Emery Neale - Tennis

Emery Neale took tennis by storm as a singles and doubles player and earned the nickname “Mr. Oregon Tennis” over the course of five decades of involvement.

Neale gew up in Northeast Portland and won the state singles title in 1937-39 while at Grant High. He also team with Ned Junger to win the doubles title in ’39, and remains the only singles champion who also teamed to win the doubles title in the same year.

Neale, who won the Oregon Singles open title in 1941, then moved to Stanford University and played there from 1941-43.

Following World War II, Neale returned to Oregon and won the state singles title six more times between 1946 and 1955. In 1947, he played for the Canadian National title – the Rogers Cup.

Neale teamed with Sam Lee, another inductee in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, and played in the doubles tournament at Wimbledon in 1947-48. They won six doubles titles in Oregon. Neale won another four with other partners.

In 1969, Neale rose to the No. 1 ranking in the U.S. in 45-and over men’s singles.
Off the court, Neale helped bring the Pacific Coast Indoor Tournament to Portland and organized youth clinics throughout Portland.

Neale was honored by the USTA with the Senior Service Award in 1971 for his commitment to the game, and inducted into the USTA Pacific Northwest Region Hall of Fame in 2000. He was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.