Barry Cowan (tennis)
| Country (sports) |
 United Kingdom
|
|---|---|
| Residence | Lathom, England |
| Born |
25 August 1974 Southport, England |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Turned pro | 1991 |
| Retired | 2002 |
| Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Coach(es) | David Sammel |
| Prize money | $315,856 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 5–21 (at ATP Tour and Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 1 Challenger, 0 Futures |
| Highest ranking | No. 162 (11 September 2000) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | Q2 (1999, 2000) |
| French Open | Q1 (1994, 2000, 2001, 2002) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2001, 2002) |
| US Open | 1R (2000) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 11-26 (at ATP Tour and Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 136 (9 August 1999) |
Barry Cowan (born 25 August 1974) is a British former tennis player, best known for taking Pete Sampras to five sets at Wimbledon in 2001.
Born in Southport, Merseyside, Cowan attended the LTA Rover School at Bisham Abbey. He was also a member of Aughton Tennis Club.
A left-hander, Cowan was a versatile sportsman in his junior years; aside from tennis, Barry represented the North of England at under-15 level hockey and is also a member of Ormskirk Golf Club. After success in junior tournaments, Cowan first competed at the All England Club in 1994 as a wild card, losing in the first round to that year's French Open champion Sergi Bruguera in four sets.
Cowan was only to appear regularly in Grand Slams as a Wimbledon wild card. However he was successful in qualifying for the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows in 2000, though he lost in straight sets to Jens Knippschild. Cowan later represented Britain at the Sydney Olympics taking the first set but eventually losing to Daniel Nestor in round one.
In 2001, Cowan once again gained a wild card entry into Wimbledon, and won his first ever SW19 singles match in a battle of Britain against Mark Hilton in straight sets, setting up a dream second round match against Sampras, undefeated at Wimbledon since 1996, the match was the epitome of a David & Goliath, with there being 264 places between the two in the World Rankings.
As expected Sampras dominated the first two sets on Court 1, leading 6–3, 6–2 before Cowan came back against all expectations, taking an epic third set tie break. During breaks in play, Cowan would listen to music, notably You'll Never Walk Alone, which can be heard at Anfield home of his team Liverpool FC. Before the match he had sought advice from a top sports psychologist to help prepare himself for the daunting task of facing the world number one.[1]
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