Mark Cox (born 5 July 1943) is a former tennis player from England, who played professional and amateur tennis in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was ranked as high as world No. 12 on the ATP rankings, achieving that ranking in October 1977.
Early life and education Cox was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School in Leicester and Millfield School in Somerset. He obtained an economics undergraduate degree from Downing College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Cambridge University Lawn Tennis Club. Upon graduating from Cambridge, Cox was employed by a stockbroking firm and only turned professional in 1970. As he later admitted to sports writer James Buddell, "[I] never really thought of tennis as a career. There was no view of open tennis, so when I initially left university, playing felt like a gap year — great fun, and the expenses helped keep my head above water."
Career Cox played his first tournament on 3 November 1958 at the Torquay Indoor Championship. During his career, he won twenty-four singles titles and three doubles titles spanning both the pre-Open Era and Open Era, and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. National Championships (in 1966) and the Australian Open (in 1971). He also played for Great Britain's Davis Cup team, and was on the team that reached the 1978 final against the United States.Wilmington Morning Star. "Davis Cup players named". 17 November 1978, p. 3-C. Retrieved on 15 July 2013. He won 23 of his Davis Cup matches and lost 12.
Following the establishment of the Open Era in men's tennis in 1968, Cox went down in history as the first amateur player to beat a professional when he defeated the American Pancho Gonzales in the second round of the British Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth, in a match that went to five sets and lasted two and a quarter hours. He followed this up for good measure by beating two times Wimbledon Champion Roy Emerson in the next round.Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "Mark Cox Is Tennis Champ". 3 May 1970, p. B4. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.Montreal Gazette. "British Tennis Amateur Mark Cox Upsets U.S. Pro Pancho Gonzales". Associated Press, 25 April 1968, p. 14. Retrieved on 15 July 2013. It was after his victory over Emerson that Time magazine referred to Cox as a "giant killer", a reputation he strengthened further by achieving big upset wins over No. 1 seed Rod Laver at the 1971 Australian Open and over No. 2 seed Ken Rosewall at the 1972 US Open.He also defeated Jimmy Connors in the latter's debut match at the 1970 US Open.Stone, Peter. "Laver leaves tired, beaten". The Age, 12 March 1971, p. 24. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.Times Daily (Florence, South Carolina). "The 'Giant Killer': Mark Cox Upsets Rosewall In U.S. Open Tennis Play". Associated Press, 3 September 1972, p. 16. Retrieved on 15 July 2013. During his career, Cox maintained positive head-to-head records over several top players, such as Guillermo Vilas (whom Cox defeated 6–1, 6–1 at the Memphis Open in 1977, a year when Vilas lost only 14 out of 154 matches), Manuel Orantes, Lew Hoad, Roscoe Tanner, Jan Kodes and Ivan Lendl.
Some of Cox's finest moments came late in his career; a notable triumph was at the 1976 Stockholm Open, when at the age of 33 he won the title after knocking out world No. 1 Jimmy Connors and Manuel Orantes (respectively the reigning and previous US Open champions) in succession. He remarked afterwards that "At the big points I played the right shots, the first services were going in. It was like a fairy story."Howard, Philip, "Cox's climb to the top of the tennis tree", The Times, 20 November 1976, p. 12. Although able to win on all surfaces he was especially adept at playing on indoor carpet courts, and in 1975 he became the last British player to win back-to-back professional titles (at the Washington Indoor WCT and London WCT events) until Andy Murray repeated the feat in 2008. These two tournament wins allowed him to qualify (as one of the top eight players on the World Championship Tennis circuit) for that year's WCT Finals, where he lost to the eventual champion, Arthur Ashe.
Cox retired from playing in 1981, losing to Yannick Noah in his last ever competitive match at the Paris Indoor Open. To date, he is the last English-born male to win a top level UK tournament on grass (Eastbourne in 1973). After his final title in 1977 it would take another 17 years for a British player to win a top-level tour title (Jeremy Bates at Seoul in 1994). During his latter playing years and after his retirement, he worked as a coach and also as a television commentator for the BBC.
Personal life Cox is a Patron of a charity "CRY" (Cardiac Risk in the Young) and an ambassador for the Win Tennis Academy at Bisham. He lives in London in the house he shared with his late wife Susie.
