10 nationally during that era and gained the nickname of “Tennis Tech”
  • Served as President of the Southern Lawn Tennis Association and Vice President of the United States Lawn Tennis Association
  • Published the AMERICAN LAWN TENNIS MAGAZINE and authored several books on tennis, including “Tennis, Builder of Citizenship” in which he emphasized court demeanor and sportsmanship and proper stroke techniques
  • The Jacobs Bowl, the highest volunteer honor presented by USTA Southern, was established in his memory and he was inducted into the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986

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