University of San Francisco Athletics

Samuel Match was born on January 3, 1923 in Los Angeles. He attended his local Los Angeles High School, and was the California State Junior Champion at age 18. He was a radio operator for three years in the United States Army Air Corps and, while stationed in Guam in 1945, played and lost to Bobby Riggs in the finals of the Army-Navy Championships. In 1947, he played for Rice University, and along with his doubles partner Bob Curtis, beat Herbert Flam and Gene Garrett of UCLA 6–4, 8–10, 3–6, 6–2, 7–5 to win the NCAA Doubles Title. While at Rice, he ranked 11th nationally. He was a member of the 1949 NCAA Championship team after transferring to USF and he ranked 2^nd in Northern California.

He teamed with Art Larsen to form one of the top doubles in the nation: they defeated 1^st-ranked Pancho Gonzales and High Steward at the Ojai Invitational before losing to Ted Schroder and Wimbledon champion Bob Falkenberg. Match won the Ojai Singles title by defeating teammate Larsen in a three-set match. Match twice defeated Pancho Gonzales in singles: in 1948 at Newport, Rhode Island, and in 1949 at River Oaks in Houston. He was a terrific player with classic ground strokes. In 1949, Jack Tiero of Tulane beat Match in five sets in the finals of the NCAA tournament. Match and  Art Larsen lost the doubles championship in the finals. Match was a finalist in both singles and doubles in the 1949 NCAA Championships and was ranked among the top-10 amateurs in the United States in 1948, 1949 and 1950 in both singles and doubles.

As an amateur, Match won at La Jolla, California, on February 16, 1948, at Philadelphia in 1948, and at the Utah State Open in 1948 and in 1949. Match was the runner-up in La Jolla on March 19, 1950, the California State in San Francisco on May 21, 1950, the Colorado State in Denver on June 9, 1950, and in Salt Lake City on July 2, 1950. Match made his professional debut at the California State Pro in Beverly Hills in 1953. Lawn Tennis and Badminton Magazine ranked him as the 12th best professional player in 1955.

In 1971, he was inducted into the USF Hall of Fame. In 1991, he was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2000, into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.