Jack Crawford (tennis)

For other uses, see Jack Crawford (disambiguation).
Jack Crawford
Full name John Herbert Crawford
Country (sports)  Australia
Born (1908-03-22)22 March 1908
Urangeline, Australia
Died 10 September 1991(1991-09-10) (aged 83)
Sydney, Australia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro 1926 (amateur tour)
Retired 1951
Plays Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF 1979 (member page)
Singles
Highest ranking No. 1 (1933, A. Wallis Myers)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open W (1931, 1932, 1933, 1935)
French Open W (1933)
Wimbledon W (1933)
US Open F (1933)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (1929, 1930, 1932, 1935)
French Open W (1935)
Wimbledon W (1935)
US Open F (1939)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open W (1931, 1932, 1933)
French Open W (1933)
Wimbledon W (1935)

John Herbert ("Jack") Crawford (22 March 1908 – 10 September 1991) was an Australian tennis player during the 1930s. He was the World No. 1 player for 1933, during which year he won the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon, and was runner-up at the U.S. Open.[1] He also won the Australian Open in 1931, 1932, and 1935. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979.

Early life

Crawford was born on 22 March 1908 in Urangeline, near Albury, New South Wales, the second youngest child of Jack Sr. and Lottie Crawford.[2] He had no tennis training as a child and practiced mainly by hitting against the house and school and playing his brother.[2] Crawford played his first competition match at age 12 in a mixed doubles match at the Habersfield club.[3] He won the Australian junior championships four consecutive times from 1926 to 1929 which entitled him to the permanent possession of the trophy.[4]

Career

Although he won a number of major championship titles he is perhaps best known for something he did not do – complete the tennis Grand Slam in 1933, five years before Don Budge accomplished the feat for the first time in 1938.

In 1933, Crawford won the Australian Championships, French Championships, and Wimbledon Championships, leaving him needing to win the US Championships to complete the Grand Slam.[5] An asthmatic who suffered in the muggy summer heat of Forest Hills, Crawford was leading the Englishman Fred Perry in the finals of the US Championships by two sets to one when his strength began to fade. Crawford ended up losing the match, and tennis immortality, by the final score of 3–6, 13–11, 6–4, 0–6, 1–6.

In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Crawford in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.[6]

He was also known for taking a shot of whiskey between sets if the game was tense.

Crawford was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1979 and into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1997. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1976 for his services to sport.[7]

Playing style

Jack Crawford in 1929 with flat-topped racket

Crawford was a right-handed baseline player with a game that was based more on technical skills and accuracy than on power. He was not particularly fast but had excellent anticipation and his game was described as fluent and effortless. His style was compared with Henri Cochet. Crawford played with an old-fashioned flat-topped racket and always wore long, white flannels and a long-sleeved shirt.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponents Score
Winner 1931Australian Championships Grass Australia Harry Hopman 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–1
Winner 1932Australian Championships Grass Australia Harry Hopman 4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–1
Winner 1933Australian Championships Grass United States Keith Gledhill 2–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–2
Winner 1933French Championships ClayFrance Henri Cochet 8–6, 6–1, 6–3
Winner 1933Wimbledon Championships Grass United States Ellsworth Vines 4–6, 11–9, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4
Runner-up 1933US Championships Grass United Kingdom Fred Perry3–6, 13–11, 6–4, 0–6, 1–6
Runner-up 1934 Australian Championships Grass United Kingdom Fred Perry 3–6, 5–7, 1–6
Runner-up 1934French Championships ClayGermany Gottfried von Cramm 4–6, 9–7, 6–3, 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up 1934Wimbledon Championships Grass United Kingdom Fred Perry 3–6, 0–6, 5–7
Winner 1935Australian Championships Grass United Kingdom Fred Perry 2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 1936 Australian Championships Grass Australia Adrian Quist 2–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–9
Runner-up 1940 Australian Championships Grass Australia Adrian Quist 3–6, 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1929 Australian Championships Grass Australia Harry Hopman Australia Jack Cummings
Australia Edgar Moon
6–1, 6–8, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Winner 1930 Australian Championships Grass Australia Harry Hopman Australia Tim Fitchett
Australia John Hawkes
8–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–3
Runner-up 1931 Australian Championships Grass Australia Harry Hopman Australia James Anderson
Australia Norman Brookes
2–6, 4–6, 3–6
Winner 1932 Australian Championships Grass Australia Edgar Moon Australia Harry Hopman
Australia Gerald Patterson
12–10, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Runner-up 1933 Australian Championships Grass Australia Edgar Moon United States Keith Gledhill
United States Ellsworth Vines
4–6, 8–10, 2–6
Runner-up 1934 French Championships Grass Australia Vivian McGrath France Jean Borotra
France Jacques Brugnon
9–11, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 7–9
Winner 1935 Australian Championships Grass Australia Vivian McGrath United Kingdom Patrick Hughes
United Kingdom Fred Perry
6–4, 8–6, 6–2
Winner 1935 French Championships Clay Australia Adrian Quist Australia Donald Turnbull
Australia Vivian McGrath
6–1, 6–4, 6–2
Winner 1935 Wimbledon Championships Grass Australia Adrian Quist United States Wilmer Allison
United States John Van Ryn
6–3, 5–7, 6–2, 5–7, 7–5
Runner-up 1936 Australian Championships Grass Australia Vivian McGrath Australia Adrian Quist
Australia Donald Turnbull
8–6, 2–6, 1–6, 6–3, 2–6
Runner-up 1939 US Championships Grass Australia Harry Hopman Australia Adrian Quist
Australia John Bromwich
6–8, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 1940 Australian Championships Grass Australia Vivian McGrath Australia John Bromwich
Australia Adrian Quist
3–5, 5–7, 1–6

Mixed doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1928 Wimbledon Championships Grass Australia Daphne Akhurst United States Elizabeth Ryan
South Africa Patrick Spence
5–7, 4–6
Runner-up 1929 Australian Championships Grass Australia Marjorie Cox Crawford Australia Daphne Akhurst
Australia Edgar Moon
6–0, 7–5
Runner-up 1930 Australian Championships Grass Australia Marjorie Cox Crawford Australia Nell Hall Hopman
Australia Harry Hopman
9–11, 6–3, 3–6
Winner 1930 Wimbledon Championships Grass United States Elizabeth Ryan Germany Hilde Sperling
Germany Daniel Prenn
6–1, 6–3
Winner 1931 Australian Championships Grass Australia Marjorie Cox Crawford Australia Emily Hood Westacott
Australia Aubrey Willard
7–5, 6–4
Winner 1932 Australian Championships Grass Australia Marjorie Cox Crawford Australia Nell Hall Hopman
Japan Jiro Sato
6–8, 8–6, 6–3
Winner 1933 Australian Championships Grass Australia Marjorie Cox Crawford United States Marjorie Gladman
United States Ellsworth Vines
3–6, 7–5, 13–11
Winner 1933 French Championships Clay United Kingdom Margaret Scriven United Kingdom Betty Nuthall
United Kingdom Fred Perry
6–2, 6–3

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 Career SR
Australia 1R SF SF QF SF W W W F W F SF QF SF F 3R 1R 3R 3R 2R 1R 4 / 21
France A A QF A 2R A A W F SF A A A A A A A A A A A 1 / 5
Wimbledon A A 4R A 3R A SF W F SF QF QF A A A A 1R A A A A 1 / 9
United States A A 4R A A A A F A A A A A 3R A A A A A A A 0 / 3
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 3 1 / 1 1 / 2 3 / 4 0 / 3 1 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 6 / 38

A = did not participate in the tournament SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

See also

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 "Mr Wallis Myers' Ranking", The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 September 1933.
  2. 1 2 Kendall (1995), p. 57
  3. Kendall (1995), p. 60
  4. Bradshaw, Finn, ed. (2004). Our Open : 100 Years of Australia's Grand Slam. Melbourne: News Custom Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 9781876176600.
  5. "Jack Crawford :.". Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938). NSW: National Library of Australia. 12 July 1933. pp. 14–16.
  6. Writing in 1979, Kramer considered the best ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.
  7. "Jack Crawford OBE - Tennis". The Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
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Sources

  • Kendall, Allan (1995). Australia's Wimbledon Champions. Sydney, NSW: ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corp. ISBN 9780733304101. 



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