John Powless, a hugely successful competitor in ITF Seniors Tennis with a storied career in tennis and basketball – has died aged 88.

Born in Flora, Illinois, Powless was a talented sportsman and excelled in both sports during his early life.

He served for six years as captain and coach of the USA Junior Davis Cup team, having earlier coached the University of Wisconsin’s men’s basketball team for eight seasons, but it was tennis that dominated his later life.

Powless ranked at No. 1 in four age categories on the ITF Seniors Tennis Tour, first becoming the best player in the world in the 70+ age category in July 2004, before later taking top spot in the 75+, 80+ and 85+ age categories.

He collected 69 singles titles on the ITF Seniors Tour between 2002 and 2019, headlined by his victory in the 80+ age category at the 2013 Super-Seniors World Championships in Austria, and won 288 matches to just 21 losses – a remarkable 93% win-rate.

Powless went on to win World Championship doubles titles alongside George McCabe in 2017 and King Van Nostrand in 2019 and enjoyed prolific success with USA in the Seniors World Team Championships, collecting team titles on 13 occasions between 1999 and 2019.

Named 'US Seniors Tennis Player of the Millennium' in 1999, he was inducted into the US Senior Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.

Powless last competed on the circuit in November 2019, ending his Seniors career in the fashion that he was accustomed – with an emphatic victory at an 85+ tournament in Argentina.