Bob Kingsbury (right) and John Mangan at Fox Meadow in 1975

Robert R. Kingsbury, a preview of things to come

The first time Bob Kingsbury’s paddle abilities came to public attention was in 1955, when a newspaper article noted that Oliver Durrell and his son Bill had defeated Oliver Kingsbury and his son Bob in a Club tournament.

Bob was a multiple winner of Club tennis and platform tennis tournaments (see Kingsbury, as well as a two-time national champion in platform tennis. He served as APTA President from 1978-1980 and was inducted into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003.

Source: Adapted from Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983

National Championships

1955

Carlisle and Hebard, the finalists in 1954, prevailed in a close match against Moses and Deland.

Elfie Carroll collected her second Women’s title with Louise Ganzenmueller (their first win had been in 1950 and they were finalists in 1952 and 1953).

John Moses sweetened his loss in the Men’s by winning the Mixed with Fritzi Smith over the very strong team of Madge Beck and Dick Hebard.

Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959

The New York Times, March 14, 1955

New York Times covers Men’s Nationals

The article covered the coming of age of the game when the APTA’s 21st birthday was marked by the Men’s Nationals at Fox Meadow, and described the hard-fought finals between Hebard and Carlisle, the winners, and Moses and Deland.

Source: The New York Times, March 14, 1955