Education
Bartzen attended the College of William & Mary, where the left-hander posted a 50–0 singles record.
Bartzen attended the College of William & Mary, where the left-hander posted a 50–0 singles record.
Bartzen went on the American tennis circuit and was ranked in the top 10 nine straight years (1953–1961), two of them at Number. 2 (1959 and 1960). Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph ranked him World Number. 8 for 1959. During his career, he had wins over such future Hall of Famers as Vic Seixas and Tony Trabert.
Bartzen reached the semifinals of the United States. National Championships in 1959 and the quarterfinals in 1955.
After his playing career, Bartzen served 12 years as head tennis pro at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where he hosted the Colonial National Invitational Tournament, before taking over the Texas Christian University program in 1974. His tennis teams were ranked nationally every year but one in a 20-year stretch.
Bartzen was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Born in 1927 in Austin, Texas, Bartzen won three Texas state high school titles — two in singles and one in doubles — and the National Interscholastic singles championship. He also won the National Collegiate Athletic Association doubles title with Fred Kovaleski in 1948. One of those wins over Trabert came in 1955 in the final at the event in Cincinnati, where Bartzen won three titles: 1955, 1957 and 1958. He also won four United States. Clay Court Championships and won the Canadian National title in 1954. He served as co-captain of the United States. Davis Cup team and won 15 singles matches.