 | |
| Full name | Patrick Dennis Benham Spence |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  South Africa |
| Born | (1898-02-11)11 February 1898 Queenstown, Cape Colony |
| Died | 22 November 1983(1983-11-22) (aged 85) |
| Turned pro | 1922(amateur tour)[1] |
| Retired | 1936 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Singles | |
| Career titles | 14 |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | SF (1927) |
| Wimbledon | QF (1926) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Olympic Games | 4R (1924) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | SF (1924)[2] |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| French Open | W (1931)[3] |
| Wimbledon | W (1928)[3] |
Patrick Spence (11 February 1898 – 22 November 1983) was a South Africantennis 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 atWimbledon in 1928 withElizabeth Ryan and at theFrench Open in 1931 withBetty Nuthall. He also competed at the1924 Summer Olympics.[4] 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.
Patrick Spence began his tennis prominence in Great Britain in 1922 when he becameScottish champion after winning the local tournament.[1] The next year he defended his title.[1]
In 1924 he took theMiddlesex Championships against compatriotLouis Raymond, with whom he also won the doubles title, but lost the mixed doubles title against him.[5] He first became the covered courts champion at theQueen's Club the same year by beating reigning championPatrick Wheatley in three sets.[6]
In April 1925 he won theBritish Hard Court Championships overCharles Kingsley.[7] He also won the mixed doubles withEvelyn Colyer.[7] A week later, at theSurrey Hard Court Championships, he defeatedRandolph Lycett of Australia in straight sets.[8] At another hard court tournament in London he was defeated by IndianSydney M. Jacob in five sets.[9] He shared the doubles victory with Raymond and the mixed doubles with Colyer.[9] In September he won theNorth London Hard Courts Championships on clay at the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club,Stamford Hill againstHarry Lewis-Barclay.[10] In October he successfully defended his covered courts title againstEdward Higgs.[11] That month he failed to capture theDrive Club Open Tournament title.[12]
In 1926 he was a finalist for theKent Championships.[13]
In 1927 Spence reached the semi-finals of the French championships, beatingFrank Hunter before losing toRené Lacoste.[14] 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 andBrugnon.[15] The next year they had their rematch also in the final and Lacoste overcame Spence for the second time.[16]
In 1928, he was upset in the final of the Kent Championships for the second time.[13] He also lost the Middlesex Championships to Randolph Lycett.[17] However, he was more successful in his mixed doubles matches, including the final of the Nottingham Championships, which he won withBetty Nuthall.[18] One of his bigger accomplishments came when he took the1928 Wimbledon Championships mixed doubles contest withElizabeth Ryan.[3]
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 asDaniel Prenn andHeinrich Kleinschroth.[19] Also in 1930 he lost the London Covered Courts Championships toYoshiro Ohta, but as many times before he was triumphant in the mixed contest with his recurring partner Nuthall.[20]
In 1931, he was a runner-up for the doubles tournament of the West-England Championships withEdward Avory, losing to the Japanese pair ofJiro Satoh andRyuki Miki.[21] He was also runner up in the Championship of London in doubles.[22] 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,[23] while in May they won the mixed title at theFrench Championships (now the French Open).[3]
A couple of years later, in 1935, he reached the final of theSurrey Grass Court Championships, where he was stopped by New Zealand'sEskell D. Andrews.[24] 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 theservice box.[25] In 1936 he won the Queen's Club hard court doubles withJohn Olliff.[26]
In theDavis Cup, he set a 14–7 match record (66% winning ratio) and representedSouth Africa from 1924 to 1931.
Patrick Spence was born 11 February 1898 in Queenstown, Cape Colony. He moved to Edinburgh after the First World War.[27] He graduated from Edinburgh University with a doctorate in medicine.[27] Apart from playing tennis, he was an amateur rugby player.[1] He worked at Guy's Hospital in London and then in Richmond, London in 1930.[27] 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.[28] He formed a real-life couple with his 18-year-old doubles partner Betty Nuthall,[27][29] with whom he won theFrench Open mixed doubles tournament in 1931.[3]He married Joy Robson, a ballerina with Sadler Wells Ballet, and had four children: Mikael, Stephen, Mandy and Charles
British Davis Cup team memberNigel 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.[1]
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1928 | Wimbledon[3] | Grass |  Elizabeth Ryan |  Daphne AkhurstJack Crawford | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Win | 1931 | French Championships[3] | Clay |  Betty Nuthall | Dorothy Shepherd BarronBunny Austin | 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |