Claude Frederick Owen Lister (13 October 1911 — 19 April 1988) was a British

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 and coach. An

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

county player, Lister featured regularly at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

through the 1930s to 1950s. He twice reached the third round in singles, including in 1949 when he was the last Briton remaining in the draw. Lister, known for his strong serve, won the Surrey singles championships in Surbiton in 1947. In 1958 he began a long stint as non-playing captain of the

South Africa Davis Cup team The South Africa men's national tennis team represents South Africa in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Tennis South Africa. South Africa won the Davis Cup in 1974 by default as India withdrew from the finals as a protest ag ...

. He was captain of South Africa's 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 ...

title winning side in 1974, secured after India refused to compete in the final due to the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

policy. This made South Africa the first

champions outside the four grand slam hosting nations. Lister was married to tennis player Thelma Jarvis. They had a son born in 1949.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lister, Claude 1911 births 1988 deaths British male tennis players British tennis coaches English male tennis players Tennis players from Essex