Christopher John Lewis (born 9 March 1957) is a former New Zealand professional tennis player. Lewis reached the 1983 Wimbledon singles final as an unseeded player. He won three singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in April 1984. He also won eight doubles titles during his 12 years on the tour. Lewis was coached by Harry Hopman and Tony Roche.

Lewis is the third (and as of 2026 the most recent) man from New Zealand to reach a major singles final, after Anthony Wilding and Onny Parun.

Early life Lewis was born in Auckland, New Zealand.

His father, Jim, was a keen club tennis player and encouraged Lewis to take-up the sport aged six.

He received his secondary education at Marcellin College and Lynfield College. He is the eldest of three sons. His brothers are David Lewis and Mark Lewis who also had competitive tennis careers.Joseph Romanos, Chris Lewis: All the Way to Wimbledon, Rugby Press, Auckland, 1984, p. 43, .

Tennis career Juniors Lewis reached the No. 1 junior world ranking in 1975, winning the Wimbledon boys' singles title (def. Ricardo Ycaza) and reaching the final of the US Open boys' singles (lost to Howard Schoenfield).

Pro tour In reaching the 1983 Wimbledon final, after a five-set win over Kevin Curren in the semifinals, Lewis became the seventh unseeded man and only the second New Zealander after Anthony Wilding (who won four times between 1910 and 1913) to reach a Wimbledon singles final. He lost the final to John McEnroe in three sets.

He also reached the final at the Cincinnati Masters in 1981, again losing to John McEnroe in straight sets.

Grand Slam finals ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1983 Wimbledon Grass John McEnroe 2–6, 2–6, 2–6

ATP Masters Series finals ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1981 Cincinnati Masters Hard John McEnroe 3–6, 4–6

Career finals Singles: 10 (3 titles, 7 runner-ups) Winner – Legend (pre/post 2009) Grand Slam tournaments (0–1) ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–1) ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1) ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–4) Finals by surface Hard (1–2) Clay (2–1) Grass (0–4) Carpet (0–0)

ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Dec 1977 Adelaide, Australia Grass Tim Gullikson 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 2–6, 4–6Win 1–1 Jul 1978 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Vladimír Zedník 6–1, 6–4, 6–0Loss 1–2 Mar 1981 Stuttgart Indoor, Germany Hard (i) Ivan Lendl 3–6, 0–6, 7–6, 3–6Win 2–2 May 1981 Munich, Germany Clay Christophe Roger-Vasselin 4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–1, 6–1Loss 2–3 Aug 1981 Cincinnati, United States Hard John McEnroe 3–6, 4–6Loss 2–4 Oct 1981 Brisbane, Australia Grass Mark Edmondson 6–7, 6–3, 4–6Loss 2–5 Dec 1981 Sydney, Australia Grass Tim Wilkison 4–6, 6–7, 3–6Loss 2–6 Apr 1982 Hilton Head, United States Clay Van Winitsky 4–6, 4–6Loss 2–7 Jun 1983 Wimbledon, London Grass John McEnroe 2–6, 2–6, 2–6Win 3–7 Jan 1985 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Wally Masur 7–5, 6–0, 2–6, 6–4

Doubles: 16 (8 titles, 8 runner-ups) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Jan 1977 Auckland, New Zealand Grass Russell Simpson Peter Langsford Jonathan Smith 7–6, 6–4Loss 1–1 Apr 1977 Nice, France Clay Chris Kachel Ion Țiriac Guillermo Vilas 4–6, 1–6Win 2–1 Apr 1977 Florence, Italy Clay Russell Simpson Iván Molina Jairo Velasco 2–6, 7–6, 6–2Win 3–1 Jul 1978 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Mike Fishbach Pavel Huťka Pavel Složil 6–7, 6–4, 6–3Loss 3–2 Aug 1978 Indianapolis, US Clay Jeff Borowiak Gene Mayer Hank Pfister 3–6, 1–6Win 4–2 Nov 1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Van Winitsky José Luis Clerc Belus Prajoux 6–4, 3–6, 6–0Loss 4–3 May 1980 São Paulo, Brazil Carpet David Carter Anand Amritraj Fritz Buehning 6–7, 2–6Loss 4–4 May 1980 Munich, West Germany Clay David Carter Heinz Günthardt Bob Hewitt 6–7, 1–6Loss 4–5 Jul 1980 Stuttgart, West Germany Clay John Yuill Colin Dowdeswell Frew McMillan 3–6, 4–6Loss 4–6 Jul 1980 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Carlos Kirmayr Klaus Eberhard Ulrich Marten 4–6, 6–3, 4–6Loss 4–7 Apr 1981 Nice, France Clay Pavel Složil Yannick Noah Pascal Portes 6–4, 3–6, 4–6Win 5–7 Oct 1981 Brisbane, Australia Grass Rod Frawley Mark Edmondson Mike Estep 7–5, 4–6, 7–6(7–4)Win 6–7 Jan 1983 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Russell Simpson David Graham Laurie Warder 7–6, 6–3Win 7–7 May 1983 Munich, West Germany Clay Pavel Složil Anders Järryd Tomáš Šmíd 6–4, 6–2Loss 7–8 Apr 1984 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay Wally Masur Pat Cash Paul McNamee 4–6, 6–3, 6–4Win 8–8 Jan 1985 Auckland, New Zealand Hard John Fitzgerald Broderick Dyke Wally Masur 7–6, 6–2

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament 19751976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 Australian OpenA2R1R3R A1R1R3R3R3R2R2R 0 / 10 French OpenQ2 A3R2R2R2R2R2R1R1R2R 0 / 9 WimbledonQ32R1R1R A2R2R3RF2R2R 0 / 9 US OpenA AA1R1R A2R3R2R1R A 0 / 6Strike rate0 / 0 0 / 20 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

After tennis In the 1999 New Zealand general election, Lewis unsuccessfully stood for parliament as a list candidate for the Libertarianz party.

Now a resident in Irvine, California, Lewis is the co-founder of the Brymer Lewis Tennis Academy, based at the Orange County Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine.

Recognition

In the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours, Lewis was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tennis.

Personal life Lewis is married with 3 children. His daughter Geneva Lewis, born 1998, is a violinist.

References

External links