Career finals Singles: 42 (24 titles / 18 runner-ups) Finals by surface Hard (7–5) Grass (4–4) Clay (3–6) Carpet (10–3)
ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1. 1962 Budleigh Salterton, England Grass Jaroslav Drobny 4–6, 6–0, 2–6Loss 2. 1962 Eastbourne, England Grass Roger Becker 6–4, 2–6, 4–6Loss 3. 1963 Manly, Australia Grass Martin Mulligan 2–6, 2–6Win 1. 1963 Eastbourne, England Grass Warren Jacques 1–6, 7–5, 6–2Loss 4. 1965 Chingford, England Clay Bobby Wilson 2–6, 6–8Win 2. 1966 Baltimore, U.S. Grass Jim McManus 6–3, 6–2, 6–3Win 3. 1967 Hutt Valley, Australia Hard Brian Fairlie 6–2, 6–4Loss 5. 1967 East London, South Africa Clay Tom Okker 7–9, 5–7Win 4. 1968 San Juan, Puerto Rico Hard Allen Fox 6–2, 6–1, 4–6, 2–6, 6–2Open eraLoss 6. 1968 London, England Carpet (i) Stan Smith 4–6, 4–6Win 5. 1968 Eastbourne, England Grass Owen Davidson 6–4, 6–4Win 6. 1968 Istanbul, Turkey Clay Patricio Rodríguez 6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4Win 7. 1968 Perth, Scotland Carpet (i) Bob Hewitt 6–3, 6–4Win 8. 1969 Bloemfontein, South Africa Hard Bob Maud 6–2, 7–5Loss 7. 1968 Buffalo, New York, U.S. Hard (i) Clark Graebner 8–6, 9–7, 6–2Loss 8. 1969 Macon, U.S. Carpet (i) Manuel Orantes 8–10, 5–7, 6–4, 7–9Loss 9. 1969 Caracas, Venezuela Clay Thomaz Koch 6–8, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6Loss 10. 1969 Willemstad, Curaçao Clay Cliff Richey 4–6, 3–6, 3–6Win 9. 1969 Charlotte, U.S. Clay Jan Kodeš 13–11, 6–2Win 10. 1969 Stalybridge, England Carpet (i) Bob Hewitt 6–4, 6–3Win 11. 1969 Torquay, England Hard (i) John Clifton 8–6, 6–3Win 12. 1969 London, England Carpet (i) Bob Hewitt 4–6, 9–7, 6–2Win 13. 1969 Perth, Scotland Carpet (i) Ismail El Shafei 3–6, 14–12, 6–1Win 14. 1970 Bournemouth, England Clay Bob Hewitt 6–1, 6–2, 6–3Loss 11. 1971 Midland, U.S. Hard Nikola Pilić 6–7, 6–7, 3–6Win 15. 1972 Macon WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Roy Emerson 6–3, 6–7, 6–3Loss 12. 1972 Louisville WCT, U.S. Clay Arthur Ashe 4–6, 4–6Win 16. 1972 Cleveland WCT, U.S. Hard Ray Ruffels 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss 13. 1973 London WCT, England Hard (i) Brian Fairlie 6–2, 2–6, 2–6, 6–7Win 17. 1973 Denver WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Arthur Ashe 6–1, 6–1Win 18. 1973 Eastbourne, England Grass Patrice Dominguez 6–2, 2–6, 6–3Win 19. 1973 Dublin, Ireland Hard John Yuill 7–5, 3–6, 11–9Loss 14. 1974 Bologna WCT, Italy Carpet (i) Arthur Ashe 4–6, 5–7Loss 15. 1974 London WCT, England Hard (i) Björn Borg 7–6, 6–7, 4–6Win 20. 1975 Washington Indoor WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Dick Stockton 6–2, 7–6Win 21. 1975 London WCT, England Carpet (i) Brian Fairlie 6–1, 7–5Win 22. 1975 Atlanta WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) John Alexander 6–3, 7–6Win 23. 1976Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Manuel Orantes 4–6, 7–5, 7–6Win 24. 1977 Helsinki, Finland Carpet (i) Kjell Johansson 6–3, 6–3Loss 16. 1977 Queen's Club, England Grass Raúl Ramírez 7–9, 5–7Loss 17. 1977 Cincinnati, U.S. Clay Harold Solomon 2–6, 3–6Loss 18. 1980 Stuttgart Indoor, West Germany Hard (i) Tomáš Šmíd 1–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–1, 4–6
Doubles: 11 (3 titles / 8 runner-ups) ResultW-L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Feb 1973 Copenhagen, Denmark Carpet (i) Graham Stilwell Erik van Dillen Tom Gorman 4–6, 4–6Win 1–1 Feb 1973 Cologne, West Germany Carpet (i) Graham Stilwell Tom Okker Marty Riessen 7–6, 6–3Win 2–1 Nov 1973 London, England Carpet (i) Owen Davidson Gerald Battrick Graham Stilwell 6–4, 8–6Loss 2–2 Apr 1974 Denver WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Jun Kamiwazumi Arthur Ashe Roscoe Tanner 3–6, 6–7Loss 2–3 Feb 1975 San Antonio WCT, U.S. Hard Cliff Drysdale John Alexander Phil Dent 6–7, 6–4, 4–6Loss 2–4 Mar 1975 Memphis, U.S. Carpet (i) Cliff Drysdale Erik van Dillen Dick Stockton 6–1, 5–7, 4–6Loss 2–5 Mar 1975 Atlanta WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Cliff Drysdale Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj 3–6, 2–6Loss 2–6 May 1975World Doubles WCT, Mexico Carpet (i) Cliff Drysdale Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 6–7(6–8)Loss 2–7 Mar 1976 Washington WCT, U.S. Carpet Cliff Drysdale Eddie Dibbs Harold Solomon 4–6, 5–7Loss 2–8 Apr 1977 London WCT, England Hard (i) Eddie Dibbs Ilie Năstase Adriano Panatta 6–7, 7–6, 3–6Win 3–8 Oct 1977 Basel, Switzerland Carpet (i) Buster Mottram John Feaver John James 7–5, 6–4, 6–3
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