William Bowrey (born 25 December 1943) is a former Australian tennis player. He was ranked world No. 8 in 1967. Bowrey was born in Sydney, Australia and is best remembered as the last amateur to win the

Australian Championships The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held be ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

before the tournament opened itself to professional tennis players in 1969.

Biography

Bowrey reached the quarterfinal of the Australian (international amateur) Championships in 1965 (losing to

John Newcombe John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles. Newcombe won a combined 26 major titles: seven in singles, a former ...

), 1966 (losing to

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. All of his singles Grand Slam victories and 14 of his ...

) and 1967 (losing to Emerson) and the US Open quarters in 1966 (losing to

Manuel Santana Manuel Santana Martínez (10 May 1938 – 11 December 2021), also known as Manolo Santana, was a Spanish tennis player. He was ranked as amateur world No. 1 in 1965 by Ned Potter and in 1966 by Lance TingayPhil Dent Philip Clive Dent (born 14 February 1950) is a former professional tennis player. Dent's high water mark as a pro singles player was reaching the Australian Open final in 1974, which he lost to Jimmy Connors in four sets. Dent was also the men ...

Dick Crealy Richard Crealy (born 18 September 1944) is an Australian former tennis player most notable for reaching the final of the Australian Open in 1970, being a member of the 1970 Australian Davis Cup Team, and winning four Grand Slam titles in dou ...

, and

Tony Roche Anthony Dalton Roche Order of Australia, AO Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 May 1945) is an Australian former professional tennis player. A native of Tarcutta, Roche played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga ...

in the final. He won the 1967 Newport Casino Invitational title defeating Ray Moore, Tom Gorman, and

Owen Davidson Owen Keir Davidson (4 October 1943 – 12 May 2023) was an Australian professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s. Alongside Billie Jean King, Davidson won eight grand slam mixed doubles titles. In 1967 he won a calendar year slam for m ...

in the final. At the 1967 US Open doubles, Bowrey and partner

lost the final to Newcombe and Roche in four sets. Bowrey was ranked world No. 8 in 1967 by the ''New York Times''. At the end of 1967, Newcombe and Roche had signed professional contracts. Emerson, Santana and other European stars decided not to play in the 1968 Australian Championships (Emerson would turn pro on April 1, 1968), and

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

Ashe, Clark Graebner,

Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles champion (at the 1971 US Open and 1972 Wimbledon Championships), Smith also paired with Bob Lutz t ...

and

Cliff Richey George Clifford Richey Jr. (born December 31, 1946) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Richey achieved a highest singles ranking of World No. 6 and reached at least the quarter ...

did not make the trip to Melbourne for the Australian Championships.

Manuel Orantes Manuel Orantes Corral (; born 6 February 1949) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He won 36 career singles titles, including the 1975 US Open, defeating defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final. Orantes reached a career-high ...

and

Juan Gisbert Juan Gisbert Sr. (born 5 April 1942) is a retired Spanish professional tennis player from the 1960s and 1970s. He was ranked world No. 14 in 1967. He was active from 1956 to 1976 and won 14 career singles titles. He won one ATP singles title ( ...

, who had played with Santana on the Spanish Davis Cup team in the Davis Cup Challenge Round in Australia at the end of 1967, decided to stay on and play at Melbourne. This reduced the quality of the field lined up for the 1968 Australian championships, which were held at Melbourne's historic

Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club Kooyong Stadium, at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, is an Australian tennis venue, located in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak, adjacent to the namesake suburb of Kooyong. The stadium was built in 1927, and has undergone several renovations. It ...

. Bowrey was the top seed. He defeated Mike Belkin in the quarterfinal and

Barry Phillips-Moore Barry Phillips-Moore (9 June 1938 – 29 June 2023) was an Australian tennis player of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In singles, Phillips-Moore twice reached the semifinals of the Australian Championships, in 1961 and 1968. In doubles, he ...

in the semi-final. In the final Bowrey met Gisbert, ranked world No. 14, winning in four sets. A month after his Australian triumph Bowrey married the Australian women's player Lesley Turner, herself also a major champion, winner of the 1963

French Championships The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...

. The game went open in April that year and in May Bowrey won the Atlanta Invitation defeating Ron Holmberg in the final. At the first Open Wimbledon Bowrey lost in the second round to

Andrés Gimeno Andrés Gimeno Tolaguera (3 August 1937 – 9 October 2019) was a Spanish tennis player. His greatest achievement came in 1972, when he won the French Open and became the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the Open era at 34 years of age. ...

. Defending his Australian title the following year Bowrey defeated

Pancho Gonzales Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 Professi ...

in the third round to reach the quarterfinals where he lost a two sets to love lead against

Ray Ruffels Raymond Owen "Ray" Ruffels (born 23 March 1946) is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. Playing career Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1968, 1969 and 1976, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978, ...

. Bowrey represented Australia in two

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

rounds, the first against the U.S. in the World Group Final in December 1968, where he lost to Clark Graebner in five sets and defeated

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...

in four sets. The second in the North & Central America draw in

May 1969 The following events occurred in May 1969: May 1, 1969 (Thursday) *James Chichester-Clark became the new Prime Minister of Northern Ireland by being elected the new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party in voting by the 33 members of the Par ...

versus Mexico, where he won against Joaquín Loyo-Mayo and lost to

Rafael Osuna Rafael Osuna Herrera (15 September 1938 – 4 June 1969), nicknamed "El Pelón" (The Bald), was a former world No. 1 tennis player, and an Olympian. He was born in Mexico City, and is best remembered for his singles victory at the U.S. Open C ...

. Bowrey was also involved in one of the longest matches in tennis history at Wimbledon in 1970 against Patricio Cornejo that consumed nearly four hours and took 84 games. In January 1970 Bowrey turned professional which meant he was no longer eligible to play in the Davis Cup. Later that year Bowrey with partner

Marty Riessen Marty Riessen (born December 4, 1941) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player active from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was ranked as high as No. 11 in the world in singles on the ATP rankings in September 1974, though was rank ...

won the Rogers Cup (formerly Canadian Open) in two sets against

Fred Stolle Frederick Sydney Stolle, Order of Australia, AO (8 October 1938 – 5 March 2025) was an Australian amateur world No. 1 tennis player and commentator. He was born in Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. He was the father of former Australian Da ...

and

Cliff Drysdale 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. Life and career Born Eric Clifford 'Cliff' Dry ...

. He also won the Rome ATP World Tour Masters – Doubles that year with

. Bowrey had married fellow tennis professional Lesley Turner in 1968 and went into semi-retirement in 1972 at the age of just 28, becoming a coach. After their playing careers were over, Bowrey and his wife Lesley became the lead match-play commentators at Wimbledon on the All-England Club's radio station and Internet Web site "Radio Wimbledon." In February 1974, Bowrey won the New South Wales Hardcourt Championships, defeating

Mark Edmondson Mark Edmondson (born 28 June 1954 in Gosford, New South Wales) is a retired Australian professional tennis player. Edmondson won the 1976 Australian Open while ranked 212th in the world, and remains the lowest-ranked winner of a Grand Slam ...

in the semi-final and Stolle in the final in a close match.NSW Hardcourt Association. https://hardcourt.com.au/content.php?page=nursery_aus_tennis

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title)

Doubles (3 runners-up)

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowery, William 1943 births Living people Australian Championships (tennis) champions Australian male tennis players Tennis players from Sydney Tennis players from Victoria (state) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles Australian Championships (tennis) junior champions 20th-century Australian sportsmen Sportsmen from Victoria (state)