Mark Cox (tennis)

Mark Cox

Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Born	5 July 1943 Leicester, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Turned pro	1970 (amateur tour from 1962)
Retired	1981
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	299–224 (Open era)
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 13 (23 August 1977)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (1967, 1971)
French Open	3R (1968)
Wimbledon	4R (1968, 1977, 1979)
US Open	QF (1966)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals	QF (1975)
Doubles
Career record	142–157 (Open era)
Career titles	3 (Open era)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	F (1969)

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. 13 on the ATP rankings (achieving that ranking in August 1977). Cox was educated at Wyggeston Boys' School in Leicester and Millfield School in Somerset.

Cox obtained an economics undergraduate degree from the University of Cambridge (Downing College), where he was a member of the Cambridge University Lawn Tennis Club.

During his career, he won eight singles titles and three doubles titles, reached the quarterfinals at the US Nationals (in 1966), and the final at the event in Cincinnati (in 1977).^[1] He also played on Great Britain's Davis Cup team, and was on the team that reached the 1978 final against the United States.^[2] He has also gone down in tennis history as the first amateur player to beat a professional.^[3] In May 1968, at the British Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth, he beat the American Pancho Gonzales in five sets in two and a quarter hours.^[4] Cox also achieved big upset wins over No. 1 seed, Rod Laver, at the 1971 Australian Open,^[5] and over No. 2 seed, Ken Rosewall, at the 1972 US Open.^[6] Cox retired from playing in 1981. During his latter playing years and after his retirement, Cox has worked as a coach, and also as a television commentator for the BBC. He is also 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.

Career finals

Singles (8 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	1969	Caracas, Venezuela	Clay	Thomaz Koch	6–8, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	1972	Louisville WCT, US	Clay	Arthur Ashe	4–6, 4–6
Winner	1.	1972	Cleveland WCT, US	Hard	Ray Ruffels	6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	1973	London WCT, England	Hard (i)	Brian Fairlie	6–2, 2–6, 2–6, 6–7
Winner	2.	1973	Denver WCT, US	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6–1, 6–1
Winner	3.	1973	Eastbourne, England	Grass	Patrice Dominguez	6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Runner-up	4.	1974	Bologna WCT, Italy	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	4–6, 5–7
Runner-up	5.	1974	London WCT, England	Hard (i)	Björn Borg	7–6, 6–7, 4–6
Winner	4.	1975	London WCT, England	Carpet	Brian Fairlie	6–1, 7–5
Winner	5.	1975	Washington Indoor WCT, US	Carpet	Dick Stockton	6–2, 7–6
Winner	6.	1975	Atlanta WCT, US	Carpet	John Alexander	6–3, 7–6
Winner	7.	1976	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Manuel Orantes	4–6, 7–5, 7–6
Winner	8.	1977	Helsinki, Finland	Carpet	Kjell Johansson	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	6.	1977	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	7–9, 5–7
Runner-up	7.	1977	Cincinnati, US	Clay	Harold Solomon	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	8.	1980	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Hard (i)	Tomáš Šmíd	1–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–1, 4–6

Doubles (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)

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

References

1. Lawrence Journal-World. "Sports Briefs". 19 July 1977, p. 11. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
2. Wilmington Morning Star. "Davis Cup players named". 17 November 1978, p. 3-C. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
3. Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "Mark Cox Is Tennis Champ". 3 May 1970, p. B4. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
4. Montreal Gazette. He followed this up for good measure by beating two times Wimbledon Champion Roy Emerson in the next round. "British Tennis Amateur Mark Cox Upsets U.S. Pro Pancho Gonzales". Associated Press, 25 April 1968, p. 14. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
5. Stone, Peter. "Laver leaves tired, beaten". The Age, 12 March 1971, p. 24. Retrieved on 15 July 2013.
6. Times Daily (Florence, S.C.). "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.

External links

• Mark Cox at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Mark Cox at the International Tennis Federation
• Mark Cox at the Davis Cup