Alastair Martin became a tennis champion of great accord, but it wasn't achieved between the lines and with a racquet in hand.
As President of the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1969 and 1970, he held the office at a critical juncture during the Open Era's early years. Martin previously served as Vice President of the association for two years (1967 and 1968) alongside President and Robert Kelleher. The mild-mannered Martin had an effective administrative style and was a staunch proponent of moving tennis into the modern era, one that allowed professionals to compete for prize money in tournaments previously open only to amateurs. "We can pull in the horns and remain amateur, or widen our view and let all of tennis work together under one umbrella," Martin told The New York Times in January 1969. "We're moving into tennis as big business."
The Princeton-educated Martin founded the Eastern Tennis Patrons (which evolved into the USTA Eastern Section) in 1951, and in 1977-1979 he served as president of the National Tennis Foundation (which is now known as the International Tennis Hall of Fame).
Martin, who passed away at age 94, was an accomplished Court Tennis champion who won major titles 30 years apart, including the U.S. Amateur Court Tennis singles title eight times (1941, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956) and the doubles title 13 times (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1971).
