Sidney Wood

Sidney Wood was an American tennis player born in Black Rock, Connecticut, in 1911, who won the 1931 Wimbledon singles title at the age of 19. His victory is unusual because Frank Shields withdrew from the final with an ankle injury, making Wood the only uncontested winner of a Wimbledon final. A prodigy, he played the French Championships at 15 and in 1927 became the youngest competitor ever in the Wimbledon men's singles and doubles. He was ranked in the world top ten five times between 1931 and 1938, reached the 1935 U.S. National Championships singles final and was a finalist in the 1934 Davis Cup. Off court he invented and patented Supreme Court, a synthetic indoor surface that World Championship Tennis used from 1973 to 1978. He entered the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964, led the Parade of Champions at Wimbledon in 2000 as its oldest surviving champion, and died in January 2009.