Chris Wilkinson

Chris Wilkinson
Wilkinson in 2019
Country (sports)United Kingdom Great Britain
ResidenceRowland's Castle, Hampshire, England
Born (1970-01-05) 5 January 1970 (age 55)
Southampton, Hampshire, England
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro1989
Retired1999
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$631,641
Singles
Career record28–52
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 114 (13 September 1993)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (1994)
French OpenQ1 (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999)
Wimbledon3R (1993, 1994, 1995, 1998)
US OpenQ2 (1996)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (1992)
Doubles
Career record19–38
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 86 (16 February 1998)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (1998)
French Open2R (1998)
WimbledonQF (1993)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon2R (1993, 1998)
Last updated on: 6 February 2022.

Christopher Wilkinson (born 5 January 1970) is a former tennis player from England.

Career

Born and bred in Southampton, Chris Wilkinson has achieved much in the world of tennis. But it could have been very different as his first passion was football in which he excelled for Southampton and had trials for Aston Villa and Coventry. Wilkinson started his winning ways with tennis tournament success as a 10-year-old junior. From there Wilkinson went on to win national and overseas tournaments and represented Great Britain in the World Championships at all junior age groups.

On the main Tour Wilkinson played some of his best tennis at Wimbledon where he reached the 3rd round in Singles on four occasions and made the quarter finals of Doubles. Wilkinson had the privilege of playing on Centre and No. 1 court on many occasions. He will probably be best remembered for his Centre Court battle in 1993 against Stefan Edberg, in which he broke the champion's serve no less than seven times before faltering on his own and succumbing to defeat in three close sets.[1]His best win was over Goran Ivanišević in 1993 at Queen's. Wilkinson has recorded many notable wins over several top 20 world ranked players. Wimbledon continues to be a special place for the former British No. 1 and he is regularly invited to compete in the Gentleman's senior invitational event.

In 1993 Wilkinson achieved his ambition of becoming British No. 1 Singles player. He represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Wilkinson retired from the main tour in 1999 but kept up his competitive play in the following years and in 2005 became the British and world over-35 champion.

Wilkinson is still very much involved with the sport, working with the LTA as a National Performance Coach/captain for the 12 to 16-year-old boys. In February 2018, he was appointed as County Performance Manager for Hampshire and Isle of Wight LTA.[2]

Wilkinson also remains very busy in the media world, including TV commentating for Eurosport, ATP media and ITV4. He also has a regular column with ESPN.[3]

As for playing tennis, Wilkinson is regularly invited to exhibition events where he often plays with some of the all-time greats of the tennis world.

Wilkinson currently resides in Hampshire with his wife Amanda and their two daughters, Alice born in 1998 and Emily born in 2001.

In 1984 he featured in an advert shown in the UK and Ireland for Bisto gravy.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP World Series (0–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (0–2)
Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Jun 1997Nottingham, United KingdomWorld SeriesGrassUnited Kingdom Danny SapsfordSouth Africa Ellis Ferreira
United States Patrick Galbraith		6–4, 6–7, 6–7
Loss0–2Sep 1997Bournemouth, United KingdomWorld SeriesClaySpain Alberto MartínUnited States Kent Kinnear
North Macedonia Aleksandar Kitinov		6–7, 2–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 8 (3–5)

Legend
ATP Challenger (3–5)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–3)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (2–1)
Carpet (0–1)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Nov 1992Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaChallengerHardThe Bahamas Roger Smith6–3, 6–1
Loss1–1Aug 1993Bronx, United StatesChallengerHardFrance Jean-Philippe Fleurian6–3, 5–7, 2–6
Loss1–2Sep 1994Singapore, SingaporeChallengerHardUnited States Tommy Ho3–6, 4–6
Loss1–3Feb 1995Hambühren, GermanyChallengerCarpetSlovakia Ján Krošlák6–7, 3–6
Win2–3Jul 1995Manchester, United KingdomChallengerGrassGermany Christian Saceanu6–4, 6–4
Loss2–4Oct 1995Charleroi, BelgiumChallengerHardSpain Juan-Luis Rascon-Lope7–6, 3–6, 6–7
Win3–4Jul 1998Manchester, United KingdomChallengerGrassItaly Stefano Pescosolido6–3, 6–4
Loss3–5Jul 1999Bristol, United KingdomChallengerGrassNetherlands Raemon Sluiter3–6, 7–6, 6–7

Doubles: 15 (7–8)

