British grand slam finalists

This article gives details on British Grand Slam tennis finalists. Despite being the founders of the sport of tennis, Great Britain has not enjoyed too much success in the main tournaments for both male and female players. The last male player to win a major from Great Britain was Fred Perry who, in 1936, won three of the four tournaments. In the women's singles the time period has not been as long but Virginia Wade was the last female winner, winning the third of her three titles at Wimbledon in 1977.

There have been many who have attempted to add to British success during the last 75 years or so. This article documents the players who have won or finished second at Grand Slam tournaments.

Men's singles

Pre-WW1

Before the outbreak of the First World War Britain had a lot of success in the men's tournament at Wimbledon, mainly because the majority of the competitors were either British or Irish. At the French Open the British made two final appearances, with victory for H. Briggs in 1891 while Francky Wardan finished as runner-up in 1897 against Paul Ayme. As at Wimbledon the tournament was dominated by home-grown players.

Britain also had limited success at the American-dominated U.S. Open: Wilberforce Eaves and Reginald Doherty both finished in second place in 1897 and 1902 respectively. The Australian Open only began in 1905 but Alfred Beamish managed to reach the final in 1912 but succumbed to Australian Gordon Lowe.

Fred Perry

Fred Perry is easily Great Britain's most successful player at Grand Slam events, although it is difficult to assess the impact he would have had after the start of the Open Era.

Open Era

During the open era there have been a number of British players who have reached finals of Grand Slams. The most recent is Andy Murray, who lost out in the 2008 final.

John Lloyd (1977, Australia): Lloyd became the first British male to reach a Grand Slam final in the open era at the 1977 Australian Open. However he lost in five sets to Vitas Gerulaitis 6–3, 7–6, 5–7, 3–6, 6–2. He would also reach 4 mixed doubles finals (3 wins) with Wendy Turnbull.

Greg Rusedski (1997, U.S.): Rusedski became just the second Briton to reach the U.S. Open final and the first in the open era, but he lost to Pat Rafter from Australia 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. On route to the final Rusedski beat former top-10 players Richard Krajicek and Jonas Bjorkman.

Andy Murray (2008, U.S.): Scotsman Andy Murray reached the final of the 2008 U.S. Open after a meteoric rise into the world's top 10. Murray started 2005 around #300 in the world but after 6 titles and positive grand slam performances he was ranked #6 for the 2008 U.S. Open. Murray improved on his quarter final spot at Wimbledon by reaching the final, beating seeded players Juan Martin Del Potro, Stanislas Wawrinka and his nemesis and world no. 1 Rafael Nadal on route to the final. However he couldn't beat former world no. 1 Roger Federer, losing 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.

Women's singles

Pre-WW1

ee also

References

External Links