Headley Thomas Baxter (29 March 1919 — 31 August 2004) 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. He was active from 1939 to 1953 and contested 10 career singles finals and won 6 titles.

Career

A native of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, Baxter was the British junior champion in 1935 and 1936. He played his first senior event in 1938 at the Worthing Open where he reached the final, before losing to Alan Brown. In 1939 he won his first singles title at the Cranleigh Open against Guy Cooper. He won through to the singles third round of the 1947 Wimbledon Championships and took a set off third seed Tom Brown before being eliminated. During his playing career he was a member of British

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 ...

teams but was never called upon for a rubber. His career singles highlights include winning the Berkshire Championships three times in 1939, 1946 and 1947. He also won the

Cumberland Hard Court Championships The Cumberland Hard Court Championships or Cumberland Club Hard Court Championships and also known as the Cumberland Hard Court Tournament was a men's and women's clay court tennis tournament founded as in 1927. It was played at the Cumberland Club ...

in 1948 against Dennis Slack. In addition he was also a losing finalist at the

Norfolk Championships The Norfolk Championships also known as the Norfolk County Lawn Tennis Championships was a combined men's and women's grass court tournament originally founded in 1906. It was held in multiple locations such as Norwich, Great Yarmouth, and Cromer ...

in 1948 to Clifford Hovell, the Paddington Hard Court tournament in 1949 to Roland Carter and again in 1951 to Tony Starte, the Southdean Hard Court Championships in 1951 on clay courts where he lost to Paddy Roberts. He also took part in the 1948

French Championships 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 ...

where he lost in the second round to Dragutin Mitic. Baxter won his final singles title at the final edition of the

Middlesex Championships The Middlesex Championships. or Middlesex Lawn Tennis Championships and also known as the Middlesex Open Tennis Championships was a men's and women's grass court tennis founded at the Chiswick Park Lawn Tennis Club, Chiswick Park, Chiswick, Middles ...

in 1949 against Cliff Hovell. He played his final tournament at the

1953 Wimbledon Championships The 1953 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 22 June until Saturday 4 July 1953. It was the 67th ...

. Baxter was non playing

captain for Great Britain from 1962 to 1967, then again from 1968 to 1971, both largely unsuccessful periods. He had resigned as captain in 1967 citing business commitments but was put in charge again the next year when his replacement Peter Hare had to step aside due to ill health.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Headley 1919 births 2004 deaths British male tennis players English male tennis players British tennis coaches Tennis people from Greater London