Art Larsen (1925–2012) was a Bay Area native who began playing tennis at 11-years-old and won his first tournament at 14 (The Olympic Club-sponsored Bay Counties Tennis Championship in the 15 and under division). He enlisted in the U.S. Army at 18 and was a decorated serviceman during World War II. The superstitions and quirks he had later in life could be linked to his traumatic experiences on the battlefield. On and off the tennis courts, he would tap things and people based on a lucky number that changed each day — thus his nick¬name, “Tappy.”
Upon returning home, someone suggested that tennis could be a useful diversion — and it quickly became a successful one. He won the San Francisco City Singles titles in 1946 and 1947. In 1947, he joined The Olympic Club tennis team and, just a year later, he was the Club’s singles champion. He attended the University of San Francisco, and led their team to an undefeated season and the NCAA championship title in 1949.
In 1950, he toured South Africa and Europe, played an epic five-set match in the quarter¬finals at Wimbledon against Frank Sedgman, and then went on to win the U.S. National Tennis Championship at Forest Hills, NY. Wearing the Winged O, he defeated fellow OC Hall of Famer Tom Brown in the quar¬terfinals and then favorite Herbert Flam in the finals.
Larsen was the first man to capture U.S. titles on all four surfaces: the aforemen¬tioned 1950 outdoor title, clay and hard court titles in 1952 and the indoor title in 1953. He played in the Davis Cup in 1951–52, with a 4–0 singles record. He also won the U.S. Hard Court Doubles title with Brown in 1952. He made it to the finals of the French Open in 1954, and won the Pan-American singles title in 1955.
He maintained a top-ten ranking for many years, but still continued to play for the Club team. He and Brown led the OC team to a series of interclub championships. Unfortunately, his career ended after a motor scooter acci¬dent in November 1956. He never played championship tennis again. He is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the USF Hall of Fame.
