Amateur in 1955 Trabert was a stand-out athlete in tennis and basketball at the
University of Cincinnati, and was a member of
Sigma Chi fraternity. In 1951, he won the
NCAA Championship Singles title. Previously, at
Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, he had been Ohio scholastic champion three times and played guard on the 1948 basketball team that won the District Championship. After winning his first Grand Slam singles title at the U. S. Championships in 1953 (over Vic Seixas in the final), Trabert was ranked the world No. 1 amateur for 1953 by Lance Tingay in
The Daily Telegraph,
Gardnar Mulloy, and
Grant Golden. and by panel of 8 experts in
The New York Times. In 1955, Trabert won three consecutive Grand Slam singles titles: the French (over Rose in the semifinal and Sven Davidson in the final), Wimbledon (beating Kurt Nielsen in the final) and U. S. Championships (over Rosewall in the final). He was ranked world number one amateur for 1955 by Lance Tingay and by Ned Potter. Trabert's record in 1955 was one of the greatest ever by an American tennis player. He won Wimbledon and the US in 1955 without losing a set (the only time it has ever been done in consecutive majors). Trabert won 18 tournaments in 1955, compiling a match record of 106 wins to 7 losses, which included a 38-match winning streak. Trabert, along with
Vic Seixas, was an American
Davis Cup team mainstay during the early 1950s, during which time the Americans reached the finals five times, winning the cup in 1954. It was one of only two victories over the dominant Australian teams during the decade (the other being in 1958). He called the
1954 Davis Cup win the "biggest thrill in my tennis career". In 1956, he was beaten on the head-to-head world pro tour by the reigning king of professional tennis
Pancho Gonzales, 74–27, consisting mostly of indoor matches on a portable loose canvas surface. However, he beat Gonzales in five sets at Roland Garros in the final of the 1956
French Pro title. For the year 1956 as a whole, Trabert had an edge over Gonzales in outdoor matches of 16-11 (1-1 on grass, 4–5 on cement, and 11–5 on clay). In the 1958 pro tour, Trabert won a personal series against Segura 34–31, showing that he had adjusted to the portable canvas surface used by the Kramer pros in small indoor venues and gyms. In the
Wembley Pro in 1958, he defeated Rosewall in the semi-final and was runner-up to Sedgman . In the French Pro at Roland Garros in 1959, Trabert beat Rosewall in the semifinal and then defeated
Frank Sedgman in the final, to win his fourth title at the red clay venue. The following week, Trabert won the Western Province Pro in Cape Town, beating Rosewall in the final. In October 1962, Trabert won the South African Pro Championships on the cement courts of Ellis Park in Johannesburg by defeating Hoad in the final in five sets. Trabert also had wins over Hoad at the
Forest Hills Tournament of Champions in 1957 and 1958. In his 1979 autobiography
The Game Jack Kramer, the former world No. 1 player, included Trabert in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time. ==Post-playing career==