Wilding only player to beat himself

Press, 2 July 1983, Page 26

Wilding only player to beat himself

PA Wellington New Zealand's most successful tennis player, Anthony Wilding, is the only man to have gone down in Wimbledon’s records as having beaten him- self. Wilding, who won eight titles in his time at the top from 1906 to 1914, achieved the unique feat in the men’s doubles in 1900. The final was then decided on a challenge round basis, the previous year’s winner only having to play in the challenge round the winner of what amounted to an elimination series. In 1907, Wilding teamed with the great Australian left-hander, Norman Brookes, and won the doubles. The following year, however, he played with an Englishman, Josiah Ritchie, and, because it was a new pairing, had to go through what was known as the allcomers’ championship. When it came to the challenge round, Wilding and Ritchie could hardly challenge Wilding and Brookes,

so the win was recorded as a walkover for Wilding and Ritchie. Wilding, from Christchurch, won his first singles title in 1910 when he beat the veteran Englishman, Arthur Gore, in the challenge round. He kept the tittle for the next three years, but lost it in 1914 to his doubles and Davis Cup partner—New Zealand was then part of “Australasia”—Brookes. The same year, Wilding and Brookkes combined to win the doubles. Wilding also won a bronze medal in the covered-court singles at the 1912 Olympic Games. When the war started, Wilding was drafted into an army intelligence unit and was killed by shellfire at Ypres in 1915. The next most successful New Zealander at Wimbledon was Onny Parun, who got to the final eight in 1971 and 1972, losing to Stan Smith and Jan Kodes respectively.