Southern

Kaplan, SImpson, Tuero

Selected for Southern HOF

Ron Cioffi  |  September 15, 2019
Jaime Kaplan, Lenny SImpson, Jack Tuero, Southern Tennis Hall of Fame
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Jaime Kaplan
Consummate Pro & Volunteer

 

• Kaplan’s highest rankings were No. 91 in doubles and No. 252 in singles.
• Won five WTA doubles crowns
• Went undefeated in singles and doubles in five years of high school play.
• Previously Inducted into four halls of fame: USTA Georgia Tennis (2006), Georgia Sports (2005), Macon Sports (2001) and Stratford Academy Athletic (2004)
• Won the SEC doubles title at the University of Georgia in 1981
• Metro Conference 1983 singles champion and two-time doubles titlist while playing at Florida State
• Ranked No. 1 singles and doubles in USTA Southern and Georgia 13 times
• Honored with the USTA Eve Kraft Award in 2008
• Stratford Academy’s tennis center is named the Jaime Kaplan Tennis Center


Lenny Simpson
Pioneer Professional and Community Organizer


• Awarded the USTA NJTL Founder’s Service Award, USTA North Carolina Educational Merit Award, USTA Southern Educational Merit Award, USTA Southern Marilyn Sherman Spirit Award, USTA North Carolina NJTL Chapter of the Year, Wilmington Community Service Award and selected for the USTA Foundation NJTL 50 For 50
• Inducted into the Cheshire Academy Hall of Fame, the Hill School Hall of Fame (for basketball), the Black Tennis Hall of Fame, the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame
• Ranked top 10 nationally in every junior age group in singles & doubles
• Captain of the Eastern Tennessee State University tennis team 1968–72 and listed in the “Who’s-Who” in America athletes in tennis and basketball
• Ohio Valley Conference Champion in singles & doubles
• Entered the Pro Tour in 1974 as the first African American to play World Team Tennis on the Detroit Loves
• Served as Tennis Director for Nick Bollettieri junior and adult tennis camps
• Founder of the Lenny Simpson Tennis & Education Fund, which includes One Love
• Owner and caretaker of 1406 Orange St., Wilmington, N.C, the former home of Dr. ADVERTISEMENT Hubert Eaton
 

Jack Tuero
National Collegiate Champion

 

• Won the 1949 National Intercollegiate (NCAA) Championship
• SEC singles champion in 1947, 1949 and 1950
• Boys’ 15s Southern champion and national 15s runner-up in 1940
• In 1948, he was Southern singles champ and was ranked No. 1 in the section in 1943 and 1951.
• Four-time NCAA doubles champion in 1947, 1948-50
• Had a 7-9 career in ATP matches
• Reached the second round of the US Open in 1954
• 1949 and 1951 Blue-Gray singles titlist
• Inducted into the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985
 

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