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General First nameJames (Jimmy) H.
Lastnamevan Alen
GenderMale
CountryUnited States of America
Date of birth1902-09-19
Place of birthNewport, Rhode Island, United States of America
Date of death1991-07-03
Place of deathNewport, Rhode Island, United States of America


About

Adapted from Wikipedia, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Van_Alen

James Van Alen, jr., was the son of James Laurens Van Alen (1878-1927) and Margaret Louise Post (1876-1969). His paternal grandparents were James John Van Alen (1848-1923) and Emily Astor (1854-1881), of the Astor family. He graduated in 1924 from Christ’s College, Cambridge, England, where he had won his blue at lawn tennis. He was a member of the Hawks’ Club in Cambridge where the main lounge is named the ‘Jimmy Van Alen Room’. He was an avid tennis player and was a national singles and doubles champion in court tennis.

In 1954, Van Alen helped found the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. One of his contributions to the game was the development of the Van Alen Streamlined Scoring System (VASSS) which, among other elements, advocated a sudden-death tie breaker to end prolonged sets and matches.

Van Alen actively promoted his system, and in 1970 the U.S Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce, on an experimental basis, the tiebreak. Initially it was a best-of-nine-points, sudden death tiebreak which made it possible to have simultaneous match points for both players. Via a few intermediary steps this would evolve into the current best-of-twelve-point tiebreak.

Van Alen was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1965. He was a great fan of Clement C. Moore’s famous poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas which is more commonly known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. He purchased and restored the Clement C. Moore house on Catherine Street in Newport, Rhode Island, and would make an annual public reading of the poem to children during the Christmas season.

On 3 July 1991, James Van Alen, jr., died after falling off a terrace at his home and striking his head. He is buried with his wife at the Berkeley Memorial Cemetery at Saint Columba’s Chapel in Middletown, Rhode Island.

Media


Archive statistics Career1921 - 1948
Tournament wins2
Matches58
Match wins31


Tournament wins 1924 - North Northumberland Championships (Amateur)
1922 - Shanklin (Amateur)


Tournaments Newport Casino - 1948 Nassau Bowl - 1937 US Open - 1931 Newport Casino - 1931 Newport Casino - 1930 Roland Garros - 1927 Monte Carlo - 1926 Beaulieu - 1926 Cannes Beau Site New Year Meeting - 1926 Wimbledon - 1925 Cannes Beau Site New Year Meeting - 1925 Wimbledon - 1924 Cannes Championships - 1924 Côte d'Azur Championships - 1924 Cannes Beau Site New Year Meeting - 1924 Cannes Métropole - 1924 Cannes Carlton Winter Tournament - 1924 Cannes Métropole Second Meeting - 1924 North Northumberland Championships - 1924 Cannes Beau Site New Year Meeting - 1923 Wimbledon - 1922 Cannes Championships - 1922 Cannes Beau Site New Year Meeting - 1922 Cannes Métropole - 1922 Cannes Carlton 3rd Meeting - 1922 Shanklin - 1922 Cannes Carlton Winter Tournament - 1922 Cannes Beau Site New Year Meeting - 1921 Cannes Carlton Winter Tournament - 1921