Sporting Highlights for 1949
Here are some of the sporting highlights in the world of sport for 1949.
Margaret Osborne duPont, who had won each of the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open title in the last three years, won two grand slams, the French Open and the US Open that year for her fourth and fifth career slam title. Her three-pete at the US Open the following year gave her the sixth and final grand slam title of her career.
Frank Parker and Pancho Gonzales defended their respective French Open and US Open wins for their second and fourth slam titles. It was the final title for both the players.
Louise Suggs, who has won at least once at all the four majors, won the now defunct major, Women's Western Open for the third time. That same year, she also won the US Women's Open for the first time, for her fifth career major. In the following years, she found more success with at least one win in each of the major tournaments.
On Aug 3rd the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA) which today is the highest average paying league in the world. The 1949–50 NBA season was therefore the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association.
The NASCAR stock car racing series, which is extremely popular in the United States, was inaugurated this year.
This year Joseph Sobek of Conneticut created a new game that he called "paddleball", which ultimately became racquetball and a very popular sport by the 1970s throughout North America.
It was also the year of the Superga air disaster. A plane carrying almost the entire Torino A.C. football squad crashed into the hill of Superga near Turin killing all 31 aboard including 18 players.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 1949.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Frank Sedgman and Doris Hart |
| April | Golf Masters won by Sam Snead (1st win) |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Frank Parker and Margaret duPont |
| June | Golf US Open won by Cary Middlecoff |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France won by Fausto Coppi |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Ted Schroeder and Louise Brough |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Bobby Locke |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by Sam Snead (2) |
| Sep | Tennis US National Championship won by Pancho Gonzales and Margaret duPont |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by New York Yankees |
Please note that the dates for past events are not always known, and are sometimes just placed in the month that the current event is held. If no exact date is listed, then it is just an estimated month that it was held.
If you have a correction or know of events that should be included here, please let me know.
Related Pages
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For future sporting events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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