Anthony John Mottram (8 June 1920 – 6 October 2016) 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 of the 1940s and 1950s. Mottram reached the quarterfinal of the 1948 Wimbledon Championships in which he lost to

Gardnar Mulloy Gardnar Putnam "Gar" Mulloy (November 22, 1913 – November 14, 2016) was a U.S. No. 1 tennis player primarily known for playing in doubles matches with partner Billy Talbert. He was born in Washington, D.C. and turned 100 in November 2013. Du ...

. In the doubles event he reached the final of the 1947 Wimbledon Championships with

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 ...

in which they were defeated by the first-seeded team of Jack Kramer and

Bob Falkenburg Robert Falkenburg (January 29, 1926 – January 6, 2022) was an American amateur tennis player and entrepreneur. He is best known for winning the Men's Singles at the 1948 Wimbledon Championships and for introducing soft ice cream and American f ...

. He reached the French Open's fourth round in both 1947 and 1948, and the third round of the 1951 US Open. Mottram was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, then Warwickshire (now West Midlands), England. He appeared as a castaway on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

'' on 14 June 1955. The All England Lawn Tennis Club elected him an Honorary Member in 1957. Mottram died on 6 October 2016 at the age of 96.

Personal life

In 1949 he married

Joy Gannon Joy Mottram (née Gannon; born 21 March 1928) is a retired female tennis player from England who was active in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Career Her best singles performances at a Grand Slam tournament came in 1952 when she reached the quarte ...

who was also a tennis player, as were their children

Buster Mottram Christopher "Buster" Mottram (born 25 April 1955 in Kingston upon Thames) is an English former tennis player and UK number 1 who achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 in February 1983. Mottram represented Great Britain in the D ...

and Linda Mottram. In 1957 he published a book with his wife titled ''Modern Lawn Tennis''.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 runner-up)

Bibliography

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References

1920 births 2016 deaths English male tennis players British male tennis players Sportspeople from Coventry Tennis people from the West Midlands (county) Professional tennis players before the Open Era {{UK-sport-bio-stub