Patrick Spence
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Patrick Spence (11 February 1898 – 22 November 1983) was a South African
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 was born in Queenstown, South Africa. He competed mainly in Great Britain and found his form in hard court tournaments. He notably won the mixed doubles championships at
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 ...
in 1928 with Elizabeth Ryan and at the
French Open 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), Grand Slam ...
in 1931 with Betty Nuthall. He also competed at the
1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...
. He was active from 1922 to 1936 and won 14 career singles titles on grass and clay courts outdoors, as well as indoor wood courts.


Tennis career

Patrick Spence began his tennis prominence in Great Britain in 1922 when he became Scottish champion after winning the local tournament. The next year he defended his title. In 1924 he took the Middlesex Championships against compatriot Louis Raymond, with whom he also won the doubles title, but lost the mixed doubles title against him. He first became the covered courts champion at the
Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in Barons Court, West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "HSBC Championships" for spo ...
the same year by beating reigning champion Patrick Wheatley in three sets. In April 1925 he won the British Hard Court Championships over
Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...
. He also won the mixed doubles with
Evelyn Colyer Evelyn Lucy Colyer (later Munro, 16 August 1902 – 4 November 1930) was a female tennis player from Great Britain. With Joan Austin, sister of Bunny Austin, Colyer played doubles in the 1923 Wimbledon final against Suzanne Lenglen and Elizabe ...
. A week later, at the Surrey Hard Court Championships, he defeated Randolph Lycett of Australia in straight sets. At another hard court tournament in London he was defeated by Indian Sydney M. Jacob in five sets. He shared the doubles victory with Raymond and the mixed doubles with Colyer. In September he won the North London Hard Courts Championships on clay at the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club,
Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...
against Harry Lewis-Barclay. In October he successfully defended his covered courts title against Edward Higgs. That month he failed to capture the Drive Club Open Tournament title. In 1926 he was a finalist for the
Kent Championships The Kent Championships also known as the Kent All-Comers' Championships and later Kent Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts in Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, Kent, England between 1886 and 1996 and was held in the first half of ...
. In 1927 Spence reached the semi-finals of the French championships, beating Frank Hunter before losing to
René Lacoste Jean René Lacoste (; 2 July 1904 – 12 October 1996) was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis s ...
. He met Lacoste for his second British Hard Court Championships trophy but was subdued in straight sets. He also lost the doubles against the French team of Lacoste and Brugnon. The next year they had their rematch also in the final and Lacoste overcame Spence for the second time. In 1928, he was upset in the final of the Kent Championships for the second time. He also lost the Middlesex Championships to Randolph Lycett. However, he was more successful in his mixed doubles matches, including the final of the Nottingham Championships, which he won with Betty Nuthall. One of his bigger accomplishments came when he took the
1928 Wimbledon Championships The 1928 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 25 June until Saturday 7 July 1928. It was the 48th ...
mixed doubles contest with Elizabeth Ryan. In 1930, as a member of the International Tennis Club of Great Britain, he participated in the team challenge against Rot-Weiss Club of Berlin, winning all of his four matches (two singles and two doubles) and defeating high-profile players such as
Daniel Prenn Daniel Prenn (7 September 1904 – 3 September 1991) was a Russian-born German, Polish, and British tennis player. He was of Jewish origin. He was ranked the world No. 6 for 1932 by A. Wallis Myers. He was ranked world No. 8 in 1929 (Bill Tilde ...
and Heinrich Kleinschroth. Also in 1930 he lost the London Covered Courts Championships to Yoshiro Ohta, but as many times before he was triumphant in the mixed contest with his recurring partner Nuthall. In 1931, he was a runner-up for the doubles tournament of the West-England Championships with Edward Avory, losing to the Japanese pair of Jiro Satoh and Ryuki Miki. He was also runner up in the Championship of London in doubles. As in his previous years his breakthrough came in the mixed doubles competitions; first he and Betty Nuthall went for the British Hard Court Championships in April and were only eliminated in the final, while in May they won the mixed title 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 ...
(now the French Open). A couple of years later, in 1935, he reached the final of the Surrey Grass Court Championships, where he was stopped by New Zealand's Eskell D. Andrews. The importance of that particular match was the test of a new service rule implemented for the first time there, which allowed the server to swing his leg over the baseline on serve but introduced the service box. In 1936 he won the Queen's Club hard court doubles with
John Olliff John Sheldon Olliff (1 December 1908 – 29 June 1951) was an English tennis player, author and sports journalist. Life Olliff took part in the Wimbledon Championships from 1928. In singles, he advanced to the fourth round several times unti ...
. In the
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 ...
, he set a 14–7 match record (66% winning ratio) and represented
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
from 1924 to 1931.


Personal life

Patrick Spence was born 11 February 1898 in Queenstown, Cape Colony. He moved to Edinburgh after the First World War. He graduated from Edinburgh University with a doctorate in medicine. Apart from playing tennis, he was an amateur rugby player. He worked at Guy's Hospital in London and then in Richmond, London in 1930. Later with several colleagues, he was in private practice in Kingston-on-Thames as Howlett, Kemp, Carson and Spence, from which he retired in 1934. He formed a real-life couple with his 18-year-old doubles partner Betty Nuthall, with whom he won the
French Open 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), Grand Slam ...
mixed doubles tournament in 1931. He married Joy Robson, a ballerina with Sadler Wells Ballet, and had four children: Mikael, Stephen, Mandy and Charles


Playing style

British Davis Cup team member Nigel Sharpe described him as an attacking type of player. He preferred to pace the ball rather than give it a spin. He tended to go to the net, but his volley showed indecisiveness. He possessed a severe overhead shot. He had a long-swinged forehand, on which he applied a moderate topspin. His backhand was weak, and he always placed himself to receive the ball to his forehand side.


Grand Slam finals


Mixed doubles (2 titles)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Patrick South African male tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) 1898 births 1983 deaths Sportspeople from Queenstown, South Africa Tennis players from the Eastern Cape Cape Colony sportspeople Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Olympic tennis players for South Africa Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics White South African people