Country (sports) | United Kingdom |
---|---|
Residence | Southampton, England |
Born |
Southampton, England |
5 January 1970
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Turned pro | 1989 |
Retired | 1999 |
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $2.4 million |
Singles | |
Career record | 28–52 |
Career titles | 0 3 Challengers |
Highest ranking | No. 114 (13 September 1993) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (1994) |
French Open | Q1 (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) |
Wimbledon | 3R (1993, 1994, 1995, 1998) |
US Open | Q2 (1996) |
Other tournaments | |
Olympic Games | 1R (1992) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 19–38 |
Career titles | 0 |
Highest ranking | No. 86 (16 February 1998) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (1998) |
French Open | 2R (1998) |
Wimbledon | QF (1993) |
Christopher "Chris" Wilkinson (born 5 January 1970) is a former tennis player from England.
Born and bred in Southampton, Chris Wilkinson has achieved much in the world of tennis. But it could have been very different as his first passion was football in which he excelled for Southampton and had trials for Aston Villa and Coventry. Wilkinson started his winning ways with tennis tournament success as a 10-year-old junior. From there Wilkinson went on to win National and Overseas tournaments and represented Great Britain in the World Championships at all junior age groups.
On the main Tour Wilkinson played some of his best Tennis at Wimbledon where he reached the 3rd round in Singles on 4 occasions and made the quarter finals of Doubles. Wilkinson had the privilege of playing on Centre and No. 1 court on many Occasions. He will probably be best remembered for his Centre Court Battle in 1993 against Stefan Edberg in which he broke the Champions serve no less than 7 times before faltering on his own and succumbing to defeat in 3 close sets. His best win was over Goran Ivanisevic in 1993 at Queens. Wilkinson has recorded many notable wins over several top 20 world ranked players. Wimbledon continues to be a special place for the Former British No. 1 and regularly gets invited to compete in the Gentlemans senior invitational event.
In 1993 Wilkinson achieved his ambition of becoming British No. 1 singles player. He has represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, European Cup and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Wilkinson retired from the main tour in 1999 but kept up his competitive play in the following years and in 2005 became the British and World over 35 champion.
Wilkinson is still very much involved with the sport and is currently working with the LTA as a National Performance Coach/captain for the 12- to 16-year-old boys.
Wilkinson also remains very busy in the media world which includes TV commentating for Eurosport, ATP media and ITV4, and also has a regular column with ESPN
As for playing tennis, Wilkinson is regularly invited to exhibition events where he often plays with some of the all-time greats of the tennis world
Wilkinson currently resides on the south coast in Hampshire and is married to Amanda with his 2 children Alice and Emily.
In 1984 he featured in a advert shown in England and Ireland for Bisto gravy.