Northern tournament in June over Candy and the Queens club tournament over Rose. Sedgman also won his first Wimbledon singles title (it was the third year in a row he had been number one seed). In 2012, Sedgman said "You always wanted to win the Wimbledon title and I had offers to turn professional before I won Wimbledon and I had put it off because I thought, gee, I wanted to win the Wimbledon title to cap your career, really, as an amateur". To win the Wimbledon title, Sedgman beat Sturgess, Rose and Drobny. Sedgman won the Velbert tournament in July beating Sturgess in the final. Sedgman beat Rose to win the Newport tournament in August. At the U.S. Championships, Sedgman beat Lew Hoad, Rose and Gardnar Mulloy to retain his title. In November, Sedgman (hampered by a blistered hand) beat 18 year old Ken Rosewall in five sets in the semifinals of the Queensland Championships before overcoming Rose in five sets in the final. Sedgman won the New South Wales Championships over McGregor. Sedgman was ranked world No. 1 amateur by Lance Tingay, Pierre Gillou, Harry Hopman and Ned Potter. Sedgman turned professional at the end of the year. Professional 1953 Sedgman faced Jack Kramer in the 1953 World Series tour. Sedgman began the tour well and opened up an 11–6 lead (Kramer had been suffering from the flu during several matches). However, by winning in Houston on 11 March, Kramer opened up a 28–19 lead. In the end, Kramer won 54 matches to 41. The tour grossed $860,000. Sedgman won the tournament at Wembley beating Don Budge and Pancho Gonzales (both in straight sets). Sedgman won the tournament in Paris, beating Gonzales in the final. Sedgman beat Dinny Pails and Segura at Vienna and Geneva. Tennis de France magazine ranked Sedgman as the world No. 1 professional tennis player for the 1953 season. This gave Sedgman world number one rankings for both the amateur tennis world and for the contract tennis professionals in his career record. 1954-1955 In 1954, Sedgman competed in the World Series alongside Gonzales, Pancho Segura, Budge, Bobby Riggs and Carl Earn. On the opening night of the tour at Madison Square Garden, Sedgman led Gonzales by a set and 5–3, but Gonzales took the second set 11-9 and the third set 13–11 to claim victory. Gonzales went on to win the series. Sedgman was