Henry Prusoff


Henry J. Prusoff was a top-ranked American tennis player in both singles and doubles in the 1930s. Prusoff was ranked # 3 in doubles during the 1930s, and # 8 in singles in the U.S. in 1940.

Early life

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was Jewish. He later lived in Seattle, Washington. He attended Garfield High School in Seattle.

Tennis career

Prusoff won the singles and doubles titles at the Oregon State Tennis Championship in 1932. In 1933 he played in the US Championships, but was defeated in the round of 128 by Keith Gledhill. Prusoff also won the singles title and reached the doubles final at the Cincinnati Masters in 1934, and played in the US Championships where he was defeated in the round of 64 by John Van Ryn. He also won the Tri-State Tennis Tournament that year.
In 1935, while ranked 13th in the United States and after defeating S. H. Ellsworth Davenport at the US Championship in the round of 64, Prusoff sustained a very bad, near-fatal back injury from which he nevertheless eventually made a surprising recovery.
By 1939, Prusoff was ranked # 10 in singles in the US, and in 1940 he was ranked # 8.
In both 1935 and 1939 he was nominated for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Man of the Year sports award.
He died in 1943 at the age of 30 of a rare blood disease.