Seth Bowen, 54, a Nichols School and University of Arizona tennis great, passed away unexpectedly on May 29 in Laguna Beach, Calif.
In 2000, Bowen was ranked sixth by the Buffalo News in the top 10 tennis players from the years 1950-2000. Some players who were ranked ahead of him were Jimmy Arias and Bobby Banck, who went on to be ranked fifth and 200th, respectively, on the men’s pro tour, and Rauno Suominen, who was formerly on the Finnish Davis Cup team.
As the saying goes, “Not too shabby.” Bowen was inducted into the Buffalo Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006 and was ranked 409th in singles and 334th in doubles on the ATP tour. He was a beloved competitor in the WNY tennis scene due to his outstanding talent and personality. He will be greatly missed.
The following tributes are from local tennis players who were close friends of Seth:
Tom LaPenna (Director of the High Performance Tennis Program at the Village Glen): La Penna started teaching and playing tennis at the Buffalo Tennis Center in 1975 where he first met Bowen. LaPenna is responsible for most of the success that Bowen achieved. “Even at the early age of 13 it was evident that Seth was going to be a great player,” LaPenna said. “He had a great attitude and a wonderful disposition. He never took a win or a loss too seriously. It was uncanny that he had such an understanding of the game at such an early age. His size, quickness , and athleticism made him an outstanding player.
He stressed that Bowen’s serve and volley game were nonpareil. He had one of the best first and second serve combination of any player in WNY annals.
“I had the good fortune to play quite a few doubles tournaments with Seth, both locally and out of town,” LaPenna said. “We won the New York State Hard Court Doubles Championship in 1979. The trophy said Bowen-Lapenna as winners. We didn’t win it. Seth won it!”
“Seth always respected everyone that he came into contact with,” LaPenna said. “He was the first student that I ever coached and was a class act.” “He will never be forgotten and I still can’t get over the shock that he is no longer with us.”
source: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/charlie-garfinkels-racket-sports-area-tennis-greats-pay-tribute-to-bowen-20150613
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