Colin Dowdeswell (born 12 May 1955) is a former professional tennis player who represented, at different times, Rhodesia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and who achieved rank as UK No. 1. During his time on the world tour, he won one singles title and eleven doubles titles. The highlight of his career was reaching the doubles final of Wimbledon.
Early life Dowdeswell was born in London but grew up in Rhodesia. He was educated at Prince Edward School and The University of the Witswatersrand.Official website: Biography . Accessed 11 July 2014 He also received an MBA at Insead business school in 1987.
Tennis career highlights Partnering Australian Allan Stone, Dowdeswell finished runner-up in doubles at Wimbledon in 1975. Unseeded, after two straight sets wins, they defeated the No. 7 seeds Tom Okker and Marty Riessen in the round of 16 in four sets. They did likewise in eliminating the No. 3 seeds, Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan, in the quarterfinals. It took Dowdeswell and Stone then five sets to overcome the unseeded team of Dick Crealy and Niki Pilic in the semifinals. They lost the final to another unseeded tandem, Vitas Gerulaitis and Sandy Mayer, 5–7, 6–8, 4–6.
Dowdeswell achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 31 in 1983 and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 24 in 1980.
Career finals Singles: 4 (1 title / 3 runner-ups) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jul 1974 Dublin, Ireland Hard Sherwood Stewart 3–6, 8–9Win 1–1 Jul 1975 Istanbul, Turkey Clay Ferdi Taygan 6–1, 6–4, 6–2Loss 1–2 Apr 1978 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Cliff Richey 2–6, 4–6Loss 1–3 Nov 1983 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Johan Kriek 4–6, 6–4, 6–1, 5–7, 3–6
Doubles: 28 (11 titles / 17 runner-ups) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Jul 1974 Dublin, Ireland Hard John Yuill Lito Álvarez Jorge Andrew 6–3, 6–2Loss 1–1 Jan 1975 Birmingham, U.S. Carpet (i) John Yuill Jürgen Fassbender Karl Meiler 1–6, 6–3, 6–7Loss 1–2 Jul 1975Wimbledon, London Grass Allan Stone Vitas Gerulaitis Sandy Mayer 5–7, 6–8, 4–6Loss 1–3 Jul 1975 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Ken Rosewall Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 4–6, 7–9, 1–6Loss 1–4 Jul 1975 Istanbul, Turkey Clay John Feaver Colin Dibley Thomaz Koch 2–6, 2–6, 2–6Loss 1–5 Mar 1976 Nuremberg, Germany Carpet (i) Paul Kronk Frew McMillan Karl Meiler 6–7, 4–6Loss 1–6 Apr 1976 Barcelona, Spain Clay Paul Kronk Wojciech Fibak Jacek Niedźwiedzki 2–6, 3–6Loss 1–7 Nov 1976 Cologne, Germany Carpet (i) Mike Estep Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 1–6, 6–3, 6–7Loss 1–8 Jul 1977 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Bob Hewitt Jürgen Fassbender Karl Meiler 4–6, 6–7Loss 1–9 Jul 1977 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Chris Kachel Buster Mottram Roger Taylor 6–7, 4–6Win 2–9 Jan 1978 Sarasota, U.S. Carpet Geoff Masters Byron Bertram Bernard Mitton 2–6, 6–3, 6–2Loss 2–10 Mar 1978 Lagos, Nigeria Clay Jürgen Fassbender George Hardie Sashi Menon 3–6, 6–3, 5–7Win 3–10 Jun 1978 Berlin, Germany Clay Jürgen Fassbender Željko Franulović Hans Gildemeister 6–3, 6–4Loss 3–11 Aug 1978 Toronto, Canada Clay Heinz Günthardt Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker 3–6, 6–7Win 4–11 Apr 1979 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Heinz Günthardt Raymond Moore Ilie Năstase 6–3, 7–6Win 5–11 Jul 1979 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Frew McMillan Wojciech Fibak Pavel Složil 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4Loss 5–12 Apr 1980 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Heinz Günthardt Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 4–6, 3–6Win 6–12 Jul 1980 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Ismail El Shafei Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick 6–4, 6–4Win 7–12 Jul 1980 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Frew McMillan Chris Lewis John Yuill 6–3, 6–4Loss 7–13 Jul 1983 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Wojciech Fibak Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd 7–6, 4–6, 2–6Loss 7–14 Jul 1983 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Zoltán Kuhárszky Wojciech Fibak Pavel Složil 5–7, 2–6Win 8–14 Oct 1983 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Zoltán Kuhárszky Peter Elter Peter Feigl 6–4, 7–5Loss 8–15 Jul 1984 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Wojciech Fibak Henri Leconte Pascal Portes 6–2, 6–7, 6–7Loss 8–16 Sep 1984 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard Jakob Hlasek Peter Doohan Brian Levine 3–6, 4–6Win 9–16 Sep 1985 Palermo, Italy Clay Joakim Nyström Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez 6–4, 6–7, 7–6Win 10–16 Oct 1985 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Christo van Rensburg Amos Mansdorf Shahar Perkiss 3–6, 7–6, 6–4Win 11–16 Mar 1986 Milan, Italy Carpet (i) Christo Steyn Brian Levine Laurie Warder 6–3, 4–6, 6–1Loss 11–17 Apr 1986 Nice, France Clay Gary Donnelly Jakob Hlasek Pavel Složil 3–6, 6–4, 9–11
Davis Cup Dowdeswell participated in one Davis Cup tie for Rhodesia in 1976, posting a 2–0 record in singles and an 0–1 record in doubles. He participated in six Davis Cup ties for Great Britain from 1984 to 1986, posting an 0–2 record in singles and a 5–1 record in doubles.
Life outside tennis Dowdeswell completed his tennis career in 1986 and began a career in financial services and private banking with Merrill Lynch. Married with three children, he resides in Monaco.
References
External links
Official website