Allison and Van Ryn were a headline combination during their bright career between 1929 and 1936 as one of the most formidable U.S. Davis Cup partnerships. Wilmer Allison and John William Van Ryn, Jr. won 14 of 16 Cup matches together, the best for Americans until Peter Fleming and John McEnroe's 14-1.

Their 24 team ties (tied with Stan Smith and Vic Seixas) are second only to McEnroe's 30 in U.S. annals. Van Ryn's 24 doubles matches and 22 wins are highs for the U.S. They beat the splendid French teams in Parisian Cup finales (Henri Cochet-Jean Borotra in 1929, Cochet-Jacques Brugnon in 1932), but could do no more than stave off France's successful defenses, A Princeton man (class of '28), Van Ryn, right-handed, superb at the net, and returning from the right court, won the U.S. Intercollegiate doubles in 1927.

Allison and Van Ryn were in the U.S. final six times, one behind Fred Alexander and Harold Hackett's record, winning in 1931 and 1935. They also won Wimbledon in 1929, 1930 and "should've won again in '35," says the engaging Van Ryn, recalling the splendid mixture of himself and Allison, as choice as gin and vermouth. "We had a match point in the fifth set of the final against Jack Crawford and Adrian Quist. They put up a fluky little lob. My ball. Easy. But for some reason I hesitated in starting for it. Wilmer noticed, and decided he'd better take it--and missed the shot. My fault. All those years together," he smiles, "and we mess up a simple play." Van Ryn, 5-foot-101/2, 155 pounds, a fluid, well-rounded strokesman, remembers, "My best Wimbledon in singles was '31. I beat (fourth-seeded) Christian Boussus, got to the quarters.

In 1931 Van Ryn teamed up with George Lott to win the French and Wimbledon, the only American to win the latter three successive times. He ranked in the U.S. Top Ten six times between 1927 and 1932, No. 4 in 1931 when he was a five-set quarterfinal loser at Forest Hills to George Lott. He was also a quarterfinalist in 1929 and 1930, losing to Bill Tilden each time in four sets, and 1936 and 1937. In 1929 and 1931 he was in the World Top Ten. He was born June 30, 1905, in Newport News, VA, grew up in Orange, NJ and resided in Cornelia. He was previously married to Marjorie Gladman, also an excellent doubles player, and in 1930 and 1931 they were the first of four married couples to be ranked together in the U.S. singles Top Ten, he Nos. 9 and 4, she 7 and 8. Van Ryn was taken into the Hall of Fame in 1963.