Jump to content

Colin Dowdeswell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colin Dowdeswell
Colin Dowdeswell (1983)
Country (sports)Rhodesia Rhodesia (1972–1976)
 Switzerland (1977–1981)
 United Kingdom (1982–1986)
Born (1955-05-12) 12 May 1955 (age 69)
London, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$327,277
Singles
Career record113–171
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 31 (12 December 1983)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1984)
French Open2R (1977, 1978, 1979)
Wimbledon2R (1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1986)
US Open4R (1976, 1978)
Doubles
Career record216–162
Career titles11
Highest rankingNo. 24 (24 March 1980)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (1984, 1985)
French OpenQF (1977)
WimbledonF (1975)
US OpenSF (1976)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French OpenF (1976)
WimbledonQF (1976, 1980)
US OpenSF (1984)

Colin Dowdeswell (born 12 May 1955) is a former professional tennis player who represented, at different times, Rhodesia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom,[1] and who achieved rank as UK No. 1. During his time on the world tour, he won one singles title and eleven doubles titles.[2] The highlight of his career was reaching the men's doubles final of Wimbledon.

Early life

[edit]

Dowdeswell was born in London but grew up in Rhodesia. He was educated at Prince Edward School and The University of the Witswatersrand.[3] He also received an MBA at Insead business school in 1987.

Tennis career highlights

[edit]

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 16 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 semifinals. They lost the final to another unseeded tandem, Vitas Gerulaitis and Sandy Mayer, 5–7, 6–8, 4–6.[4]

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]

Career finals

[edit]

Grand Prix and WCT finals (4)

[edit]

Singles: 4 (1 title)

[edit]
Result W–L Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 1974 Dublin, Ireland Hard United States Sherwood Stewart 3–6, 8–9
Win 1–1 1975 Istanbul, Turkey Clay United States Ferdi Taygan 6–1, 6–4, 6–2
Loss 1–2 1978 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard United States Cliff Richey 2–6, 4–6
Loss 1–3 1983 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard United States Johan Kriek 4–6, 6–4, 6–1, 5–7, 3–6

Grand Slam, Grand Prix, and WCT finals

[edit]

Doubles: 28 (11 titles)

[edit]
Result No. Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 1974 Dublin, Ireland Hard South Africa John Yuill Argentina Lito Álvarez
Venezuela Jorge Andrew
6–3, 6–2
Loss 1. 1975 Birmingham, U.S. Carpet (i) South Africa John Yuill West Germany Jürgen Fassbender
West Germany Karl Meiler
1–6, 6–3, 6–7
Loss 2. 1975 Wimbledon, London Grass Australia Allan Stone United States Vitas Gerulaitis
United States Sandy Mayer
5–7, 6–8, 4–6
Loss 3. 1975 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Australia Ken Rosewall West Germany Jürgen Fassbender
West Germany Hans-Jürgen Pohmann
4–6, 7–9, 1–6
Loss 4. 1975 Istanbul, Turkey Clay United Kingdom John Feaver Australia Colin Dibley
Brazil Thomaz Koch
2–6, 2–6, 2–6
Loss 5. 1976 Nuremberg, Germany Carpet (i) Australia Paul Kronk South Africa Frew McMillan
West Germany Karl Meiler
6–7, 4–6
Loss 6. 1976 Barcelona, Spain Clay Australia Paul Kronk Poland Wojciech Fibak
Poland Jacek Niedźwiedzki
2–6, 3–6
Loss 7. 1976 Cologne, Germany Carpet (i) United States Mike Estep South Africa Bob Hewitt
South Africa Frew McMillan
1–6, 6–3, 6–7
Loss 8. 1977 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay South Africa Bob Hewitt West Germany Jürgen Fassbender
West Germany Karl Meiler
4–6, 6–7
Loss 9. 1977 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Australia Chris Kachel United Kingdom Buster Mottram
United Kingdom Roger Taylor
6–7, 4–6
Win 2. 1978 Sarasota, U.S. Carpet Australia Geoff Masters South Africa Byron Bertram
South Africa Bernard Mitton
2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 10. 1978 Lagos, Nigeria Clay West Germany Jürgen Fassbender United States George Hardie
India Sashi Menon
3–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win 3. 1978 Berlin, Germany Clay West Germany Jürgen Fassbender Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović
Chile Hans Gildemeister
6–3, 6–4
Loss 11. 1978 Toronto, Canada Clay Switzerland Heinz Günthardt Poland Wojciech Fibak
Netherlands Tom Okker
3–6, 6–7
Win 4. 1979 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Switzerland Heinz Günthardt South Africa Raymond Moore
Romania Ilie Năstase
6–3, 7–6
Win 5. 1979 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay South Africa Frew McMillan Poland Wojciech Fibak
Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil
6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4
Loss 12. 1980 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Switzerland Heinz Günthardt South Africa Bob Hewitt
South Africa Frew McMillan
4–6, 3–6
Win 6. 1980 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Egypt Ismail El Shafei Australia Mark Edmondson
Australia Kim Warwick
6–4, 6–4
Win 7. 1980 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay South Africa Frew McMillan New Zealand Chris Lewis
South Africa John Yuill
6–3, 6–4
Loss 13. 1983 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Poland Wojciech Fibak Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil
Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd
7–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss 14. 1983 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Hungary Zoltán Kuhárszky Poland Wojciech Fibak
Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil
5–7, 2–6
Win 8. 1983 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Hungary Zoltán Kuhárszky West Germany Peter Elter
Austria Peter Feigl
6–4, 7–5
Loss 15. 1984 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Poland Wojciech Fibak France Henri Leconte
France Pascal Portes
6–2, 6–7, 6–7
Loss 16. 1984 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Switzerland Jakob Hlasek Australia Peter Doohan
South Africa Brian Levine
3–6, 4–6
Win 9. 1985 Palermo, Italy Clay Sweden Joakim Nyström Spain Sergio Casal
Spain Emilio Sánchez
6–4, 6–7, 7–6
Win 10. 1985 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard South Africa Christo van Rensburg Israel Amos Mansdorf
Israel Shahar Perkiss
3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Win 11. 1986 Milan, Italy Carpet (i) South Africa Christo Steyn South Africa Brian Levine
Australia Laurie Warder
6–3, 4–6, 6–1
Loss 17. 1986 Nice, France Clay United States Gary Donnelly Switzerland Jakob Hlasek
Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil
3–6, 6–4, 9–11

Davis Cup

[edit]

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 Great Britain from 1984 to 1986, posting an 0–2 record in singles and a 5–1 record in doubles.

Life outside tennis

[edit]

Dowdeswell completed his tennis career in 1986 and began a career in financial services and private banking with Merrill Lynch.[2] Married with three children,[2] he resides in Monaco.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "ITF Men's Circuit Biography of Colin Dowdeswell". ITF Tennis. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d "ATP.com Colin Dowdeswell profile". ATP.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  3. ^ Official website: Biography Archived 10 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 11 July 2014
  4. ^ "1975 Wimbledon Men's Doubles drawsheet". ATP.com. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
[edit]