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Paul Sullivan

City's "Mr. Tennis" will be missed

By Jim Rudolph
Tribune-Review
Monday, March 4, 2002

Paul G. Sullivan, Pittsburgh's "Mr. Tennis," died this past Wednesday. He was 98. Four generations of tennis players were served by his unselfish dedication to his sport.

Inducted into the United States Tennis Association-Middle States Section's Hall of Fame in October 2001, Sullivan received the USTA's highest honor and recognition. Accompanied by his son, Paul Jr., Sullivan regaled attendees with nostalgia, stories, and convictions.

Tom Benic, the USTA/MS Allegheny Mountain District's public relations committee chairman, wrote the following biography for Sullivan's induction:

"This Pittsburgh native was the first in his family to take up the game, and his love for the sport has never faltered. He made the varsity tennis team at Duquesne University as a freshman in 1922 and was captain his last three years. Sullivan played in local tournaments well into his 80s, shunning age-group competitions and always entering the open draw.

"After graduating from Duquesne University Law School, he returned to coach (on a gratis basis) the men's tennis team for many years. Over a 30-year period beginning in the 1920s, Sullivan umpired professional tennis matches that came to Pittsburgh. Two top players who had turned professional played a principle match. Two secondary players provided another singles match and doubles competition for these events. This professional tour included players such as Bill Tilden, Don Budge and Suzanne Lenglen.

"But Paul Sullivan will be best remembered as a tournament director and an ardent supporter of tennis for the general public in Pittsburgh for most of his life. For the past 70 years, he has directed the Pittsburgh Parks Tennis Championships, a tenure that may be the longest of any tournament director in the nation. His insistence on a minimal entry fee ($2 for singles and $3 for a doubles team in the 2000 summer event) is credited with giving thousands their first opportunity to play tournament tennis."

"It's great for kids to have a game they can play all of their lives," Sullivan said. "They're not going to be playing much baseball or football after they're out of school. In tennis, you only need one other fellow to play you."

Only World War II kept Sullivan away from Pittsburgh and its tennis scene. He served in the Navy as an officer and met his wife, Virginia, in the service. They have been married since 1944. The Pittsburgh Parks Tennis Championships, an event he started, wasn't competed for the two years during the war while he was away.

The only tournament Sullivan missed was in 1946, when he was assigned to the naval task force during the testing of the hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.

"Tennis is a great game," Sullivan said. "I'm glad I could be a part of it."

Sullivan was short in stature but very tough and very fair. He had a giant impact on Pittsburgh tennis. "Mr. Tennis" will be missed.

The Pittsburgh Parks Tennis Championships has been competed and directed by Sullivan since 1930. In Sullivan's honor, the tournament will be renamed The Paul G. Sullivan Tennis Championships. Each year, the winners will qualify for the National Parks Tennis Championships.

Paul G. Sullivan / Lawyer, tennis event organizer, writer

Monday, March 4, 2002
By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer 

Paul G. Sullivan, the iron-willed force behind the longest-running public tennis tournament in Pittsburgh, one of the oldest practicing lawyers in Allegheny County and a sports writer for the Sun-Telegraph, died Wednesday at Mercy Hospital. He was 98

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Tournament still going strong behind Sullivan

Sunday, July 9, 2000

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Officially, its name is The Pittsburgh Parks Tennis Championships. Most people simply call it "Paul Sullivan's Tournament."

"They shouldn't say that ... but it's flattering," said Sullivan, 96, who has been the lifeline of the event and is the tournament director for the 68th time in its 69-year history. He missed it in 1946 when he was in the Navy.

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For 67th year, Sullivan serves up tournament

Sunday, July 11, 1999
By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Pittsburgh Parks Championships may be on the last legs, but thanks to Paul Sullivan the once-flourishing tournament at least is limping into its 68th year this week.

Sullivan will be the coordinator and lifeline for the event for the 67th time. He missed it in 1946 when he was in the Navy.

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Bill Colbert

William L. Colbert / Trusted adviser, multitalented champion of civil rights

By Milan Simonich
Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Thursday, April 4, 2002

William L. Colbert was a trailblazing athlete who opened Pittsburgh's tennis courts to black people and later used his political clout to reshape the face of city government.

Trim, intelligent, fierce and determined, he became a force for social change in Pittsburgh as a teen-ager in the 1940s. He did it by winning a citywide tennis tournament, the first black player to accomplish that feat in an era of segregated courts.

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In memory
by Phil Axelros
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jim Rudolph, who worked closely organizing local tournaments and activities with Bill Colbert, tells a story that sums up Colbert's pride and sense of humor. They were engaged in a friendly match a few years ago when both players agreed they didn't have time to finish. As they were putting their rackets away, Colbert turned to Rudolph and told him half-seriously and half-jokingly, "You were beating my father, you weren't beating me."

The tennis community lost a dear friend and tireless worker when Colbert died Tuesday of prostate cancer. He was 73. Colbert, who ruled the city's public courts during the 1960s and early '70s with dignity and grace, was USTA chairman for Multiracial Activities and Secretary of USTA Middle States Section until his death. He also helped found and run the Tennis Patrons Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh that offered more than 1,000 kids free clinics and lessons throughout the city during the summer and the annual NAACP Open Tournament.

"Bill Colbert will be missed," said Rudolph, Citiparks Director of Tennis and USA Tennis Community Coordinator. "He meant so much to so many people in tennis."

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