John Sheldon Olliff (1 December 1908 – 29 June 1951) was an English

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, author and sportsjournalist.

Life

Olliff took part in the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

from 1928. In singles, he advanced to the fourth round several times until 1939. In doubles, he reached the semifinals with his partner

Ronnie Shayes Ronald Alfred Shayes (12 September 1912 – 17 December 1940) was a British tennis player. A native of London, Shayes got his first introduction to tennis at the Garden Lawn Tennis Club in West Wickham and was active on tour during the 1930s. He ...

where they lost to

Harold Hare Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

and Frank Wilde. At the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

Olliff reached the fourth round in 1932. He also played at the US Championships in 1929 and 1930, and advanced to the quarterfinals in the last year. Olliff won twenty four tournaments in his career as a tennis player such as: the

Northern Lawn Tennis Championships Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

(1928, 1929, 1931), the

Irish Championships Irish Open may refer to: *Irish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the European Tour **Irish Senior Open, a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour **Ladies Irish Open, a golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour * Irish Open (darts), annual ...

(1930), the

Queen's Club Championships The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) T ...

(1931) and the Surrey Grass Court Championships (1938). In addition he won single titles at the Westgate-on-Sea Tournament (1938) on hard asphalt. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he played a match for the British Davis Cup team in the first round against France in 1946. Along with

Henry Billington Henry Billington (12 November 1908 – 29 November 1980) was a British amateur tennis player, and the maternal grandfather of Tim Henman Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman pl ...

, he lost against

Marcel Bernard Marcel Bernard (; 18 May 1914 – 29 April 1994) was a French tennis player. He is best remembered for having won the French Championships in 1946 (reaching the semifinals a further three times). Bernard initially intended to play only in the dou ...

and

Bernard Destremau Bernard Destremau (; 11 February 1917 – 6 June 2002) was a French tennis player, tank officer, diplomat and politician. Biography Born in Paris into a military family, the third son of a WW I cavalry general, his success in accommodating comp ...

. After his active career, he took a job as a sportsjournalist at the

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

and succeeded A. Wallis Myers as tennis correspondent. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on the way to a match at Wimbledon on 29 June 1951. His successor at the Telegraph became

Lance Tingay Lance Tingay (15 July 1915 – 10 March 1990) was a British sports journalist, historian, and author of several tennis books. For many years his annual ranking of top tennis players was "the only one that counted" before ATP rankings were introduc ...

Bibliography

* ''The Groundwork of Lawn Tennis.'' Methuen & Co., London 1934. * ''Olliff on Tennis.'' Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1948. * ''The Romance of Wimbledon.'' London 1949. * ''Lawn Tennis.'' Pitman & Sons, London 1950. * ''Lawn Tennis for Beginners.'' W. & G. Foyle, London 1951.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olliff, John 1908 births 1951 deaths British sports journalists Tennis writers English male tennis players Tennis people from Greater London British male tennis players