Walter Montenegro, a beloved figure within the tennis industry for many years, died on Nov. 3 at his home in New Jersey. He was 100.
Montenegro, who was the oldest living USPTA member, was born Aug. 25, 1909 and emigrated to the U.S. during the Great Depression, when, as a 20-year-old, he began stringing tennis rackets at $1.75 a frame.
“I became infatuated with the idea of stringing rackets,” he once said. “Took it up as a hobby and eventually went into the business.”
Montenegro called his business Walter’s Tennis Service, which was based out of his home on 5th Street in Brooklyn, N.Y. In ’36, he purchased the Cragin-Simplex Corp., eventually opening a 60,000 square-foot factory in North Attleboro, Mass. He later served as VP of the USPTA, then known as the Professional Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA).
Montenegro remained active in tennis long after he retired from the industry.
