Jump to content

Wilberforce Eaves

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 80.227.192.22 (talk) at 18:11, 13 September 2016 (Biography: Dates were wrong ammended). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Wilberforce Eaves
MBE
Full nameWilberforce Vaughan Eaves
Country (sports)Great Britain
Born(1867-12-10)10 December 1867
Melbourne, NSW, Australia
Died10 February 1920(1920-02-10) (aged 52)
London, England
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1897, Karoly Mazak)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
WimbledonF (1895AC, 1896AC, 1897AC)
US OpenF (1897Ch)
Medal record
Representing  United Kingdom
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1908 London Singles

Dr. Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves MBE (10 December 1867 – 10 February 1920) was a former co-World No. 1 male tennis player from the United Kingdom. At the 1908 London Olympics he won a bronze medal in the Men's Singles tournament.[2]

Biography

He reached the Men's Singles All-Comers' final at the Wimbledon Championships in 1895 and lost against Wilfred Baddeley despite having had a matchpoint in the third set. In 1897 he became the first non-American to reach the final in the US National Singles Championships. He lost the final in five sets to American Robert Wrenn.[3]

Eaves won the Welsh Championships in 1895 the Irish Championships in 1897, and the Scottish Championships in 1901. He won the British Covered Court Championships, played at Queen's Club in London, in 1897, 1898 and 1899.[4]

He served as a civil surgeon in the Boer War, and took a temporary commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps in the first week of World War I, on 10 August 1914, being promoted to Captain after a year's service.[5]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1897 U.S. Championships Grass United States Robert Wrenn 6–4, 6–8, 3–6, 6–2, 2–6

See also

References

  1. ^ Mazak, Karoly (2010). The Concise History of Tennis, p. 25.
  2. ^ "Wilberforce Eaves Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  3. ^ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 415, 455, 688. ISBN 978-0942257700.
  4. ^ "Obituary" (PDF). British Medical Journal. 21 February 1920. p. 276. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Commemorative Roll - Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 3 June 2012.