Herbert Roper Barrett, KC (24 November 1873 – 27 July 1943) was a

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from Great Britain.

Biography

Barrett was born on 24 November 1873 in Upton,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. At the London Olympics in 1908 Barrett won a gold medal in the men's indoor doubles event with Arthur Gore. They also won the doubles in Wimbledon in 1909. In 1912 and 1913 he won the Wimbledon doubles title with Charles Dixon. He played his first Wimbledon singles' competition in 1898, reaching the second round in which he lost to eventual finalist

Laurence Doherty Hugh Laurence "Laurie" Doherty (8 October 1875 – 21 August 1919) was a British tennis player and the younger brother of tennis player Reginald Doherty. He was a six-time Grand Slam champion and a double Olympic Gold medalist at the 1900 Sum ...

. In 1908 he reached the All comers final, beating

Anthony Wilding Anthony Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915), also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wildin ...

and Major Ritchie before losing in five sets to Arthur Gore. In 1909 he beat

James Cecil Parke James Cecil Parke (26 July 1881 – 27 February 1946) was an Irish rugby union player, tennis player, golfer, solicitor and World War I veteran. He became an Olympic silver medallist, Davis Cup champion, Wimbledon Mixed Doubles winner and A ...

and Friedrich Rahe before losing to Ritchie in the all comers final. He achieved his best Wimbledon singles result in 1911 when he beat Parke and

Gordon Lowe Sir Francis Gordon Lowe, 2nd Baronet (21 June 1884 – 17 May 1972) was a British male tennis player. Lowe is best remembered for winning the Australasian Championships in 1915 (where he beat champion Horace Rice in the final). and for winni ...

before winning the All-Comers final against compatriot Charles P. Dixon. In the Challenge Round against

from New Zealand, Roper Barrett had to retire at the start of the fifth set. Over the following years he would make regular appearances at Wimbledon until his final participation in 1921. He participated in the first Davis Cup in 1900 and was the non-playing captain of the winning British Davis Cup team in 1933. His most successful tournament wins were at the Suffolk Championships at

Saxmundham Saxmundham ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England, set in the valley of the River Fromus about north-east of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed by the main A12 road between London and Lowestoft. The town is ser ...

which he won 17 times between 1898 and 1921, he reached 18 finals there and won the tournament 14 consecutive times between 1904 and 1921 all three values are all-time records at a single tournament. He won the Essex Championships 13 times (1897-1898, 1899, 1901, 1906, 1908, 1910, 1912), and also won the East of England Championships 6 times (1897-1899, 1901-1902, 1910). He died on 27 July 1943.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runner-ups)

Doubles (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

References

External links

* * * * *
Olympics.org medals overview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Herbert 1873 births 1943 deaths 19th-century male tennis players English King's Counsel English lawyers English male tennis players English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic tennis players of Great Britain People from West Ham Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1912 Summer Olympics Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Olympic medalists in tennis Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics British male tennis players Tennis people from Greater London