Uberto de Morpurgo

Uberto De Morpurgo (11 January 1896 – 26 February 1961) was an Italian tennis player.

Uberto De Morpurgo was born in Trieste when it was part of Austria, but became an Italian citizen when the city changed after World War I. His world rankings were ninth in 1928, tenth in 1929, and eighth in 1930. Bill Tilden ranked him 10th in the world in 1924, and 6th in 1929.

Tennis career De Morpurgo was junior champion in Great Britain in 1911 and student champion in Paris in 1915. He was ranked as Italy's top tennis player in 1927 and again in 1929 through 1931. Tennis magazine called him "the Tilden of his country".

He was named Italian Commissioner of Tennis by Benito Mussolini in 1929.

Olympics De Morpurgo participated in the singles event at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. He won his first four matches to reach the semifinals, losing to eventual gold medal winner Vincent Richards. De Morpurgo won the bronze medal in a five-set victory against Jean Borotra of France.

Playing style De Morpurgo used a very fast serve on his first ball and an exaggerated American Twist serve on the second serve which was of extreme contortion. His baseline game consisted of flat drives. He had an excellent net attack, owing to his great reach. His overhead, like his service, was hard but erratic.

Recognition De Morpurgo, who was Jewish, was inducted as a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

Grand Slam finals Mixed doubles (1 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1925 Wimbledon Grass Elizabeth Ryan Suzanne Lenglen Jean Borotra 3–6, 3–6

Career finals

Singles (1 win 2 runner-ups)