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.

Mark Cox
Country (sports)United Kingdom United Kingdom
Born (1943-07-05) 5 July 1943 (age 81)
Leicester, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Turned pro1970 (amateur from 1958)
Retired1981
PlaysLeft-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record593–370 (61.5%) in pre Open-Era & Open Era[1]
Career titles24[1][2][3]
Highest rankingNo. 12 (3 October 1977)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQF (1967, 1971)
French Open3R (1968)
Wimbledon4R (1968, 1977, 1979)
US OpenQF (1966)
Other tournaments
WCT FinalsQF (1975)
Doubles
Career record142–157 (Open era)
Career titles3 (Open era)
Team competitions
Davis CupF (1978)

Early life and education

edit

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."[4]

Career

edit

Cox played his first tournament on 3 November 1958 at the Torquay Indoor Championship.[5] During his career, he won twenty-four singles titles[5][2][3] 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.[6]

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 opening 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.[7][8] 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.[9][10][11][12] During his career, Cox maintained positive head-to-head records over 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 140 matches), Manuel Orantes, Lew Hoad, Roscoe Tanner, Jan Kodes and Ivan Lendl.[13][14]

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.[15] 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."[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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

edit

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 with his wife Susie in London.[citation needed]

Career finals

edit

Singles: 42 (24 titles, 18 runner-ups)

edit
Finals by surface
Hard (7–5)
Grass (4–4)
Clay (3–6)
Carpet (10–3)
Result No. Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 1962 Budleigh Salterton, England Grass   Jaroslav Drobny 4–6, 6–0, 2–6[2]
Loss 2. 1962 Eastbourne, England Grass   Roger Becker 6–4, 2–6, 4–6[2]
Loss 3. 1963 Manly, Australia Grass   Martin Mulligan 2–6, 2–6[19]
Win 1. 1963 Eastbourne, England Grass   Warren Jacques 1–6, 7–5, 6–2[3]
Loss 4. 1965 Chingford, England Clay   Bobby Wilson 2–6, 6–8[2]
Win 2. 1966 Baltimore, U.S. Grass   Jim McManus 6–3, 6–2, 6–3[19]
Win 3. 1967 Hutt Valley, Australia Hard   Brian Fairlie 6–2, 6–4
Loss 5. 1967 East London, South Africa Clay   Tom Okker 7–9, 5–7[19]
Win 4. 1968 San Juan, Puerto Rico Hard   Allen Fox 6–2, 6–1, 4–6, 2–6, 6–2[19]
Open era
Loss 6. 1968 London, England Carpet (i)   Stan Smith 4–6, 4–6[19]
Win 5. 1968 Eastbourne, England Grass   Owen Davidson 6–4, 6–4[19]
Win 6. 1968 Istanbul, Turkey Clay   Patricio Rodríguez 6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4[19]
Win 7. 1968 Perth, Scotland Carpet (i)   Bob Hewitt 6–3, 6–4[19]
Win 8. 1969 Bloemfontein, South Africa Hard   Bob Maud 6–2, 7–5[19]
Loss 7. 1968 Buffalo, New York, U.S. Hard (i)   Clark Graebner 8–6, 9–7, 6–2[19]
Loss 8. 1969 Macon, U.S. Carpet (i)   Manuel Orantes 8–10, 5–7, 6–4, 7–9[19]
Loss 9. 1969 Caracas, Venezuela Clay   Thomaz Koch 6–8, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6[19]
Loss 10. 1969 Willemstad, Curaçao Clay   Cliff Richey 4–6, 3–6, 3–6[19]
Win 9. 1969 Charlotte, U.S. Clay   Jan Kodeš 13–11, 6–2[19][20]
Win 10. 1969 Stalybridge, England Carpet (i)   Bob Hewitt 6–4, 6–3[19]
Win 11. 1969 Torquay, England Hard (i)   John Clifton 8–6, 6–3[19]
Win 12. 1969 London, England Carpet (i)   Bob Hewitt 4–6, 9–7, 6–2[19]
Win 13. 1969 Perth, Scotland Carpet (i)   Ismail El Shafei 3–6, 14–12, 6–1[19]
Win 14. 1970 Bournemouth, England Clay   Bob Hewitt 6–1, 6–2, 6–3
Loss 11. 1971 Midland, U.S. Hard   Nikola Pilić 6–7, 6–7, 3–6[2]
Win 15. 1972 Macon WCT, U.S. Carpet (i)   Roy Emerson 6–3, 6–7, 6–3
Loss 12. 1972 Louisville WCT, U.S. Clay   Arthur Ashe 4–6, 4–6
Win 16. 1972 Cleveland WCT, U.S. Hard   Ray Ruffels 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 13. 1973 London WCT, England Hard (i)   Brian Fairlie 6–2, 2–6, 2–6, 6–7
Win 17. 1973 Denver WCT, U.S. Carpet (i)   Arthur Ashe 6–1, 6–1[21]
Win 18. 1973 Eastbourne, England Grass   Patrice Dominguez 6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Win 19. 1973 Dublin, Ireland Hard   John Yuill 7–5, 3–6, 11–9[2]
Loss 14. 1974 Bologna WCT, Italy Carpet (i)   Arthur Ashe 4–6, 5–7
Loss 15. 1974 London WCT, England Hard (i)   Björn Borg 7–6, 6–7, 4–6
Win 20. 1975 Washington Indoor WCT, U.S. Carpet (i)   Dick Stockton 6–2, 7–6
Win 21. 1975 London WCT, England Carpet (i)   Brian Fairlie 6–1, 7–5
Win 22. 1975 Atlanta WCT, U.S. Carpet (i)   John Alexander 6–3, 7–6
Win 23. 1976 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i)   Manuel Orantes 4–6, 7–5, 7–6
Win 24. 1977 Helsinki, Finland Carpet (i)   Kjell Johansson 6–3, 6–3
Loss 16. 1977 Queen's Club, England Grass   Raúl Ramírez 7–9, 5–7
Loss 17. 1977 Cincinnati, U.S. Clay   Harold Solomon 2–6, 3–6
Loss 18. 1980 Stuttgart, West Germany Hard (i)   Tomáš Šmíd 1–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–1, 4–6

