- Colin Dowdeswell
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Colin Dowdeswell (born 12 May 1955 in London, England), is a former professional tennis player who represented, at different times, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.[1] During his time on the world tour, he won 1 singles titles and 11 doubles titles.[2] Perhaps the highlight of his career was reaching the men's doubles final of Wimbledon.
Contents
Tennis career highlights
Partnering Australian Allan Stone, Dowdeswell finished runner-up in doubles at Wimbledon in 1975. Unseeded, after two straight sets wins, they defeated the No. 7 seeds Tom Okker and Marty Riessen in the round of sixteen in four sets. They did likewise in eliminating the No. 3 seeds, Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan, in the quarterfinals. It took Dowdeswell and Stone then five sets to overcome the unseeded team of Dick Crealy and Niki Pilic in the semi-finals. They lost the final to another unseeded tandem,Vitas Gerulaitis and Sandy Mayer, 5-7, 6-8, 4-6.[3]
Dowdeswell achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 31 in 1983 and a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 24 in 1980.[2]
Grand Prix and WCT singles finals (4)
Titles (1)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score 1. 1975 Istanbul, Turkey Outdoor Ferdi Taygan
6–1, 6–4, 6–2 Runner-ups (3)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score 1. 1974 Dublin, Ireland Outdoor Sherwood Stewart
3–6, 8–9 2. 1978 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Cliff Richey
2–6, 4–6 3. 1983 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Johan Kriek
4–6, 6–4, 6–1, 5–7, 3–6 Grand Slam, Grand Prix, and WCT doubles finals (28)
Titles (11)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponent in the final Score 1. 1974 Dublin, Ireland Outdoor John Yuill
Lito Álvarez
Jorge Andrew
6–3, 6–2 2. 1978 Sarasota, U.S. Carpet Geoff Masters
Byron Bertram
Bernard Mitton
2–6, 6–3, 6–2 3. 1978 Berlin, Germany Clay Jürgen Fassbender
Željko Franulović
Hans Gildemeister
6–3, 6–4 4. 1979 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Heinz Günthardt
Raymond Moore
Ilie Năstase
6–3, 7–6 5. 1979 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Frew McMillan
Wojtek Fibak
Pavel Složil
6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 6. 1980 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Ismail El Shafei
Mark Edmondson
Kim Warwick
6–4, 6–4 7. 1980 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Frew McMillan
Chris Lewis
John Yuill
6–3, 6–4 8. 1983 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Zoltan Kuharszky
Peter Elter
Peter Feigl
6–4, 7–5 9. 1985 Palermo, Italy Clay Joakim Nyström
Sergio Casal
Emilio Sánchez
6–4, 6–7, 7–6 10. 1985 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Christo van Rensburg
Amos Mansdorf
Shahar Perkiss
3–6, 7–6, 6–4 11. 1986 Milan, Italy Carpet Christo Steyn
Brian Levine
Laurie Warder
6–3, 4–6, 6–1 Runner-ups (17)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponent in the final Score 1. 1975 Birmingham, U.S. Carpet John Yuill
Jürgen Fassbender
Karl Meiler
1–6, 6–3, 6–7 2. 1975 Wimbledon, London Grass Allan Stone
Vitas Gerulaitis
Sandy Mayer
5–7, 6–8, 4–6 3. 1975 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Ken Rosewall
Jürgen Fassbender
Hans-Jürgen Pohmann
4–6, 7–9, 1–6 4. 1975 Istanbul, Turkey Outdoor John Feaver
Colin Dibley
Thomaz Koch
2–6, 2–6, 2–6 5. 1976 Nuremberg, Germany Carpet Peter Kronk
Frew McMillan
Karl Meiler
6–7, 4–6 6. 1976 Barcelona, Spain Clay Peter Kronk
Wojtek Fibak
Jacek Niedzwiedzki
2–6, 3–6 7. 1976 Cologne, Germany Carpet Mike Estep
Bob Hewitt
Frew McMillan
1–6, 6–3, 6–7 8. 1977 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Bob Hewitt
Jürgen Fassbender
Karl Meiler
4–6, 6–7 9. 1977 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Chris Kachel
Buster Mottram
Roger Taylor
6–7, 4–6 10. 1978 Lagos, Nigeria Clay Jürgen Fassbender
George Hardie
Sashi Menon
3–6, 6–3, 5–7 11. 1978 Toronto, Canada Clay Heinz Günthardt
Wojtek Fibak
Tom Okker
3–6, 6–7 12. 1980 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Heinz Günthardt
Bob Hewitt
Frew McMillan
4–6, 3–6 13. 1983 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Wojtek Fibak
Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd
7–6, 4–6, 2–6 14. 1983 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Zoltan Kuharszky
Wojtek Fibak
Pavel Složil
5–7, 2–6 15. 1984 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Wojtek Fibak
Henri Leconte
Pascal Portes
6–2, 6–7, 6–7 16. 1984 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Jakob Hlasek
Peter Doohan
Brian Levine
3–6, 4–6 17. 1986 Nice, France Clay Gary Donnelly
Jakob Hlasek
Pavel Složil
3–6, 6–4, 9–11 Davis Cup
Dowdeswell participated in one Davis Cup tie for Rhodesia in 1976, posting a 2–0 record in singles and an 0–1 record in doubles. He participated in six Davis Cup ties for the Great Britain from 1984 to 1986, posting an 0–2 record in singles and a 5–1 record in doubles.
Life outside of tennis
Dowdeswell completed his tennis career in 1986 and began a successful career in Financial Services and Private Banking with Merrill Lynch.[2] Married with three children,[2] he currently resides in Monaco[citation needed]. He has also resided in Wimbledon.[1]
References
- ^ a b "ITF Men's Circuit Biography of Colin Dowdeswell". ITF Tennis. http://www.itftennis.com/mens/players/player.asp?player=10002233. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ a b c d "ATP.com Colin Dowdeswell profile". ATP.com. http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Do/C/Colin-Dowdeswell.aspx. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ "1975 Wimbledon Men's Doubles drawsheet". ATP.com. http://www.atpworldtour.com/Share/Event-Draws.aspx?e=540&y=1975&t=d. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
External links
Categories:- Anglo-African people
- British emigrants to Rhodesia
- British male tennis players
- British people of Zimbabwean descent
- English expatriates in Monaco
- English tennis players
- People from Wimbledon, London
- Rhodesian male tennis players
- Sportspeople from London
- Swiss male tennis players
- Swiss people of English descent
- Zimbabwean male tennis players
- Zimbabwean people of English descent
- 1955 births
- Living people
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