Hamilton "Ham" Farrar Richardson (August 24, 1933 - November 5, 2006) was a American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 tennis player in the 1950s and 1960s.

Born August 24, 1933 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, Richardson was ranked No. 1 in the United States in 1956 and 1958, and was ranked in the top ten in nine other years (see chart below). Richardson attended Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

, where he won two NCAA Singles Championships (1953 & 1954). He would later be named a charter member of the Tulane University Athletic Hall of Fame. Richardson was also a Rhodes scholar. He also won a U.S. National

U.S. Open (tennis)

The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...

 doubles title in 1958 with Alex Olmedo

Alex Olmedo

Alejandro "Alex" Rodríguez Olmedo is a former tennis player from Peru, who was ranked as the top amateur player in the world in 1959. Although born and raised in Peru, he came to Southern California and was mentored by Perry T. Jones, President of the Southern California Tennis Association at the...

, and reached the mixed doubles final at the Australian National Championship

Australian Open

The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

 with Maureen Connolly

Maureen Connolly

Maureen Catherine Connolly Brinker was an American tennis player who was the first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments during the same calendar year.-Biography:...

.

At the Cincinnati Masters

Cincinnati Masters

The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...

, Richardson reached two singles finals, losing in 1950 to Glenn Bassett

Glenn Bassett

Glenn Bassett was an American tennis player in the mid-20th century who later would be one of the most successful college tennis coaches of all time....

 and in 1953 to Tony Trabert

Tony Trabert

Marion Anthony Trabert is a retired American tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker...

, and won two doubles titles, in 1950 with George Richards, and in 1953 with Trabert. He played on seven U.S. Davis Cup

Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

teams, including the winning Cup teams of 1954 and 1958. He was 20-2 in Davis Cup play.

Richardson's Top Ten U.S. Rankings

• 1951 - 9
• 1952 - 7
• 1953 - 6
• 1954 - 3
• 1955 - 7
• 1956 - 1
• 1957 - NR
• 1958 - 1
• 1959 - NR
• 1960 - NR
• 1961 - NR
• 1962 - 3
• 1963 - 7
• 1964 - 7
• 1965 - 6