Cliff Drysdale

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Cliff Drysdale
CliffDrysdale (cropped).jpg
Drysdale in 2009
Full nameEric Clifford Drysdale
Country (sports) South Africa
ResidenceAustin, Texas, United States[1]
Born (1941-05-26) 26 May 1941 (age 80)
Nelspruit, South Africa
Height1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro1968 (amateur from 1962)
Retired1980
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF2013 (member page)
Official websitewww.cliffdrysdale.com
Singles
Career record685-345 (66.5%) in pre Open-Era & Open Era[2]
Career titles23[3]
Highest rankingNo. 4 (1965, Lance Tingay)[4]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenQF (1971)
French OpenSF (1965, 1966)
WimbledonSF (1965, 1966)
US OpenF (1965)
Other tournaments
WCT FinalsQF (1971, 1972, 1977)
Doubles
Career record189–160 (54.15%)
Career titles6
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open1R (1971)
French Open3R (1973)
WimbledonSF (1974, 1977)
US OpenW (1972)
Drysdale at the 1966 Davis Cup in the Netherlands

Eric Clifford Drysdale (born 26 May 1941) is a South African former tennis player. The former highly-ranked professional player of the 1960s and early 1970s became a well-known tennis announcer.

Drysdale reached the singles final of the U. S. Championships in 1965 (beating Dennis Ralston and Rafael Osuna before losing to Manuel Santana).[5] He was one of the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championship Tennis (WCT) group.[6] He became president of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) when it was formed by Jack Kramer, Donald Dell, and himself in 1972. Drysdale was ranked world No. 4 in 1965 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.[4][7]

He won the singles title at the Dutch Open in Hilversum in 1963 and 1964. In 1965, he won the singles title at the German Championships by defeating Boro Jovanović in the final. During his Open era career, Drysdale captured five singles titles and six doubles titles including winning the 1972 US Open doubles crown with Roger Taylor.[8] He defeated Rod Laver in the fourth round of the first US Open in 1968. He was a pioneer of the two-handed backhand which he used to great effect in the 1960s [USA Today, 11 July 2013]. He became a naturalized United States citizen after retiring as a player. He is the founder of Cliff Drysdale Tennis (along with partner Don Henderson) which specializes in resort, hotel, and club tennis management.[9]

Drysdale has served as a tennis commentator on ESPN since the network's founding in 1979.[10]

In 1998, Drysdale won the William M. Johnston award for contribution to men's tennis, given by the USTA.[11] In 2013, Drysdale was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.[12]

Grand Slam finals[]

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)[]

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1965 U.S. Championships Grass Spain Manuel Santana 2–6, 9–7, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title)[]

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1972 US Open Grass United Kingdom Roger Taylor Australia Owen Davidson
Australia John Newcombe 		6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–3

Grand Prix Championship Series finals[]

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)[]

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1971 Boston WCT Hard Australia Ken Rosewall 4–6, 3–6, 0–6
Loss 1972 Las Vegas Hard Australia John Newcombe 3–6, 4–6

Open Era titles[]

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. Jul 1968 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Netherlands Tom Okker 6–3, 6–3, 6–0
Win 2. Apr 1971 Miami WCT, U. S. Hard Australia Rod Laver 6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win 3. May 1971 Brussels, Belgium Clay Romania Ilie Năstase 6–0, 6–1, 7–5
Win 4. Mar 1974 Miami WCT (2) Hard United States Tom Gorman 6–4, 7–5
Win 5. Jan 1978 Baltimore, U. S. Carpet (i) United States Tom Gorman 7–5, 6–3

Grand Slam singles performance timeline[]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 SR
Australian Open A A A A A A A A A QF A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 1
French Open 1R 2R QF SF SF A A 1R A A A 2R A A A A A A A 0 / 7
Wimbledon 1R 1R 2R SF SF 4R 3R QF 3R 1R A A 3R A 2R 3R A 1R 2R 0 / 15
US Open 3R 2R 3R F 3R 2R QF 1R 2R A 4R 3R A 2R A 1R 1R A A 0 / 14
Strike Rate 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 37

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

References[]

  1. ^ Cliff Drysdale partners
  2. ^ "Cliff Drysdale: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Cliff Drysdale: Career tournament results". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
  5. ^ Talbert, Bill (1967). Tennis Observed. Boston: Barre Publishers. p. 140. OCLC 172306.
  6. ^ Wind, Herbert Warren (1979). Game, Set, and Match : The Tennis Boom of the 1960s and 70s (1. ed.). New York: Dutton. pp. 65–70. ISBN 0525111409.
  7. ^ "Gear Talk: Q&A with Cliff Drysdale". Tennis.com.
  8. ^ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins history of tennis : an authoritative encyclopedia and record book (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. p. 478. ISBN 9780942257700.
  9. ^ http://cliffdrysdale.com/
  10. ^ "Cliff Drysdale".
  11. ^ "The William M. Johnston Award". USTA. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  12. ^ "Hingis elected to International Tennis Hall of Fame". ITF Tennis. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.

External links[]

See also[]

  • Association of Tennis Professionals
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