Southern Tennis Patrons Foundation

Southern Tennis Patrons Foundation

Linda Tuero , Louisiana, 1995

Linda Tuero , Louisiana, inducted in 1995Linda Tuero

  • Won 6 national junior titles, including the USTA Girls 14U Singles Championships, Girls 16U Singles and Doubles Championships and the Girls 18U Clay Court Championships
  • First woman to receive an athletic scholarship to Tulane University, first woman to play on a varsity team and the first woman to receive a varsity letter
  • While at Tulane achieved a #1 women’s world ranking in the 21U division and won the 1969 and 1970 U. S. Amateur and 1970 U. S. Open Clay Courts
  • Turned pro in the early 1970’s and reached a ranking of number 10 in the world in 1972 when she won the Italian Open
  • Member of the 1972 and 1973 United States Wightman Cup and Federation Cup teams and served as captain of the Federation Cup team in 1973
  • Competed in all the grand slam tournaments, advancing to the quarterfinals of the 1971 French Open
  • Inducted into the Tulane University Athletic Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985

M. Marshall Happer III, North Carolina, 1995

M. Marshall Happer III, North Carolina, inducted in 1995

Won the North Carolina Junior Championships and 2 state high school championships and played at the University of North Carolina

Served as President of the Raleigh Community Tennis Association, the North Carolina Tennis Association and the Southern Tennis Association

Founder and President of the Raleigh Racquet Club, a 25-court non-profit tennis facility, in 1968

Member of the USTA Executive Committee and nominated for USTA Treasurer in 1981

Chief Operating Officer of the Men’s Tennis Council, the international governing body for men’s tennis, from 1981 until it dissolved in 1989

Executive Director of USTA from 1990 to 1995 and continued to serve as an outside counsel to the USTA after his retirement involved in television contracts, sponsorships and other business contracts for the U. S. Open through 2009

Inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2014

Richard O. “Dick” Covington JR, North Carolina, 1995

Richard O. “Dick” Covington JR, North Carolina, inducted 1995Richard O Covington Jr

  • Junior standout at Tate Prep School and Carolina Military Naval Academy and reached the singles semifinals and doubles quarterfinals in the National Indoor Junior Championships in the early 1920’s
  • Played tennis at the University of North Carolina
  • Selected to represent the United States in major tournaments in Europe in the late 1920’s advancing to the third round at the French Open and Wimbledon
  • Won the Asheville City Open 9 times between 1929 and 1945 and earned a ranking of #6 in Southern Men’s Singles
  • Served as a referee, an umpire and a consultant in tennis court maintenance
  • Inducted into the Western North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977 and recognized as the Asheville Parks and Recreation Volunteer of the Year
  • Asheville Racquet Club’s tennis stadium was named in his honor in 1983

Alexander Wellford SR, Tennessee, 1994

Alexander Wellford SR, Tennessee, inducted 1994Alexander Wellford

  • Competed successfully in six sports during his youth in Memphis, but tennis was his favorite
  • Attended the University of the South where he was team captain
  • Won the Memphis City Singles Championship at the age of 27 and again 15 years later when he was 42
  • Won numerous national senior titles from 1954 through 1984 including the 1958 National Clay Court Senior Doubles Championships with partner Slew Hester and competed at Wimbledon and the French Championships against the top players in tennis including Vic Seixas, Bobby Riggs and Bitsy Grant
  • Founded the Memphis Tennis Association and served as its first president
  • Served as President of the Southern Tennis Association and on the Board of the USTA
  • Inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Tennis Hall of Fame and the Memphis Tennis Hall of Fame

Harvey Terrell, Alabama, 1994

Harvey Terrell, Alabama, inducted in 1994Harvey Terrell

  • Began playing tennis as a freshman at the University of Alabama and mastered the game quickly and played the number 2 position
  • Chairman of the Board of First National Bank in Birmingham and active in his community
  • Served as President of the Southern Lawn Tennis Association and later as a Trustee on the Southern Tennis Patrons Foundation Board
  • Member of the USLTA Executive Committee
  • Ranked as high as eighth in the National Parks Tennis Program
  • Inducted into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986
  • Harvey “Red” Terrell Tennis Center was built in Birmingham in 1989 and named in his honor