Barry Cowan (born 25 August 1974) is a British former

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, best known for taking

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

to five sets 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 * ...

in 2001.

Early years

Born in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, Cowan attended the LTA Rover School at

Bisham Abbey Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The name is taken from the now lost monastery which once stood alongside. This original Bisham Abbey was previously named Bisham Priory, and was the trad ...

. He was also a member of Aughton Tennis Club."Barry's gunning for 'Pistol' Pete"
Paddy Shennan,

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

, 26 June 2001. A left-hander, Cowan was a versatile sportsman in his junior years; he represented the North of England at under-15 level

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and is also a member of

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...

Golf Club. After success in junior tournaments, Cowan first competed at the All England Club in 1994 as a wild card, losing in the first round to that year's

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

champion

Sergi Bruguera Sergi Bruguera i Torner (; born 16 January 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He won consecutive men's singles titles at the French Open in 1993 and 1994, a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in men's singles and reac ...

in four sets.

2000

Cowan was only to appear regularly in Grand Slams as a Wimbledon wild card. However he was successful in qualifying for the U.S. Open at

Flushing Meadows Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

in 2000, though he lost in straight sets to

Jens Knippschild Jens Knippschild (born 15 February 1975) is a former tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 1992. In his career, he won two doubles titles (2001, Båstad and 2002, Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital ...

. Cowan later represented Britain at the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

taking the first set but eventually losing to

Daniel Nestor Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal ...

in round one.

Wimbledon 2001 (Sampras)

In 2001, Cowan received a wild card entry into Wimbledon, and won his first ever SW19 singles match against Mark Hilton in straight sets. His second round match was won by World number 1, Pete Sampras, in 5 sets, Cowan winning the third and fourth. 6–3, 6–2, 6–7, 4–6, 6–3.

Davis Cup

In September 2001, Cowan played in his only

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

singles match representing Britain in a World Group Qualifier against Ecuador, he lost in straight sets to Luis Adrijan Moreon 6–1, 6–4, although the result did not affect Britain's performance, as they beat Ecuador 4–1 overall.

2002 and retirement

In 2002 Cowan reach the second round at Wimbledon, losing in four sets to Ecuador's

Nicolás Lapentti Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (; born 13 August 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. His brothers, Giovanni Lapentti, Giovanni and Leonardo, uncle Andrés Gómez, Andrés, and cousins Roberto Quiroz, Roberto and Emil ...

. He subsequently announced his retirement from professional tennis.

After retirement

Since retiring, Cowan has commentated on tennis for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. He is a keen supporter of Liverpool Football Club.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Barry 1974 births Living people British sports broadcasters English male tennis players English people of Irish descent Olympic tennis players of Great Britain People from Aughton, Lancashire Sportspeople from Southport Tennis commentators Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics British male tennis players Tennis people from Merseyside