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Anthony Wilding

Anthony Wilding
Anthony wilding, ca 1912.jpg
Wilding c. 1912
Full name Anthony Frederick Wilding
Country (sports)  New Zealand
Born (1883-10-31)31 October 1883
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died 9 May 1915(1915-05-09) (aged 31)
Neuve-Chapelle, France
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Plays Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF 1978 (member page)
Singles
Career titles 118
Highest ranking No. 1 (1911, Karoly Mazak)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open W (1906, 1909)
Wimbledon W (1910, 1911, 1912, 1913)
Other tournaments
WHCC W (1913, 1914)
WCCC W (1913)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (1906)
Wimbledon W (1907, 1908, 1910, 1914)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon F (1914)
Team competitions
Davis Cup W (1907, 1908, 1909, 1914)

Anthony "Tony" Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915) was a former world No. 1 tennis player from Christchurch, New Zealand, and a soldier killed in action during World War I. Wilding was the son of wealthy English immigrants to New Zealand and enjoyed the use of private tennis courts at their home. He obtained a legal education at Trinity College, Cambridge and briefly joined his father's law firm. Wilding was a first-class cricketer and a keen motorcycle enthusiast. His tennis career started with him winning the Canterbury Championships aged 17. He developed into a leading tennis player in the world during 1909–1914 and is considered to be a former world No. 1. He won 11 Grand Slam tournament titles, six in singles and five in doubles, and is the first and to date only player from New Zealand to have won a Grand Slam singles title. He also won three ILTF World Championships; the World Hard Court Championships twice and the World Covered Court Championships once.

Wilding won the Davis Cup four times playing for Australasia, and won a bronze medal at the indoor singles tennis event of the 1912 Olympics which made him the first and to date only player from New Zealand to win an Olympic medal in tennis in the Summer Olympics. He still holds a number of all time singles tennis records, namely 75 career clay court titles (1900–15), 23 titles won in a single season (1906) and 114 career outdoor titles (shared with Rod Laver). In his ranking list of greatest tennis players compiled in 1950, Norman Brookes, winner of three Majors and president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia, put Wilding in fourth place. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I he enlisted and was killed on 9 May 1915 during the Battle of Aubers Ridge at Neuve-Chapelle, France. In 1978 Wilding was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.


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Wikipedia

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