Bryan Roe (born 20 August 1969) is an Australian

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. Roe, a left-handed Queenslander who played a serve and volley game, was an

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

junior doubles runner-up in 1987, partnering Shane Barr. His tennis career is most noted for his main draw appearance at the

1988 Australian Open The 1988 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 76th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 11 through 24 January 1988 and was the first ...

, where on grand slam debut he faced

Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl (; born March 7, 1960) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player and coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis ...

on centre court in what was the tournament's first night session at the new Flinders Park venue. Roe was competitive against the top seeded Czechoslovakian and held a set point during the second set. Following his appearance at the 1988 Australian Open he suffered from a series of illnesses which brought an early end to his tennis career. Immediately after the tournament he was admitted to hospital with a burst appendix and peritonitis. A bowel condition then kept his out of tennis for a year and most seriously, in 1989, he was diagnosed with

Guillain–Barré syndrome Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rapid-onset Paralysis, muscle weakness caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system. Typically, both sides of the body are involved, and the initial symptoms are changes in sensation ...

. Ordained to the priesthood in 2010, Roe is the parish priest for St Benedicts' in

North Lakes, Queensland North Lakes is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. In the , North Lakes had a population of 23,030 people. Geography The suburb is mostly made up of newly developed housing original ...

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roe, Bryan 1969 births Living people Australian male tennis players Tennis players from Queensland Australian Roman Catholic priests Sportsmen from Queensland 20th-century Australian sportsmen