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Eric Sturgess

South African tennis player (1920–2004)

Field	Value
name	Eric Sturgess
fullname	Eric William Sturgess
country	RSA South Africa
birth_date
birth_place	Johannesburg, South Africa
death_date
death_place	Sunninghill, South Africa
plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
singlesrecord	292–55 (84.15%)
highestsinglesranking	No. 6 (1948, John Olliff)
AustralianOpenresult	SF (1950)
FrenchOpenresult	F (1947, 1951)
Wimbledonresult	SF (1951)
USOpenresult	F (1948)
AustralianOpenDoublesresult	F (1950)
FrenchOpenDoublesresult	W (1947)
WimbledonDoublesresult	F (1951, 1952)
Mixed
AustralianOpenMixedresult	F (1950)
FrenchOpenMixedresult	W (1947, 1949)
WimbledonMixedresult	W (1949, 1950)
USOpenMixedresult	W (1949)

Eric William Sturgess (10 May 1920 – 14 January 2004) was a South African male tennis player and winner of six Grand Slam doubles titles. He also reached the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament three times but never won. Sturgess was ranked World No. 6 by John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph in both 1948 and 1949.

Biography

Eric Sturgess was born in Johannesburg, where he attended Parktown Boys' High School. Sturgess joined the South African Air Force on the outbreak of World War II and became an instructor with No 4 Spitfire Squadron, SAAF. In October 1944 he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire, captured on landing and sent to the air force officers' prison camp, Stalag Luft III, in eastern Germany. In January 1945 he was transported to Stalag IIIA at Luckenwalde which was liberated two months later by the advancing Russian forces.

He reached the singles final of the 1947 and 1951 French Championships but lost to Hungarian József Asbóth (6–8, 5–7, 4–6) and Jaroslav Drobný (6–3, 6–3, 6–3) respectively. In 1947 he won the doubles competition with countryman Eustace Fannin. In 1948 he reached the singles final at the U.S. National Championships but lost to American Pancho Gonzales.

In 1947 and 1948 he won the British Hard Court Championships played in Bournemouth. He won the first three Swedish Open tournaments (1948, 1949, 1950), played in Båstad. Sturgess won a record 11 singles titles at the South African Championships between 1939 and 1957.

At both the 1951 and 1952 South African Open, he won in the finals playing Syd Levy of South Africa.

By the end of his career Sturgess had reached 15 Grand Slam finals (three in singles, six in doubles and six in mixed doubles). He won four titles (the 1947 French Championships doubles title, the 1949 French Championships mixed doubles title and the 1949 and 1950 Wimbledon mixed doubles title).

He represented South Africa in the Davis Cup competition in six ties, compiling a 13–5 record in singles and doubles.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1947	French Championships	Clay	HUN József Asbóth	6–8, 5–7, 4–6
Loss	1948	U.S. National Championships	Grass	USA Pancho Gonzales	2–6, 3–6, 12–14
Loss	1951	French Championships	Clay	EGY Jaroslav Drobný	3–6, 3–6, 3–6

Doubles (1 title, 5 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents
Win	1947	French Championships	Clay	RSA Eustace Fannin	USA Tom Brown
AUS Bill Sidwell	6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss	1949	French Championships	Clay	RSA Eustace Fannin	USA Pancho Gonzales
USA Frank Parker	3–6, 6–8, 7–5, 3–6
Loss	1950	Australian Championships	Grass	EGY Jaroslav Drobný	AUS John Bromwich
AUS Adrian Quist	3–6, 7–5, 6–4, 3–6, 6–8
Loss	1950	French Championships	Clay	EGY Jaroslav Drobný	USA Bill Talbert
USA Tony Trabert	2–6, 6–1, 8–10, 2–6
Loss	1951	Wimbledon	Grass	EGY Jaroslav Drobný	AUS Ken McGregor
AUS Frank Sedgman	6–3, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss	1952	Wimbledon	Grass	USA Vic Seixas	AUS Ken McGregor
AUS Frank Sedgman	3–6, 5–7, 4–6

Mixed doubles (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents
Win	1947	French Championships	Clay	RSA Sheila Piercey Summers	POL Jadwiga Jędrzejowska
ROU Cristea Caralulis	6–0, 6–0
Win	1949	French Championships	Clay	RSA Sheila Piercey Summers	GBR Jean Quertier
GBR Gerry Oakley	6–1, 6–1
Win	1949	Wimbledon	Grass	RSA Sheila Piercey Summers	USA Louise Brough
AUS John Bromwich	9–7, 9–11, 7–5
Win	1949	U.S. National Championships	Grass	USA Louise Brough	USA Margaret Osborne duPont
USA Bill Talbert	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
Loss	1950	Australian Championships	Grass	AUS Joyce Fitch	USA Doris Hart
AUS Frank Sedgman	6–8, 4–6
Win	1950	Wimbledon	Grass	USA Louise Brough	USA Pat Canning Todd
AUS Geoff Brown	11–9, 1–6, 6–4
Loss	1952	French Championships	Clay	USA Shirley Fry	USA Doris Hart
AUS Frank Sedgman	8–6, 3–6, 3–6

References

United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 426.
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gMU-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=l0wMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2149,4664583&dq=mulloy+tennis+world&hl=en "Richard Gonzalez World's No. 1: Amateur Lawn Tennis Rankings"], ''The Sunday Indian Express'', 18 November 1949.
(5 February 2004). "Obituaries – Eric Sturgess". The Telegraph.
Collins, Bud. (2010). "The Bud Collins History of Tennis". New Chapter Press.
"Davis Cup – Player Profile". [[International Tennis Federation]] (ITF).

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