Ian Sinclair Crookenden (born 10 December 1943) is a 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 from New Zealand. Crookenden currently serves as the Head Men's and Women's Coach at

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

. He is a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

Biography

Crookenden first represented the New Zealand Davis Cup team in 1962, for a tie against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in Copenhagen. It came soon after he had finished runner-up to

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the World number 1 ranked male tennis players, world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, ...

at the 1962

British Hard Court Championships The British Hard Court Championships was a Grand Prix tennis and WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament, played in the Open Era from 1968 to 1983 and again (albeit not named as such) from 1995 to 1999. History As an amateur tournament, the inaug ...

in Bournemouth. He also competed at the

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 ...

and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

that year, making the third round of the latter. In 1963 he won the Newport Casino Invitational and also finished runner-up in the

All England Plate The All England Plate, also referred to as the Wimbledon Plate, was a tennis competition held at the Wimbledon Championships which consisted of players who were defeated in the first or second rounds of the Tennis singles, singles competition. The ...

. He played collegiate tennis in the United States for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

from 1963 to 1967 and won two

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

doubles titles. In 1965, his third year, he was a member of the championship winning team. He also partnered

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 ...

to win the NCAA doubles title, then in 1966 claimed the doubles again, to become the second UCLA player to achieve this feat. On this occasion he teamed up with

Charlie Pasarell Charles Manuel Pasarell Jr. (born February 12, 1944) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican-American former tennis player, tennis administrator and founder of the current Indian Wells Open, Indian Wells tournament. He has also commented for the Tennis ...

. His final year in 1967 was served as captain and he steered UCLA to second place in the championships. He earned

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n selection in each of his last three seasons. During his time at UCLA he continued to represent the New Zealand Davis Cup team in international competition. He made his last Davis Cup appearance in the 1965 competition and finished with a 4/9 record from five ties. Crookenden reached the fourth round of the 1966 U.S. National Championships, which was the furthest he went in singles at a Grand Slam tournament. He did however make the semi-finals in men's doubles with countryman Lew Gerrard at the 1964 Wimbledon Championships. He continued competing professionally in the 1970s in both singles and doubles events. His best singles performances were semi-final appearances at Grand Prix tournaments in the Omaha Open and Calgary Indoor in 1974. He also won a set against world number one

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 2 ...

when they met in a

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quarter-final that year. In doubles he won one Grand Prix title, at Hampton in 1975, with Ian Fletcher. A coaching pro for many years, Crookenden joined

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

in 1984 as the head men's tennis coach and indoor tennis club director, a role he held for 12 years. From 1997 to 2008 he served as director of tennis at the

Philadelphia Cricket Club The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854 in southeastern Pennsylvania, is the oldest country club in the United States. Its two locations are in Chestnut Hill and Flourtown, north-northwest of downtown Philadelphia. History Founde ...

. He returned to collegiate tennis in 2008 when he was appointed head coach of the tennis programs at

Grand Prix career finals

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crookenden, Ian 1943 births Living people New Zealand male tennis players New Zealand tennis coaches New Zealand emigrants to the United States UCLA Bruins men's tennis players New Zealand expatriate tennis players in the United States Sportspeople from Lower Hutt Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's tennis coaches Saint Joseph's Hawks men's tennis coaches 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen

Biography

Grand Prix career finals

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

See also

References

External links