John Herbert Crawford, (22 March 1908 – 10 September 1991) was an Australian tennis player during the 1930s. He was the World No. 1 amateur for 1933, during which year he won the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon, and was runner-up at the U.S. Open in five sets, thus missing the Grand Slam by one set that year. He also won the Australian Open in 1931, 1932, and 1935. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979.

Early life Crawford was born on 22 March 1908 in Urangeline, near Albury, New South Wales, the second youngest child of Jack Sr. and Lottie Crawford. He had no tennis training as a child and practised mainly by hitting against the house and school and playing his older brother. Crawford played his first competition match at age 12 in a mixed doubles match at the Haberfield club. He won the Australian junior championships four consecutive times from 1926 to 1929 which entitled him to the permanent possession of the trophy.

Career Although he won a number of major championship titles he is perhaps best known for something he did not do – complete the tennis Grand Slam in 1933, five years before Don Budge accomplished the feat for the first time in 1938.

In 1933, Crawford won the Australian Championships, French Championships, and Wimbledon Championships, leaving him needing to win the U.S. Championships to complete the Grand Slam. An asthmatic who suffered in the muggy summer heat of Forest Hills, Crawford was leading the Englishman Fred Perry in the final of the US Championships by two sets to one when his strength began to fade. It was said that Crawford was an asthmatic who frequently took brandy mixed with sugar to help his breathing during matches, and on the muggy afternoon in Forest Hills he was said to have downed two or three doses of the concoction, though there are differing accounts of what Crawford actually drank. Crawford ended up losing the match by the final score of 3–6, 13–11, 6–4, 0–6, 1–6.

Crawford was ranked World No. 1 amateur in 1933 by A. Wallis Myers, Bernard Brown, Pierre Gillou, Didier Poulain, John R. Tunis (The Literary Digest), Harry Hopman (Melbourne Herald), Alfred Chave (Brisbane Telegraph), "Set" (The West Australian) and Ellsworth Vines.

Crawford exacted some measure of revenge against Perry at the 1935 Australian, winning the final against Perry in four sets. Historically, he was competing in his tenth straight major final, a record matched only by Big Bill Tilden and then joined by Roger Federer. He advanced to his last Australian finals in 1936 and 1940, felled each time by fellow Aussie Adrian Quist, but he had set a record by making seven Australian finals appearances, equaled only by Roy Emerson in 1967.

In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Crawford in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.Writing in 1979, Kramer considered the best ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.

Crawford was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1979 and into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1997. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1977 New Year Honours for his services to sport.

Playing style

Crawford was a right-handed baseline player with a game that was based more on technical skills and accuracy than on power. He was not particularly fast but had excellent anticipation and his game was described as fluent and effortless. His style was compared with Henri Cochet. Crawford always wore long, white pressed flannels and a long-sleeved shirt. He played with an old-fashioned flat-topped racket produced by the Alexander Patent Racket Company in Launceston, Tasmania.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runners-up)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1931Australian Championships Grass Harry Hopman 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–1Win 1932Australian Championships Grass Harry Hopman 4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–1Win 1933Australian Championships Grass Keith Gledhill 2–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–2Win 1933French Championships Clay Henri Cochet 8–6, 6–1, 6–3Win 1933Wimbledon Championships Grass Ellsworth Vines 4–6, 11–9, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4Loss 1933U.S. Championships Grass Fred Perry3–6, 13–11, 6–4, 0–6, 1–6Loss 1934 Australian Championships Grass Fred Perry 3–6, 5–7, 1–6Loss 1934French Championships Clay Gottfried von Cramm 4–6, 9–7, 6–3, 5–7, 3–6Loss 1934Wimbledon Championships Grass Fred Perry 3–6, 0–6, 5–7Win 1935Australian Championships Grass Fred Perry 2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4Loss 1936 Australian Championships Grass Adrian Quist 2–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–9Loss 1940 Australian Championships Grass Adrian Quist 3–6, 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1929 Australian Championships Grass Harry Hopman Jack Cummings Edgar Moon 6–1, 6–8, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3Win 1930 Australian Championships Grass Harry Hopman Tim Fitchett John Hawkes 8–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–3Loss 1931 Australian Championships Grass Harry Hopman James Anderson Norman Brookes 2–6, 4–6, 3–6Win 1932 Australian Championships Grass Edgar Moon Harry Hopman Gerald Patterson 12–10, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4Loss 1933 Australian Championships Grass Edgar Moon Keith Gledhill Ellsworth Vines 4–6, 8–10, 2–6Loss 1934 French Championships Grass Vivian McGrath Jean Borotra Jacques Brugnon 9–11, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 7–9Win 1935 Australian Championships Grass Vivian McGrath Patrick Hughes Fred Perry 6–4, 8–6, 6–2Win 1935 French Championships Clay Adrian Quist Donald Turnbull Vivian McGrath 6–1, 6–4, 6–2Win 1935 Wimbledon Championships Grass Adrian Quist Wilmer Allison John Van Ryn 6–3, 5–7, 6–2, 5–7, 7–5Loss 1936 Australian Championships Grass Vivian McGrath Adrian Quist Donald Turnbull 8–6, 2–6, 1–6, 6–3, 2–6Loss 1939 U.S. Championships Grass Harry Hopman Adrian Quist John Bromwich 6–8, 1–6, 4–6Loss 1940 Australian Championships Grass Vivian McGrath John Bromwich Adrian Quist 3–5, 5–7, 1–6

Mixed doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1928 Wimbledon Championships Grass Daphne Akhurst Elizabeth Ryan Patrick Spence 5–7, 4–6Loss 1929 Australian Championships Grass Marjorie Cox Crawford Daphne Akhurst Edgar Moon 6–0, 7–5Loss 1930 Australian Championships Grass Marjorie Cox Crawford Nell Hall Hopman Harry Hopman 9–11, 6–3, 3–6Win 1930 Wimbledon Championships Grass Elizabeth Ryan Hilde Sperling Daniel Prenn 6–1, 6–3Win 1931 Australian Championships Grass Marjorie Cox Crawford Emily Hood Westacott Aubrey Willard 7–5, 6–4Win 1932 Australian Championships Grass Marjorie Cox Crawford Nell Hall Hopman Jiro Sato 6–8, 8–6, 6–3Win 1933 Australian Championships Grass Marjorie Cox Crawford Marjorie Gladman Ellsworth Vines 3–6, 7–5, 13–11Win 1933 French Championships Clay Margaret Scriven Betty Nuthall Fred Perry 6–2, 6–3

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 SR W–L Win % Australia1RQFSFQFSFWWWFWFSF3RSFFNHNHNHNHNH3R1R3R3R2R1R 4 / 21 52–17 75.4France A AQF A2R A AWFSF A A A ANHNHNHNHNHNH A3R A A A A 1 / 6 20–5 80.0Wimbledon A A4R A3R ASFWFSFQFQF A ANHNHNHNHNHNH A1R A A A A 1 / 9 36–8 81.8United States A AQF A A A AF A A A A A3R A A A A A A A3R A A A A 0 / 4 10–4 71.4Win–loss 0–1 2–1 12–4 2–1 6–3 5–0 10–1 23–1 15–3 14–2 8–2 7–2 1–1 5–2 4–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–4 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 6 / 40 118–34 77.6

See also List of male tennis players a detailed list of tennis greats throughout the years Tennis records of All Time – Men's singles

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