APTA Honor Award: Moses and Wasch

John R. Moses was an exceptional tennis player, earning a number one ranking in Interscholastic doubles, and a number five ranking in singles. He was captain of the Yale tennis team, and was a finalist in the National Men’s at nineteen in 1943.

Four years later, at age twenty-three, he won his first title, and a second followed ten years later, in 1957. John also won the Mixed in 1955.

His record could well have been extended, but he moved to Kansas City where there were no courts. Blanchard thought that, at his best, Moses had few equals with quick hands and remarkable court coverage. (Fox Meadow Tennis Club).

Susan Beck Wasch inherited her mother’s racquet genes and grew up playing both tennis and paddle. She had played Junior Wightman Cup tennis for two years when a serious illness interrupted her racquet career, and there was thought that she might not play again.

Instead, she took up paddle and overcame the odds to win the National Women’s with her mother in 1959.

At the age of twenty-four, she was the youngest woman to win at the time. She won again in 1960, 1962 and 1965, and added a Mixed title in 1972. (Fox Meadow Tennis Club).