Athletes - Frank Shields

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	Athletes - Frank Shields

Frank Shields (born Francis Xavier Shields) was an outstanding amateur tennis player during the 1920s and 1930s.

Shields was born in New York on November 18, 1909, and died there on August 19, 1975. He married three times. His second wife was Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi; she bore him a son, Francis Alexander Shields, and a daughter, Cristiana Marina Shields. Film and television actress Brooke Shields is his granddaughter through his son Francis.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964.

Biography by Bud Collins

A dashing, handsome performer who spent some time in Hollywood in bit movie roles, unseeded Francis Xavier Shields was the only Wimbledon finalist to lose without going onto the court. Frank defaulted the 1931 final to Sidney Wood beforehand, sidelined by an ankle injury suffered in the semis when he beat Jean Borotra, the 1924 and 1926 champ, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander was a came-close guy. Eleventh-seeded, in his first major final, the U.S. of 1930, he had a shot at Johnny Doeg, but couldn't connect on a set point against Doeg's rugged lefty serve at 13-14 in the deciding set and lost, 10-8, 1-6, 6-4, 16-14. In 1928, an 18-year-old seventh seed, he got to the U.S. semis losing to the champ, Henri Cochet, 6-2, 8-6, 6-4, and again, second-seeded in 1933, falling to the foreign seeded Wimbledon champ Jack Crawford, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3. A year later at Wimbledon, he came closer but couldn't hold Crawford down, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Between 1928 and 1945 he was ranked eight times in the U.S. Top Ten, No. 1 in 1933 and No. 2 in 1930. He played on the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1931, 1932 and 1934, winning 19 of 25 matches, and was non-playing captain in 1951 when the team won four matches, then lost the finale in Australia, 3-2. In 1934 he sent the U.S. into the finale (a 4-1 loss to Britain) by winning the decisive fifth match, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, Viv McGrath to clinch a 3-2 victory over Australia at Wimbledon. It was the only time the U.S. came back from 0-2 to win a Cup tie.

Career highlights

Cincinnati Singles Champion, 1930
U.S. Singles finalist, 1930
U.S. Singles Mixed doubles finalist, 1930
Wimbledon Singles finalist, 1931
U.S. Singles Doubles finalist, 1933
Davis Cup Team Member 1931-32, 1934

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