Dan Maskell

Daniel "Dan" Maskell (11 April 1908 - 10 December 1992) was an English tennis player, who later became even better known as a radio and television commentator on the game, and was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis".

Maskell was born in Fulham, London, England, was British tennis champion sixteen times, and was coach of the winning British Davis Cup team of 1933. He began commentating after his Second World War service.

The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust was founded in 1977. Its aims are to raise money to help disabled people to play tennis in three main areas: wheelchair tennis, deaf tennis and tennis for people with learning disabilities.

Commentating career

Maskell began commentating on the Wimbledon Championships in 1949 for BBC Radio before switching to television in 1951. He would remain as the "voice of tennis" on the BBC until his retirement in 1991. The last match he commentated on before retiring was the 1991 Wimbledon Men's Singles final between Michael Stich and Boris Becker (which Stich won).

When commenting on a particularly exciting piece of play or an outstanding shot, he sometimes used his most remembered and revered catchphrase "Oh, I say!".^[1]

Quotations from Dan Maskell's commentaries

• "And here's Zivojinovic, six foot six inches tall and fourteen pounds ten ounces."
• "Lendl has remained throughout as calm as the proverbial iceberg."
• "The Gullikson twins here. An interesting pair, both from Wisconsin."
• "YES SHE'S GOT IT!"

References

1. ^ "Where were the Germans...?" timesonline.co.uk top 25 commentary moments

External links

• Anyone for Tennis Loughborough University Archives
• International Tennis Hall of Fame

Persondata
Name	Maskell, Dan
Alternative names
Short description	Tennis player and commentator
Date of birth	11 April 1908
Place of birth
Date of death	10 December 1992
Place of death