Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves MBE (10 December 1867 – 10 February 1920) was an Australian-born

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 cov ...

player from the United Kingdom. At the 1908 London Olympics he won a bronze medal in the Men's Singles tournament.

Biography

Eaves was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Australia, son of William and Eunice Eaves of

St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local governmen ...

.Captain Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves
CWGC casualty record. He reached the Men's Singles All-Comers' final at 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 Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

in 1895 and lost against Wilfred Baddeley despite having had a match point in the third set. In 1897 he became the first non-American to reach the final in the U.S. National Singles Championships. He lost the final in five sets to American

Robert Wrenn Robert Duffield Wrenn (September 20, 1873 – November 12, 1925) was an American left-handed tennis player, four-time U.S. singles championship winner, and one of the first inductees in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Biography Wrenn w ...

. He was particularly successful on clay courts at the Dinard International Tournament in Brittany, France organized by the Dinard Lawn Tennis Club where he won that title ten times between (1894-1896) and (1902-1909). Eaves won the

Welsh Championships The Welsh Championships (Welsh: Pencampwriaethau Cymru) its original name until 1970 was also known as the Championship of Wales (1951), the Welsh Open (Welsh: Cymraeg Agored) (1947–50) the Greenshields Welsh Championships and Greenshields Wel ...

in 1895 and 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), annua ...

in 1897, defeating Wilfred Baddeley in a five-set final. He became the Scottish singles champion in 1901 and won the

British Covered Court Championships The British Covered Court Championships (BCCC) was an indoor tennis event held from 1885 through 1971 and played in London, England. The dates of the tournament fluctuated between October and March. History For its first five years the tournament ...

, played on wooden courts at

Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship r ...

in London three consecutive times from 1897 until 1899. He won against seven-time tournament champion Ernest Lewis and Wimbledon champions

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 ...

and Harold Mahony in the respective finals. Qualified as a doctor of medicine, he served as a civil surgeon in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, and took a temporary commission in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

in the first week of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, on 10 August 1914, being promoted to Captain after a year's service. He was later awarded a MBE for his services and died in London, where he is buried in

Greenwich Cemetery Greenwich Cemetery (also known as Shooters Hill Cemetery) is a cemetery in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London. It is situated on the southwestern slopes of Shooter's Hill, on the western side of the A205 South Circular, Well H ...

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaves, Wilberforce 1867 births 1920 deaths 19th-century British people 19th-century male tennis players British Army personnel of World War I British male tennis players British people of Australian descent Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic tennis players of Great Britain Royal Army Medical Corps officers Tennis players from Melbourne Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Biography

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

See also

References

External links