Phil Neer
{{short description|American tennis player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
Philip F. Neer (December 24, 1901Birthdate obtained from Social Security Death Index. in Portland, Oregon – December 1989) was NCAA champion and a top-ranking amateur tennis player in the 1920s.
Early career
Neer, a native of Portland,{{cite news|last=Eggers|first=Kerry|date=May 6, 2003|url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=17969|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929083519/http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=17969|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 29, 2007|title=Parrott serves notice he's real|publisher=Portland Tribune|accessdate=April 26, 2007}} was one of the first male tennis players from the west coast to achieve national tennis success. He and partner Don Gilman won the Oregon state doubles championship in 1918,{{cite web|url=http://www.irvingtonclub.com/tho/Tourn_Oregon_State_Men_Doubles.html|title=Oregon State Tournament Men's Doubles Champions|publisher=Oregon Tennis Historical Committee|accessdate=April 26, 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928173344/http://www.irvingtonclub.com/tho/Tourn_Oregon_State_Men_Doubles.html|archivedate=September 28, 2007|df=mdy-all}} and in 1919, was the national junior doubles runner-up and the Pacific Northwest singles champion.{{cite web|url=http://www.pnw.usta.com/hall_of_fame/custom.sps?iType=3495&icustompageid=14532|title=USTA Pacific Northwest Hall of Fame Inductee Bios|publisher=United States Tennis Association|accessdate=April 26, 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060518080815/http://www.pnw.usta.com/hall_of_fame/custom.sps?iType=3495&icustompageid=14532 |archivedate = May 18, 2006}} A year later, he won the British Columbia men’s singles championship and the Oregon state singles championship.{{cite web|url=http://www.irvingtonclub.com/tho/Tourn_Oregon_State_Men_Singles.html|title=Oregon State Tournament Men's Singles Champions|publisher=Oregon Tennis Historical Committee|accessdate=April 26, 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928173355/http://www.irvingtonclub.com/tho/Tourn_Oregon_State_Men_Singles.html|archivedate=September 28, 2007|df=mdy-all}}
College and senior career
Neer attended Stanford University and in 1921, became the first player from a western U.S. university to win the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship.{{cite web|url=http://www.irvingtonclub.com/tho/college.html|title=Oregon Tennis History: College Tennis|publisher=Oregon Tennis Historical Committee|accessdate=April 26, 2007}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ncaasports.com/tennis/mens/history|title=Men's Tennis: Past Champions|publisher=NCAA|accessdate=April 26, 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070418045954/http://www.ncaasports.com/tennis/mens/history |archivedate = April 18, 2007}} A year later, Neer and partner Jim Davies won the NCAA doubles championship, the first team from a non-Ivy League school to do so.
Neer won back-to-back doubles championships at the Pacific Coast Championships in 1932 and 1933 and was runner-up in 1934. At the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters, Neer reached the semifinals in 1919 as a 17 year old.
On January 28, 1933, Neer, who was ranked #8 in the United States at the time, played his friend and occasional mixed doubles partner{{cite web|url=http://www.ojaitourney.org/trophymixeddoubles.htm|title=Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament Mixed Doubles Champions|publisher=Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament|accessdate=April 26, 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050228053929/http://ojaitourney.org/trophymixeddoubles.htm |archivedate = February 28, 2005}} Helen Wills Moody in an exhibition match in San Francisco. Moody, who was the reigning ladies' Wimbledon champion, defeated Neer 6–3, 6–4.{{cite journal|last=Fein|first=Paul|date=April 2006|url=http://www.insidetennis.com/0405_bestfemale.html|title=Who is the greatest female player ever?|journal=Inside Tennis|accessdate=April 26, 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060102202712/http://www.insidetennis.com/0405_bestfemale.html |archivedate = January 2, 2006}} {{cite news|url=http://cgi1.usatoday.com/sports/century/012899.htm |date=January 31, 1999 |title=This Day in Sports: January 28 |publisher=USA Today |accessdate=April 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606151456/http://cgi1.usatoday.com/sports/century/012899.htm |archivedate=June 6, 2009 |df=mdy }} This match predated the Bobby Riggs-Billie Jean King "Battle of the Sexes" by 40 years.
Honors
Neer was inducted into the United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest Hall of Fame in 2003, and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.
Personal
Neer's brothers, Jacie and Henry, were also prominent in Portland tennis, as well as his nephew (Jacie's son) Jack Neer.{{cite web|url=http://www.irvingtonclub.com/tho/players_pneer.html|title=Phil Neer profile|publisher=Oregon Tennis Historical Committee|accessdate=April 26, 2007}}