Legend
ATP Challenger (7–7)
ITF Futures (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (5–3)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (2–4)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Cancelled0–0Jul 1993Bristol, United KingdomChallengerGrassUnited Kingdom Paul HandUnited Kingdom Jeremy Bates
United Kingdom Mark Petchey		6–7, 6–4, abandoned
Win1–0Oct 1993Gothenburg, SwedenChallengerHardUnited Kingdom Jeremy BatesUnited Kingdom Andrew Foster
United Kingdom Ross Matheson		7–6, 6–3
Win2–0Sep 1994Azores, PortugalChallengerHardUnited Kingdom Danny SapsfordPortugal Emanuel Couto
Israel Eyal Ran		7–5, 6–1
Win3–0Oct 1994Dublin, IrelandChallengerCarpetUnited Kingdom Danny SapsfordGermany Arne Thoms
Netherlands Fernon Wibier		7–6, 2–6, 6–3
Loss3–1Feb 1995Hambühren, GermanyChallengerCarpetAustralia Brent LarkhamUnited States Bret Garnett
United States T. J. Middleton		2–6, 0–3 ret.
Loss3–2Sep 1995Azores, PortugalChallengerHardPortugal Nuno MarquesUnited Kingdom Tim Henman
Germany Christian Saceanu		2–6, 2–6
Win4–2Sep 1995Singapore, SingaporeChallengerHardGermany Martin ZumpftItaly Nicola Bruno
Italy Mosé Navarra		4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss4–3Aug 1996Bronx, United StatesChallengerHardSouth Africa Chris HaggardUnited States David Di Lucia
United States Scott Humphries		4–6, 1–6
Loss4–4Feb 1997Lübeck, GermanyChallengerCarpetUnited States Trey PhillipsGermany Mathias Huning
Netherlands Joost Winnink		6–7, 6–7
Win5–4Mar 1997Magdeburg, GermanyChallengerCarpetUnited States Trey PhillipsCzech Republic Tomas Anzari
Czech Republic Petr Luxa		6–3, 6–4
Win6–4Nov 1997Portorož, SloveniaChallengerHardUnited Kingdom Danny SapsfordCroatia Saša Hiršzon
Austria Udo Plamberger		6–0, 3–6, 6–3
Loss6–5Mar 1998Magdeburg, GermanyChallengerCarpetSouth Africa Marcos OndruskaIsrael Eyal Erlich
Italy Mosé Navarra		6–4, 1–6, 4–6
Loss6–6Aug 1998Istanbul, TurkeyChallengerHardAustralia Todd LarkhamIsrael Eyal Ran
Czech Republic Petr Luxa		4–6, 6–7
Loss6–7Sep 1998Edinburgh, United KingdomChallengerClaySouth Africa Marcos OndruskaNetherlands Peter Wessels
Netherlands Edwin Kempes		7–6, 3–6, 2–6
Win7–7Oct 1998Olbia, ItalyChallengerHardAustralia Todd LarkhamJapan Thomas Shimada
Switzerland Filippo Veglio		3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss7–8Apr 1999France F3, MelunFuturesCarpetUnited Kingdom Tom SpinksNorth Macedonia Aleksandar Kitinov
Austria Gerald Mandl		3–6, 2–6

Performance timelines

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAAAA1RAAAQ1A0 / 10–10%
French OpenAAAAAQ1AAQ1Q1Q1Q10 / 00–0 – 
WimbledonQ2AQ31R2R3R3R3R2R2R3R1R0 / 911–955%
US OpenAAAAAQ1AQ1Q2AAA0 / 00–0 – 
Win–loss0–00–00–00–11–12–12–22–11–11–12–10–10 / 1011–1052%
Olympic Games
Summer OlympicsANot Held1RNot HeldANot Held0 / 10–10%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
MiamiAAAAAA1RA1RAQ1A0 / 20–20%
CanadaAAAAA1RAAAAAA0 / 10–10%
CincinnatiAAAAAQ2AAAAAA0 / 00–0 – 
StuttgartAAAAAAAAQ2AAA0 / 00–0 – 
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–10–10–00–10–00–00–00 / 30–30%

Doubles

Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAAAAAA1RA0 / 10–10%
French OpenAAAAAAAA2RA0 / 11–150%
Wimbledon1R1R1RQF1R1R2R1R1R1R0 / 104–1029%
US OpenAAAAAAAAAA0 / 00–0 – 
Win–loss0–10–10–13–10–10–11–10–11–30–10 / 125–1229%
Olympic Games
Summer OlympicsNH1RNot HeldANot Held0 / 10–10%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
CanadaAAA2RAAAAAA0 / 11–150%
Win–loss0–00–00–01–10–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 11–150%
  1. ^ "UK: Edberg ends Wilkinson hopes at Wimbledon". Reuters. 26 June 1993.
  2. ^ "County Performance Manager – Chris Wilkinson – LTA". www3.lta.org.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Chris Wilkinson: Memories of SW19". ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
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