Mike Sangster (11 September 1940 – 30 April 1985) was a British No. 1

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 of the 1960s.Obituary
''The Glasgow Herald'', 1 May 1985. He reached at least the quarter-final stage of each of the four Grand Slams, getting to the semi-finals of the 1963 French Open, 1961 Wimbledon and the 1961 US Open. Sangster was ranked World Amateur No. 7 in 1961 by Ned Potter.

Early life

Mike Sangster was born in

Kingskerswell Kingskerswell (formerly Kings Carswell, or Kings Kerswell) is a village and civil parish within Teignbridge local government district in the south of Devon, England. The village grew up where an ancient track took the narrowest point across a m ...

, Devon on 11 September 1940. On 30 May 1943, he survived being killed by German bombs when his sister decided not to take him to Sunday School. Twenty-four children died when the church was bombed. He attended Torquay Boys' Grammar School. As a teenager he played football for Torquay United and was offered a contract by West Ham United, before turning to tennis.

Tennis career

Mike Sangster made his first Wimbledon appearance aged 17 in 1958 and quickly rose to become British No. 1. He was immensely popular with the British public throughout the 1960s. He was renowned for his massive serve and for being a snappy dresser on court. In 1961, Sangster became the first Briton in almost a quarter of a century to reach the Wimbledon Men's Singles Semi-finals (the previous being

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in 1938). Sangster was beaten by the eighth seeded American, Chuck McKinley, 6–4 6–4 8–6. The only other Britons to have reached the Wimbledon semis since have been

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and

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...

. He also lost in the semifinals of the 1961 U.S. Championships to

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...

. In 1963, aged 22, Sangster reached the semi finals of the French Tennis Championships where he lost to eventual champion

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8–6 6–3 6–4. In 1964, Sangster's Australian coach, George Worthington, died. The death of his coach and mentor seemed to undermine Sangster's resolve. While Sangster never reached a Grand Slam final, he is one of only three British men since

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(the others being

and

) to have reached the semi-finals of three different Grand Slam events – Wimbledon in 1961, the US National Tennis Championships in 1961 and the French Championships in 1963.

Serve

Sangster was renowned for his fast serve. His fastest serve was recorded at 154 miles per hour in 1963. This compares with the current world record of 155 mph set by

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

in a Davis Cup match against Russia in 2004. Although it was considered by many to be a world record at the time, Sangster's record remains unofficial since it was not timed with precise modern technology (Similarly,

Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...

had a serve timed unofficially at 163.6 mph in 1931). To return his serve, players had to retreat to the back of the court. In one match at the US Open,

retreated so far back that he became entangled with the backstop netting.

Davis Cup

Sangster holds the record for the most matches played for Great Britain in the

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 ...

. He played 65 matches from 1960 to 1968, winning 43 of them.

Later life and death

In later years, Sangster ran a chain of sporting goods stores in southwestern England. Mike Sangster collapsed and died of a heart attack while playing golf on 30 April 1985. He was 44 years old.

References

External links

* * *
New York Times article

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sangster, Mike 1940 births 1985 deaths English male tennis players People educated at Torquay Boys' Grammar School People from Teignbridge (district) Sportspeople from Torquay British male tennis players Tennis people from Devon