Walter Martin
Major Accomplishments
One of the greatest Canadian tennis players to come from the province of Saskatchewan.
Ranked No. 1 in Canada in 1933 and 1935.Canadian Open Men’s Doubles champion in 1937.
Member of the Davis Cup team from 1931-1934.
Biography
Walter Martin won his first provincial junior title in 1922 and by 1927 he had won the provincial open singles championship. In the same year he made it to the finals of the National Junior Championships where he lost to Ellsworth Vines in five sets. He has also won three national intercollegiate championships.
Martin was one of the first elite tennis players in the province of Saskatchewan and the best player in the province at that time. Although he began playing on the courts of Saskatchewan, he did most of his playing at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club.
Martin was ranked in the top 10 in singles play for nine straight years (1927-1935). He achieved the #1 spot in 1933 and 1935.
In Canadian Open play, Martin was a finalist in 1933 losing to American John Murio in a five-set heartbreaker 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Playing with Gil Nunns he was twice a runner-up in men’s doubles (1930 and 1932) but finally took the title in 1937 playing with D.N.Jones Jnr. They defeated Laird Watt and Bob Murray in four sets.
He was a member of the Canadian Davis Cup team in the early 1930s, but only played in one time in 1934 against the USA.
In 1973 Martin was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.