Colin Long (3 March 1918 – 8 November 2009) 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. He had a notable mixed doubles partnership with fellow Australian Nancye Wynne Bolton. Together they won four Mixed Doubles (1940, 1946, 1947 and 1948) at the Australian Championships, which is an all-time record. In singles, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian four times (

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

and

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

) and the fourth round of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals in 1947. He was a major commentator for Channel 7 for both golf and tennis until the late 1980s.

Life outside tennis

Long was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and attended

Melbourne Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian private school, private Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Day school, day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and senior s ...

, where he was school captain in 1937. He was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the AIF in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, serving in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. He worked for

Dunlop Sport Dunlop Sport is a British sports equipment manufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses on racket (sports equipment), racquets and water sports, more specifically tennis, swimming, squash (sport), squash, padel (sport), padel and badm ...

before joining Spalding, where he became deputy chief executive. He appeared as a commentator on

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

tennis telecasts in the 1960s and 1970s and also commentated on golf up until the late 1980s alongside

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice o ...

. In 1943, he married Florence Pelling. She survived him, along with their son and daughter.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Colin 1918 births 2009 deaths Australian Championships (tennis) champions Australian male tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Tennis players from Melbourne People educated at Melbourne Grammar School Australian tennis commentators Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers Military personnel from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen