Induction Year: 1981

Bruce Barnes (1909-1990) attended Austin High School and the University of Texas. He played on Dr. Penick’s great teams from 1929 to 1931. He was the first player ever to win the double Grand Slam—winning both singles and doubles titles of the Southwest Conference each of his three years of varsity competition. Barnes won his 3 doubles crowns with three different partners: Berkeley Bell, Earl Taylor and Karl Kamrath. He followed that double Grand Slam by winning the national collegiate doubles championship in the summer of 1931 with Kamrath.

Barnes was one of the world’s first professional tennis players and brought fame to the university through his world travels playing before the crowned heads of Europe with such greats as Bill Tilden, Elsworth Vines, Fred Perry, Don Budge and George Lott. He was a pioneer in the beginning of modern professional tennis in the 1930s and 1940s.

Barnes won 23 collegiate titles as an amateur and as a pro won every title in the world. He teamed with Bill Tilden to win the world doubles title in 1932.