Dennis "Dinny" Pails (4 March 1921 – 22 November 1986) was an Australian

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 ...

champion. Pails was born in England, but moved to Australia in 1922 at age 1. Pails won the men's singles championship at the

Australian Championships The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

in 1947. Pails defeated

John Bromwich John Edward Bromwich (14 November 1918 – 21 October 1999) was an Australian tennis player who, along with fellow countryman Vivian McGrath, was one of the first great players to use a two-handed backhand. He was a natural left-hander, though ...

in the final in five sets: 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 7–5, 8–6, saving a match point in the process. Pails played eight

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 ...

matches between 1946 and 1947, winning three matches and losing five. Pails turned professional at the end of 1947. He played on the pro tour off and on for many years.

Bud Collins Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr. (June 17, 1929 – March 4, 2016) was an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen. Education Collins was b ...

ranked him the World No. 4 pro in 1948, and Pails reached as high as World No. 6 in the 1947 amateur rankings. According to tennis great and long-time promoter

Jack Kramer John Albert Kramer (August 1, 1921 – September 12, 2009) was an American tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s. He won three Grand Slam tournaments (the U.S. Championships in 1946 and 1947, Wimbledon in 1947). He led the U.S. Davis Cup tennis ...

, Pails beat

Pancho Segura Francisco Olegario Segura (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but m ...

41 to 31 matches in the 1948 tour, "but that was when Segoo was still learning how to play fast surfaces." Kramer beat Pails "55 times with 1 draw, but somehow we were able to forget that off the court."

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Doubles (1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pails, Dinny 1921 births 1986 deaths Australian Championships (tennis) champions Australian Championships (tennis) junior champions Australian male tennis players English emigrants to Australia Sportspeople from Nottingham Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Professional tennis players before the Open Era Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles 20th-century Australian people