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(c) 2022 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Zenzo Shimizu
(c) 2022 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
(c) 2022 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Zenzo Shimizu

Japanese, 1891 - 1977
BiographyZenzo Shimizu (Zenzo Shimidzu) was the doubles partner to Ichiya Kumagae (Japanese, 1890-1968) in the Davis Cup, 1921. They played locally in the Longwood Doubles Tournament at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, (Newton) Massachusetts.

Zenzo Shimizu (清水 善造, Shimizu Zenzō, 25 March 1891 – 12 April 1977), also spelt Zenzo Shimidzu, was a male tennis player from Japan.

Shimizu graduated from the Tokyo Higher Commerce School (now Hitotsubashi University). In 1912 he started to work for Mitsui & Co. He married the daughter of Sohōka. He resided in Calcutta and New York. In 1929 he was transferred to Mitsui Life Insurance Co., became the manager of Kobe Branch, in 1945 the director thereof and also therefore was expelled from his official position after World War II. He was running a trading company in Kobe thereafter. In 1965 he collapsed from a stroke. In 1977 he died in Osaka at the age of 86.

While having this educational background and career he reached the All-Comers final of the Wimbledon Championships in 1920, where he lost to Bill Tilden 4–6, 4–6, 11–13. At the 1921 Wimbledon Championships he reached the semifinal which he lost to Manuel Alonso in five sets. He also was a member of Japan's Davis Cup team that finished second to United States in 1921. In 1921 he won the singles title at the Queen's Club Championships by defeating Mohammed Sleem in the final in straight sets. He established the earliest period of Japanese tennis together with Ichiya Kumagae (accurately speaking, Kumagai).

Shimizu was ranked World No. 4 by A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph in 1921.[2]

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenzo_Shimizu accessed 2/28/2022 SMcKenna
Person TypeIndividual
Last Updated8/7/24