Cliff Drysdale

Cliff Drysdale
	Drysdale at the 1966 Davis Cup in the Netherlands
Full name	Eric Clifford Drysdale
Country (sports)	South Africa
Residence	Miami, Florida, United States
Born	26 May 1941 (age 83); Nelspruit, South Africa
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1968 (amateur tour from 1962)
Retired	1980
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	2013 (member page)
Official website	www.cliffdrysdale.com
Singles
Career record	308–186 (62.34%)
Career titles	5 (Open era)
Highest ranking	No. 4 (1965, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1971)
French Open	SF (1965, 1966)
Wimbledon	SF (1965, 1966)
US Open	F (1965)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals	QF (1971, 1972, 1977)
Doubles
Career record	189–160 (54.15%)
Career titles	6
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1971)
French Open	3R (1973)
Wimbledon	SF (1974, 1977)
US Open	W (1972)

Eric Clifford 'Cliff' Drysdale (born 26 May 1941, Nelspruit, South Africa) is a former top-ranked professional tennis player of the 1960s and early 1970s who became a well-known tennis announcer. 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.^[2] 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.^[1]^[3]

Drysdale 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 U.S. Open doubles crown with Roger Taylor.^[4] 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. Today, he serves as a tennis commentator on ESPN.^[3] He is the founder of Cliff Drysdale Tennis (along with partner Don Henderson) which specializes in resort, hotel, and club tennis management.^[5]

In 1998 Drysdale won the William M. Johnston Award for contribution to men’s tennis, given by the USTA.^[6] In 2013 Drysdale was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.^[7]

Grand Slam finals

Singles

Runner-up (1)

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

Doubles

Title (1)

Year	Championship	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in final	Score
1972	US Open	Grass	Roger Taylor	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	6–4, 7–6^(7–3), 6–3

Grand Prix Championship Series singles finals

Runner-up (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1971	Boston WCT	Ken Rosewall	4–6, 3–6, 0–6
1972	Las Vegas	John Newcombe	3–6, 4–6

Open Era titles

No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
1.	22 July 1968	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Tom Okker	6–3, 6–3, 6–0
2.	5 April 1971	Miami WCT, U. S.	Hard	Rod Laver	6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
3.	24 May 1971	Brussels, Belgium	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–0, 6–1, 7–5
4.	4 March 1974	Miami WCT (2)	Hard	Tom Gorman	6–4, 7–5
5.	23 January 1978	Baltimore, U. S.	Carpet	Tom Gorman	7–5, 6–3

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b "Gear Talk: Q&A with Cliff Drysdale". Tennis.com.
^ 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.
^ http://cliffdrysdale.com/
^ "The William M. Johnston Award". USTA.
^ "Hingis elected to International Tennis Hall of Fame". ITF Tennis. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.