July 5, 1963 - Chuck McKinley won the Wimbledon title today, the highest honor in tennis. Hitting hard and flat from the start, the 22-year-old American scored a 9-7, 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Fred Stolle of Australia in 100 minutes. Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Kent were among the 17,000 spectators at the famed court. McKinley is the first American-born player to take the men’s title since Tony Trabert in 1955. Mrs. Karen Hantze Susman, a Californian, won the women’s championship last year. Stolle, the loser, said after the match: “I had planned to break down his forehand, but he knocked it down my throat. In the end, I didn’t know where to serve or what he was going to do.” Neither did the crowd. McKinley scrambled, skid, and got his racquet on everything. With today’s victory, the San Antonio player avenged four defeats by Stolle in six previous meetings. He also atoned for his straight-set loss at Wimbledon to Rod Laver of Australia in the 1961 final. McKinley said he would continue his studies at Trinity University in San Antonio, where he will be graduated in January.
