Cliff Drysdale

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Cliff Drysdale
CliffDrysdale (cropped).jpg
Drysdale in 2009
Full nameEric Clifford Drysdale
Country (sports)Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Residence Austin, Texas, United States [1]
Born (1941-05-26) 26 May 1941 (age 84)
Nelspruit, South Africa
Height1.89 m (6 ft 2+12 in)
Turned pro1968 (amateur from 1962)
Retired1980
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF 2013 (member page)
Official website www.cliffdrysdale.com
Singles
Career record685–345 (66.5%) in pre Open-Era & Open Era [2]
Career titles23 [3]
Highest rankingNo. 4 (1965, Lance Tingay ) [4]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open QF (1971)
French Open SF (1965, 1966)
Wimbledon SF (1965, 1966)
US Open F (1965)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals QF (1971, 1972, 1977)
Doubles
Career record189–160 (54.15%)
Career titles6
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 1R (1971)
French Open 3R (1973)
Wimbledon SF (1974, 1977)
US Open W (1972)
Drysdale at the 1966 Davis Cup in the Netherlands Cliff Drysdale (1966).jpg
Drysdale at the 1966 Davis Cup in the Netherlands

Eric Clifford Drysdale (born 26 May 1941) is a South African former tennis player. After a career as a highly ranked professional player in the 1960s and early 1970s, he became a tennis announcer.

Contents

Life and career

Born Eric Clifford 'Cliff' Drysdale in Nelspruit (today known as Mbombela, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa) on May 26, 1941 and completed his high school at Grey High School, Port Elizabeth. [5]

Drysdale won the singles title at the Dutch Open in 1963 and 1964. In 1965, he reached the singles final of the 1965 U. S. Championships [6] and he won the singles title at the German Championships. He defeated Rod Laver in the fourth round of the first US Open in 1968. During his Open-era career, Drysdale captured five singles titles and six doubles titles, including the 1972 US Open doubles crown with Roger Taylor. [7] He was a pioneer of the two-handed backhand shot, which he used to great effect during his playing career.

Drysdale was included among the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championship Tennis group. [8] He became president of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), an association that Drysdale had formed in 1972 with Jack Kramer and Donald Dell. [4] [9]

Following retirement, Drysdale became a naturalized American citizen. He has been a tennis commentator for ESPN since the network's inception in 1979. [10] Following the retirement of Bob Ley in 2019, Drysdale became the longest serving commentator at ESPN. [11] In 1998, the USTA awarded Drysdale the William M. Johnston award for his contribution to men's tennis. [12] In 2013, he was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. [13]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (1 runner-up)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss 1965 U.S. Championships Grass Flag of Spain.svg Manuel Santana 2–6, 9–7, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: (1 title)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1972 US Open Grass Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Taylor Flag of Australia (converted).svg Owen Davidson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Newcombe
6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–3

Grand Prix Championship Series finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1971 Boston WCT Hard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ken Rosewall 4–6, 3–6, 0–6
Loss1972 Las Vegas Hard Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Newcombe 3–6, 4–6

Open Era finals

Singles (5 titles)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1.Jul 1968 Gstaad, SwitzerlandClay Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Okker 6–3, 6–3, 6–0
Win2.Apr 1971 Miami WCT, U. S.Hard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rod Laver 6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win3.May 1971 Brussels, BelgiumClay Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Ilie Năstase 6–0, 6–1, 7–5
Win4.Mar 1974Miami WCT (2)Hard Flag of the United States.svg Tom Gorman 6–4, 7–5
Win5.Jan 1978 Baltimore, U. S.Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Tom Gorman 7–5, 6–3

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament19621963196419651966196719681969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 SR
Australian Open AAAAAAAAA QF AAAAAAAAAA0 / 1
French Open 1R 2R QF SF SF AA 1R AAA 2R AAAAAAA0 / 7
Wimbledon 1R 1R 2R SF SF 4R 3R QF 3R 1R AA 3R A 2R 3R A 1R 2R 0 / 15
US Open 3R 2R 3R F 3R 2R QF 1R 2R A 4R 3R A 2R A 1R 1R AA0 / 14
Strike rate0 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 20 / 20 / 30 / 20 / 20 / 10 / 20 / 10 / 10 / 10 / 20 / 10 / 10 / 10 / 37

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

References

  1. Cliff Drysdale partners
  2. "Cliff Drysdale: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  3. "Cliff Drysdale: Career tournament results". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  4. 1 2 United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
  5. "Cliff Drysdale - ESAT". esat.sun.ac.za. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  6. Talbert, Bill (1967). Tennis Observed. Boston: Barre Publishers. p. 140. OCLC   172306.
  7. Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins history of tennis : an authoritative encyclopedia and record book (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. p. 478. ISBN   9780942257700.
  8. Wind, Herbert Warren (1979). Game, Set, and Match : The Tennis Boom of the 1960s and 70s (1. ed.). New York: Dutton. pp. 65–70. ISBN   0525111409.
  9. "Gear Talk: Q&A with Cliff Drysdale". Tennis.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  10. "Cliff Drysdale".
  11. Culpepper, Chuck (7 September 2019). "As ESPN turns 40, its longest-serving voice is still serving stories at the U.S. Open". The Washington Post . Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  12. "The William M. Johnston Award". USTA. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  13. "Hingis elected to International Tennis Hall of Fame". ITF Tennis. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.