| Herbert Flam | |
| Birth Date: | 7 November 1928 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, United States |
| Turnedpro: | 1945 (amateur tour) |
| Retired: | 1963 |
| Plays: | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Singlesrecord: | 382-131 |
| Singlestitles: | 20 |
| Highestsinglesranking: | No. 4 (1957, Lance Tingay)[1] |
| Australianopenresult: | SF (1956) |
| Frenchopenresult: | F (1957) |
| Wimbledonresult: | SF (1951, 1952) |
| Usopenresult: | F (1950) |
| Team: | yes |
| Daviscupresult: | W (1956, 1957) |
Herbert Flam (November 7, 1928 – November 25, 1980) was an American tennis player who was ranked by Lance Tingay as the World No. 4 amateur (and World No. 5 by Adrian Quist) in 1957.[1] [2]
Flam was born in New York City, and he was Jewish.[3] [4] [5] He reached his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. championships in 1950, beating Bill Talbert and Gardnar Mulloy and then losing to Art Larsen.[6] That year, he was ranked number 2 in the United States.[7]
In 1951, he won the Ojai Tennis Tournament in men's singles.[8] At Wimbledon in 1951, Flam beat Frank Sedgman and the lost to Dick Savitt in the semifinals.[9] That year, he was ranked number 4 in the U.S.
In 1952 at Wimbledon, Flam beat Mulloy and Vic Seixas and then lost in the semifinals to Jaroslav Drobny. That year, he was ranked number 5 in the U.S. In the 1956 Australian Championships, Flam beat Ashley Cooper and then lost in the semifinals to Ken Rosewall.[10] [11] In September 1956 Flam won the singles title at the Pacific Southwest Championships, defeating Rosewall in the final in five sets.[12] That year, he was ranked number 2 in the U.S.
At the 1957 French championships Flam beat Mervyn Rose in a five-set semifinal and then lost in straight sets to Sven Davidson in the final.[13] At the U. S. championships, Flam beat Seixas and then lost to Cooper in the semifinals. That year, he was ranked number 2 in the U.S., behind Seixas.
Flam was inducted into the International Tennis Association Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987,[14] into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1990,[15] into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, and into the University of California at Los Angeles Hall of Fame in 2006.[16] In 2017, he was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame.[17]
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1957 | French Championships | Clay |  Sven Davidson | 3–6, 4–6, 4–6 | |
| Loss | 1950 | U.S. National Championships | Grass |  Art Larsen | 3–6, 6–4, 7–5, 4–6, 3–6 |