Earl Cochell

Last updated
Earl Harry Cochell
Country (sports)Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Born(1922-05-18)May 18, 1922
Sacramento, California, U.S. [1]
Turned pro1940 (amateur tour)
Retired1951 (banned)
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 6 (1951 U.S. ranking)
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon 1R (1949)
US Open QF (1948, 1950)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon 3R (1949)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon 4R (1949)

Earl Harry Cochell (born May 18, 1922) was an American tennis player, the only one barred for life by the United States Tennis Association. [2]

Career

Cochell was ranked as high as No. 6 in the U.S. rankings before the 1951 U.S. National Championships (later the U.S. Open). In the fourth round match in that event against Gardnar Mulloy, Cochell, well known for a fiery temper and an intractably independent streak, became angry over a line call and tried to address the crowd by climbing up the chair umpire's ladder to take the microphone. Cochell was stopped from doing so and eventually lost the match to Mulloy, but afterwards, in a locker-room confrontation over the incident with tournament Referee S. Ellsworth Davenport, Cochell insulted Davenport with such abusive obscenity that, two days later, the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) banned him for life from the game and immediately dropped him from the rankings. The ban was lifted in 1962, but by then Cochell was no longer a serious competitor, and he never played another important tennis match, making only a couple of court appearances in 1962.

Cochell played his collegiate tennis at the University of Southern California, and was runner-up (to Tony Trabert of the University of Cincinnati) in the NCAA singles championship in 1951. In 1946, he reached the singles quarterfinals at the Tri-State Tennis Championships at Cincinnati (now the Cincinnati Masters). In 1949 he won the Swiss International Championships against Jaroslav Drobný at Gstaad (today's the Swiss Open).

Cochell married Shirley Catheryn Holmes in 1952. [3] The couple had no children. Shirley Cochell died in Omaha, Nebraska on December 13, 2003, and was buried in Fort Madison, Iowa. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martina Hingis</span> Swiss tennis player

Martina Hingis is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis was the first Swiss player, male or female, to have won a major title and attain the world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks as the singles world No. 1 and 90 weeks as doubles world No. 1, holding both No. 1 rankings simultaneously for 29 weeks. She won five major singles titles, 13 major women's doubles titles, and seven major mixed doubles titles, for a combined total of 25 major titles. In addition, she won the season-ending WTA Finals two times in singles and three in doubles, an Olympic silver medal in doubles, and a record 17 Tier I singles titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maureen Connolly</span> American tennis player

Maureen Catherine Connolly-Brinker, known as "Little Mo", was an American tennis player, the winner of nine major singles titles in the early 1950s. In 1953, she became the first woman to win a Grand Slam. She is also the only player in history to win a title without losing a set at all four major championships. The following year, in July 1954, a horseback riding accident seriously injured her right leg and ended her competitive tennis career at age 19. She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 34.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pancho Segura</span> Ecuadorian-American tennis player (1921–2017)

Francisco Olegario Segura Cano, better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but moved to the United States in 1940. Throughout his amateur career he was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player resident in the U.S. As a professional player, he was referred to as the "Ecuadorian champ who now lives in New York City". After acquiring U.S. citizenship in 1991 at the age of seventy, Segura was a citizen of both countries, although he never represented the U.S. in tennis competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Sedgman</span> Australian tennis player

Francis "Frank" Arthur Sedgman is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Over the course of a three-decade career, Sedgman won five Grand Slam singles tournaments as an amateur as well as 22 Grand Slam doubles tournaments. He is one of only five tennis players all-time to win multiple career Grand Slams in two disciplines, alongside Margaret Court, Roy Emerson, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams. In 1951, he and Ken McGregor won the Grand Slam in men's doubles. Sedgman turned professional in 1953, and won the Wembley World Professional Indoor singles title in 1953 and 1958. He also won the Sydney Masters tournament in 1958, and the Melbourne Professional singles title in 1959. He won the Grand Prix de Europe Professional Tour in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Trabert</span> American tennis player (1930–2021)

Marion Anthony Trabert was an American amateur world No. 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doris Hart</span> American tennis player

Doris Hart was an American tennis player who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in singles. She was the first of only three players to complete the career "Boxed Set" of Grand Slam titles, which is winning at least one title in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at all four Grand Slam events. Only she and Margaret Court achieved this during the amateur era of the sport.

William Franklin Talbert was an American tennis player and administrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Savitt</span> American tennis player (1927–2023)

Richard Savitt was an American tennis player.

Whitney Reed was a former U.S. No. 1 tennis player from the United States who was active in the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ham Richardson</span> American tennis player

Hamilton Farrar Richardson was an American tennis player, who was active in the 1950s and 1960s.

Patricia Canning Todd was an American tennis player who had her best results just after World War II. In 1947 and 1948, she won a total of four Grand Slam championships: one in singles, two in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles. She won these titles as a young mother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardnar Mulloy</span> American tennis player

Gardnar Putnam "Gar" Mulloy was a U.S. No. 1 tennis player primarily known for playing in doubles matches with partner Billy Talbert. He was born in Washington, D.C., and turned 100 in November 2013. During his career he won five Grand Slam doubles tournaments and was a member of the winning Davis Cup team on three occasions.

Thomas P. Brown Jr. was one of the top amateur tennis players in the world in the 1940s and a consistent winner in veterans' and seniors' competitions. He was the son of Thomas P. Brown, a newspaper correspondent, later public relations director for a railroad, and Hilda Jane Fisher, who became a schoolteacher when Tom was a boy. Though born in Washington, D.C., Tom was considered a San Franciscan all his life, having been brought west by his parents at the age of two.

Alice Dorothy Head Knode, also known as Dottie Head Knode, was an American tennis player who reached the women's singles final of the French International Championships in 1955, losing to Angela Mortimer in three sets, and 1957, losing to Shirley Bloomer in straight sets. She reached the semifinals of six other Grand Slam singles tournaments from 1952 through 1957.

Jack Kramer defeated Frank Parker 4–6, 2–6, 6–1, 6–0, 6–3 in the final to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1947 U.S. National Championships.

The 1952 U.S. National Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in New York City, United States. The tournament ran from 29 August until 8 September. It was the 72nd staging of the U.S. National Championships, and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of the year.

Don Candy was an Australian tennis player who was mainly successful in doubles.

Karol Fageros was an American female tennis player who was active in the 1950s.

Hugh Stewart is an American former tennis player.

Mercedes Johnson Madden "Baba" Lewis was a tennis player.

References

  1. Earl Harry Cochell in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947
  2. Sidney B. Wood Jr., "Ilie Nastase; TANTRUM THROWERS THROUGH THE YEARS", New York Times, July 12, 1981
  3. "Niece Of Ross Couple Weds L.A. Tennis Star In Mission". Daily Independent Journal. 11 September 1952. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  4. "Cochell, Shirley Holmes (1922–2003) Papers, 1950–1975". Pittsburgh State University. Retrieved 1 May 2023.