Doubles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)

edit
Result No. Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 1973 Copenhagen, Denmark Carpet (i)   Graham Stilwell   Erik van Dillen
  Tom Gorman
4–6, 4–6
Win 1. 1973 Cologne, West Germany Carpet (i)   Graham Stilwell   Tom Okker
  Marty Riessen
7–6, 6–3
Win 2. 1973 London, England Carpet (i)   Owen Davidson   Gerald Battrick
  Graham Stilwell
6–4, 8–6
Loss 2. 1974 Denver WCT, U.S. Carpet (i)   Jun Kamiwazumi   Arthur Ashe
  Roscoe Tanner
3–6, 6–7
Loss 3. 1975 San Antonio WCT, U.S. Hard   Cliff Drysdale   John Alexander
  Phil Dent
6–7, 6–4, 4–6
Loss 4. 1975 Memphis, U.S. Carpet (i)   Cliff Drysdale   Erik van Dillen
  Dick Stockton
6–1, 5–7, 4–6
Loss 5. 1975 Atlanta WCT, U.S. Carpet (i)   Cliff Drysdale   Anand Amritraj
  Vijay Amritraj
3–6, 2–6
Loss 6. 1975 World Doubles WCT, Mexico Carpet (i)   Cliff Drysdale   Brian Gottfried
  Raúl Ramírez
6–7, 7–6, 2–6, 6–7
Loss 7. 1976 Washington WCT, U.S. Carpet   Cliff Drysdale   Eddie Dibbs
  Harold Solomon
4–6, 5–7
Loss 8. 1977 London WCT, England Hard (i)   Eddie Dibbs   Ilie Năstase
  Adriano Panatta
6–7, 7–6, 3–6
Win 3. 1977 Basel, Switzerland Carpet (i)   Buster Mottram   John Feaver
  John James
7–5, 6–4, 6–3

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Mark Cox: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Mark Cox [GBR] - Titles/Finals". tennisabstract.com. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Cox Rallies to Beat Australian". Liverpool Daily Post. 16 September 1963. p. 8.
  4. ^ Buddell, James (22 April 2018). "Remembering The Start Of Open Tennis... 50 Years On". atptour.com. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Mark Cox: Tournament activity/results". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  6. ^ Wilmington Morning Star. "Davis Cup players named". 17 November 1978, p. 3-C. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
  7. ^ Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "Mark Cox Is Tennis Champ". 3 May 1970, p. B4. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ He also defeated Jimmy Connors in the latter's debut match at the 1970 US Open.
  10. ^ "Tennis: Mark the Giant Killer". time.com. 3 May 1968. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  11. ^ Stone, Peter. "Laver leaves tired, beaten". The Age, 12 March 1971, p. 24. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "Guillermo Vilas: Numero Uno For 1977 – A World Tennis Magazine Throwback". worldtennismagazine.com. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Mark Cox: Matches". www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  15. ^ "1976: No One Expected Cox". bnppnordicopen.com. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  16. ^ Philip Howard, "Cox's climb to the top of the tennis tree", The Times, 20 November 1976, p. 12.
  17. ^ "Mark Cox". atptour.com. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  18. ^ "1981 Paris – Singles draw". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Mark Cox: Tournament results titles/finals". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  20. ^ "Britain's Cox Wins Charlotte Tennis Tourney". The Shreveport Journal. Shreveport, Louisiana: The Wikipedia Library - newspapers.com. 14 April 1969. p. 18. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  21. ^ Sackmann, Jeff (29 April 2023). "April 29, 1973: Mark Cox's Consolation Prize". tennisabstract.com. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
edit