George Allan Worthington (10 October 1928 – 8 December 1964) was an Australian male
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 who was active in the 1940s and 1950s.
Career
Worthington won the mixed doubles title at the
Australian Championships in 1951, 1952 and 1953 together with
Thelma Coyne Long
Thelma Dorothy Coyne Long (née Coyne; 14 October 1918 – 13 April 2015) was an Australian tennis player and one of the female players who dominated Australian tennis from the mid-1930s to the 1950s. During her career she won 19 Grand Sl ...
.
He was twice runner-up with compatriot
Frank Sedgman
Francis "Frank" Arthur Sedgman (born 29 October 1927) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Over the course of a three-decade career, Sedgman won five Grand Slam singles tournaments as an amateur as well as 22 Grand Slam doubles ...
in
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
men's doubles championship. In 1947 they lost the final of the Australian Championship against
Adrian Quist
Adrian Karl Quist (23 January 191317 November 1991) was an Australian tennis player.
Biography
Adrian Quist was born in Medindie, South Australia. His father was Karl Quist, who had been a noted interstate cricketer, and owned a sporting goods ...
and
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 straight sets and in 1949 in the U.S. National Championship they met the same fate against fellow Australians
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 ...
and
Bill Sidwell
Oswald William Thomas Sidwell (16 April 1920 – 19 August 2021) was an Australian tennis player.
Sidwell reached five Grand Slam doubles finals, winning once, at the 1949 U.S. National Championships with compatriot John Bromwich. He also pl ...
.
He won a number of career singles titles including the
British Pro Championships six times consecutively from 1957 to 1962, the
Slazenger Pro Championships
The Slazenger Pro Championships its sponsorship name is a defunct men's professional tennis tournament that was played on outdoor grass courts from 1946 to 1964. The tournament featured both singles and doubles competitions.
History
The tournam ...
two times, (1957, 1962), the
Sydney Metropolitan Championships three times, (1950, 1953-54), and the
Surrey Championships one time, (1953), the
East of England Championships one time, (1949) and the
New Zealand Championships one time, (1950).
After his active playing career he became coach at the
All-England Lawn Tennis Club and coached both the English
Davis Cup team and
Wightman Cup
The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain.
History
U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate ...
team.
According to
Ken Rosewall
Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player. He won a record 23 Majors in singles, including eight Grand Slam singles titles and, before the Open Era, a record ...
, he was "an excellent player in practice. He was known as the 'Champion of Practice'".
[Peter Rowley, Ken Rosewall, ''Rosewall. Twenty years at the top'', London 1976, p. 93.]
Grand Slam finals
Doubles (2 runner-ups)
Mixed doubles (3 titles)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthington, George
Australian male tennis players
Tennis players from Sydney
1928 births
1964 deaths
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
Professional tennis players before the Open Era
Australian tennis coaches
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles
Australian Championships (tennis) junior champions
Australian Championships (tennis) champions