Cliff Drysdale

Cliff Drysdale

Drysdale in 2009
Full name	Eric Clifford Drysdale
Country (sports)	South Africa
Residence	Austin, Texas, United States [1]
Born	(1941-05-26) 26 May 1941 (age 84) Nelspruit, South Africa
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1968 (amateur from 1962)
Retired	1980
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	2013 (member page)
Official website	www.cliffdrysdale.com
Singles
Career record	685–345 (66.5%) in pre Open-Era & Open Era [2]
Career titles	23 [3]
Highest ranking	No. 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 record	189–160 (54.15%)
Career titles	6
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

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 commentator.

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. He commentated on his last match for ESPN at the US Open on September 4, 2025, calling the semi-final match between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula. ESPN gave him a nice send-off. ^[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)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1965	U.S. Championships	Grass	Manuel Santana	2–6, 9–7, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1972	US Open	Grass	Roger Taylor	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–3

Grand Prix Championship Series finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1971	Boston WCT	Hard	Ken Rosewall	4–6, 3–6, 0–6
Loss	1972	Las Vegas	Hard	John Newcombe	3–6, 4–6

Open Era finals

Singles (5 titles)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	Jul 1968	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Tom Okker	6–3, 6–3, 6–0
Win	2.	Apr 1971	Miami WCT, U. S.	Hard	Rod Laver	6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win	3.	May 1971	Brussels, Belgium	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–0, 6–1, 7–5
Win	4.	Mar 1974	Miami WCT (2)	Hard	Tom Gorman	6–4, 7–5
Win	5.	Jan 1978	Baltimore, U. S.	Carpet (i)	Tom Gorman	7–5, 6–3

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(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.

Tournament	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1
French Open	1R	2R	QF	SF	SF	A	A	1R	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A		A	A	A	0 / 7
Wimbledon	1R	1R	2R	SF	SF	4R	3R	QF	3R	1R	A	A	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	A	A	0 / 14
Strike rate	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2		0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 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. 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.

External links

• Cliff Drysdale at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Cliff Drysdale at the International Tennis Federation
• Cliff Drysdale at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Cliff Drysdale at IMDb
• Biography and images of Cliff on the Cliff Drysdale site
• Red Ledges Cliff Drysdale Tennis Academy in Utah
• ESPN's Cliff Drysdale to emcee "Legends Ball"
• Cliff Drysdale ESPN Bio