Howard Francis Walton (23 July 1916 — 14 December 1989) 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 active in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He also represented England at the

World Table Tennis Championships The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...

. Walton, youngest of six children, was the only son born to Percival Walton and Florence Bargery in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. He was known for having a distinctive cramped style of tennis which came about from the way he had practised as a child. While living in Manchester, his father had turned two of their

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

s into a court. Due to the cramped space there was not even enough room for a forehand drive so his own style of play developed. First playing tournament tennis while he was in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, Walton won the

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

county title four times and regularly featured 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 * ...

post war. By the time of his last Wimbledon appearance in 1963 he was the only English player, along with

Geoffrey Paish Geoffrey Lane Paish MBE (2 January 1922 – 3 February 2008) was a noted tennis player and administrator. Paish was born in Croydon, Surrey and educated at Mid-Whitgift School (now Trinity School) in Croydon. Career After World War II Paish w ...

, to have not missed a main draw during this period. In 1948 he earned a call up to the

Great Britain Davis Cup team The Great Britain Davis Cup team has represented the United Kingdom internationally since 1900 in the Davis Cup. Organised by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), it is one of the 50 members of International Tennis Federation's European associatio ...

for a tie against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in Harrogate. His selection was aided by the fact he had a week prior beaten two of the Indian players when he won a tournament in Paddington. He featured in two singles rubbers for Great Britain and lost in both, to

Dilip Bose Dilip Kumar Bose (1921 – 30 December 1996) was an Indian professional tennis player. He was a winner of the Asian championship and a member of the India Davis Cup team. After retirement, he served as a coach and administrator. The All India T ...

and

Sumant Misra Sumant Misra (11 January 1923 – 3 September 2011) was an Indian tennis player. Misra, who was born in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, played on the India Davis Cup team for nine years between 1947 and 1956 and captained the team in 1952 and 1953. He ...

. Great Britain still won the tie and progressed to play Norway in Oslo, but Walton was replaced in the team by

Headley Baxter Headley Thomas Baxter (29 March 1919 — 31 August 2004) was a British tennis 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, Baxter was the British junior c ...

. Walton was married in 1964 to Betty Green, a company director from

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

, London.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Howard 1916 births 1989 deaths British male tennis players English male tennis players English male table tennis players Tennis players from the West Midlands (county) Royal Air Force personnel of World War II

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