Patrick Spence
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Patrick Spence (11 February 1898 – 22 November 1983) was a South African
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. He was born in Queenstown, South Africa. He competed mainly in Great Britain and found his form in hard court tournaments. He notably won the mixed doubles championships at Wimbledon in 1928 with
Elizabeth Ryan Elizabeth Montague Ryan (February 5, 1892 – July 6, 1979) was an American tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California, but lived most of her adult life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 26 Grand Slam titles, 19 in women's doubles and mi ...
and at the French Open in 1931 with Betty Nuthall. He also competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics.


Tennis career

Patrick Spence began his tennis prominence in Great Britain in 1922 when he became Scottish champion after winning the local tournament. The next year he defended his title. In 1924. he took the Middlesex Championships against compatriot Louis Raymond, with whom he also won the doubles title, but lost the mixed doubles title against him. He first became the covered courts champion at the Queen's Club the same year by beating reigning champion Patrick Wheatley in three sets. In April 1925 he won the British Hard Court Championships over Charles Kingsley. He also won the mixed doubles with
Evelyn Colyer Evelyn Lucy Colyer (later Munro, 16 August 1902 – 4 November 1930) was a female tennis player from Great Britain. With Joan Austin, sister of Bunny Austin, Colyer played doubles in the 1923 Wimbledon final against Suzanne Lenglen and Elizabe ...
. A week later, at the Surrey Hard Court Championships, he defeated
Randolph Lycett Randolph Lycett (27 August 1886 – 9 February 1935) was a British tennis player. Lycett is primarily known for his success in doubles, winning 5 men's doubles and 3 mixed doubles slams. He was also the runner-up at the 1922 Wimbledon men's si ...
of Australia in straight sets. At another hard court tournament in London he was defeated by Indian Sydney M. Jacob in five sets. He shared the doubles victory with Raymond and the mixed doubles with Colyer. In October he successfully defended his covered courts title against Edward Higgs. That month he failed to capture the Drive Club title. In 1926 he was a finalist for the
Kent Championships The Kent Championships also known as the Kent All-Comers' Championships was a tennis tournament held in Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, Kent, England between 1886 and 1996 and was held in the first half of June. From 1887 until 1910 the tournament was ...
. In 1927 Spence reached the semi finals of the French championships, beating Frank Hunter before losing to
René Lacoste Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, and e ...
. He met Lacoste for his second British Hard Court Championships trophy but was subdued in straight sets. He also lost the doubles against the French team of Lacoste and Brugnon. The next year they had their rematch also in the final and Lacoste overcame Spence for the second time. In 1928, he was upset in the final of the Kent Championships for the second time. He also lost the Middlesex Championships to Randolph Lycett. However, he was more successful in his mixed doubles matches, including the final of the Nottingham Championships, which he won with Betty Nuthall. One of his bigger accomplishments came when he took the 1928 Wimbledon Championships mixed doubles contest with
Elizabeth Ryan Elizabeth Montague Ryan (February 5, 1892 – July 6, 1979) was an American tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California, but lived most of her adult life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 26 Grand Slam titles, 19 in women's doubles and mi ...
. In 1930, as a member of the International Tennis Club of Great Britain, he participated in the team challenge against Rot-Weiss Club of Berlin, winning all of his four matches (two singles and two doubles) and defeating high-profile players such as
Daniel Prenn Daniel Prenn (7 September 1904 – 3 September 1991) was a Russian Empire-born German, Polish, and British tennis player who was Jewish. He was ranked the world No. 6 for 1932 by A. Wallis Myers, and the European No. 1 by "American Lawn Tennis" ...
and
Heinrich Kleinschroth Heinrich Kleinschroth (; 15 March 1890 – 10 January 1979) was an amateur German tennis player who found success in the early 20th century, mainly in doubles competitions. Tennis career At the age of 20 he became the Catalan champion by winning ...
. Also in 1930 he lost the London Covered Courts Championships to Yoshiro Ohta, but as many times before he was triumphant in the mixed contest with his recurring partner Nuthall. In 1931, he was a runner-up for the doubles tournament of the West-England Championships with Edward Avory, losing to the Japanese pair of Jiro Satoh and Ryuki Miki. He was also runner up in the Championship of London in doubles. As in his previous years his breakthrough came in the mixed doubles competitions; first he and Betty Nuthall went for the British Hard Court Championships in April and were only eliminated in the final, while in May they won the mixed title at 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 ...
(now the French Open). A couple of years later, in 1935, he reached the final of the Surrey Grass Court Championships, where he was stopped by New Zealand's Eskell D. Andrews. The importance of that particular match was the test of a new service rule implemented for the first time there, which allowed the server to swing his leg over the baseline on serve but introduced the service box. In 1936 he won the Queen's Club hard court doubles with
John Olliff John Sheldon Olliff (1 December 1908 – 29 June 1951) was an English tennis player, author and sportsjournalist. Life Olliff took part in the Wimbledon Championships from 1928. In singles, he advanced to the fourth round several times until ...
. In the Davis Cup, he set a 14–7 match record (66% winning ratio) and represented
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
from 1924 to 1931.


Personal life

Patrick Spence was born 11 February 1898 in Queenstown, Cape Colony. He moved to Edinburgh after the First World War. He graduated from Edinburgh University with a doctorate in medicine. Apart from playing tennis, he was an amateur rugby player. He worked at Guy's Hospital in London and then in Richmond, London in 1930. Later with several colleagues, he was in private practice in Kingston-on-Thames as Howlett, Kemp, Carson and Spence, from which he retired in 1934. He formed a real-life couple with his 18-year-old doubles partner Betty Nuthall, with whom he won the French Open mixed doubles tournament in 1931. He married Joy Robson, a ballerina with Sadler Wells Ballet, and had four children: Mikael, Stephen, Mandy and Charles


Playing style

British Davis Cup team member
Nigel Sharpe Nigel G. Sharpe ( 23 December 1904 – 3 October 1962) was a British tennis player. Career Sharpe represented the Great Britain Davis Cup team in one tie, against Poland in Torquay in 1930, called up to a side weakened by key withdrawals. The B ...
described him as an attacking type of player. He preferred to pace the ball rather than give it a spin. He tended to go to the net, but his volley showed indecisiveness. He possessed a severe overhead shot. He had a long-swinged forehand, on which he applied a moderate topspin. His backhand was weak, and he always placed himself to receive the ball to his forehand side.


Grand Slam finals


Mixed doubles (2 titles)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Patrick South African male tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) 1898 births 1983 deaths People from Queenstown, South Africa Cape Colony people Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Olympic tennis players of South Africa Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics White South African people Sportspeople from the Eastern Cape