Vernon Gordon 'Bob' Kirby (22 June 1911 – 27 September 1994) was a South African tennis player.

Biography

Kirby was educated at the

Durban High School Durban High School is an all-boys public school in Durban, South Africa. DHS opened its doors in 1866 in two rooms and with seven pupils in Smith Street. From there it moved to a disused granary in Cato Square in 1880, just after the Zulu ...

where he played cricket and football. He started tennis at the age of five and played in his spare time while at school. In May 1931 Kirby and his teammate and compatriot

Norman Farquharson Norman Gordon Farquharson (18 July 1907 – 11 August 1992) was a male tennis player from South Africa. In 1931 Farquharson and his compatriot partner Vernon Kirby were runners-up in the doubles final of the French Championships, losing in st ...

, were runners-up in the doubles final of the

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 ...

, losing in straight sets to the American pair

George Lott George Martin Lott (October 16, 1906 – December 3, 1991) was an American tennis player and tennis coach who was born in Springfield, Illinois, United States. Lott is mostly remembered as being one of the greatest doubles players of all time. H ...

and

John Van Ryn John Van Ryn (June 30, 1905 – August 7, 1999) was an American tennis champion of the 1930s. He was primarily known as the doubles partner of Wilmer Allison. Van Ryn won the Men's Doubles at Wimbledon three straight years (1929–31). He t ...

. In July he won against George Lyttleton-Rogers in the final of the Wimbledon Plate, a tournament for players who were defeated in the first or second rounds of the singles competition at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

. Later in July Kirby beat his doubles partner in straight sets in the singles final of the Scottish Championships at

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

. He also won the North of England Championships in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in singles and doubles. In 1933 he won the Kent Championships and in January 1934 he was victorious in the Estoril tournament. In 1934 Kirby reached the singles quarterfinal of the

but lost in four sets to American

Sidney Wood Sidney Burr Wood Jr. (November 1, 1911 – January 10, 2009) was an American tennis player who won the 1931 Wimbledon singles title. Wood was ranked in the world's Top 10 five times between 1931 and 1938, and was ranked World No. 6 in 1931 and ...

. Later that same year at the U.S. National Championships he defeated future

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 ...

winner

Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam e ...

in the fourth round to reach the semifinal in which he lost to eventual champion

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

in four sets. In 1935 he reached the mixed doubles final of the Australian Championships with the Australian Birdie Bond. They were defeated by Australian

Louise Bickerton Louie Mildred Bickerton Cozens (née Bickerton) (11 August 1902 – 6 June 1998) was a female tennis player from Australia. She was born in Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia and won the women's doubles titles at the 1927, 1929, and 1931 Austr ...

and Frenchman

Christian Boussus Christian Boussus (5 March 1908 – August 2003) was a left-handed French tennis player who found success in the 1920s and 1930s. Tennis career He started playing amateur tennis in the late 1920s by entering one of his first tournaments at the ...

in three sets. Kirby reached the singles final of the South African Championships on four occasions (1933, 1935, 1937, 1938). He was victorious in the doubles in 1931 and 1932. He was ranked the third in the South African rankings in 1932 and World No. 9 in 1935 by J. Brooks Fenno, Jr. of

The Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current O ...

. In 1937 he won the East Grinstead Open in England, the same year he was ranked No. 1 in South Africa. Between 1931 and 1937 he played in ten ties for the South African Davis Cup team. The best team result was reaching the semifinal of the European Zone in 1935 against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Kirby had a Davis Cup match record of 16 wins vs. 8 losses and was more successful in doubles (7–1) than singles (9–7). Kirby died in September 1994 in Perth, Australia.Billion Graves: V.G. (Bob) Kirby
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Grand Slam finals

Doubles (2 runners-up)

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * *
New South Wales State Library Image of Vernon Kirby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Vernon 1911 births 1994 deaths South African male tennis players Sportspeople from Durban White South African people