Clifford Sproule (23 May 1905 – 24 April 1981) was an Australian

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 and administrator. As a player he reached the semifinals of 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 ...

singles. Sproule played

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 ...

, then was a manager of the Australian team and later still a referee. He was also President of the New South Wales Tennis Association. In 1976 he was awarded the OBE for services to tennis. Making his debut in the Australian men's singles, Sproule lost in the opening round in 1926 to

Garton Hone Garton Maxwell "Gar" Hone (21February 190128May 1991) was an Australian medical practitioner noted as a tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s who also played first-class cricket for South Australia. Career Born in Morphett Vale, South Australia ...

. He lost in the second round in 1928 to

Jean Borotra Jean Laurent Robert Borotra (, ; 13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was a French tennis champion. He was one of the " Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Borotra was imprisoned in Itter Castle ...

. He reached the quarter-finals in 1930 and 1931 (losing both to Jack Crawford). In 1932 Sproule beat Don Turnbull and

James Willard Arthur James Willard (22 April 1893 – 10 June 1968), better known as ''Jim Willard'', was an Australian tennis player. Tennis career Willard won two mixed doubles titles alongside Daphne Akhurst at the Australasian Championships, the futu ...

before losing in the semi-finals to Crawford. At Wimbledon he lost in the second round on the three occasions he competed in the singles in 1932, 1936 and 1937.

References

1905 births 1981 deaths Australian male tennis players Tennis players from New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{Australia-tennis-bio-stub