Oliver Golding

Tennis

Early career

In 2004, Golding began playing tennis for the Esporta Riverside Club, Chiswick, and later that year went to Wimbledon, under the Lawn Tennis Association's "Ariel Champions of the Future" scheme, to meet former professionals Martina Navratilova and Todd Woodbridge.

On 27 November 2005, in the first ever Aberdeen Cup tennis match, Golding was selected to represent England in one of the junior matches, beating Scotland's Scott Lister 11 games to 4 in their "tie-break" style rubber, to square the match however, Jamie Murray and Elena Baltacha won their subsequent doubles game, to secure a Scottish victory. It was claimed on the Guardian Unlimited website that Golding had "impressed Andy Murray when he played for England against Scotland".

In late 2006, as fourth seed, Golding lost 4–6, 2–6, in the semi-final of the Ariel Winter Grand Prix event (promoted by the LTA), to the eventual winner, number two seed Andrew Bettles.

Golding's first two tournament wins were in the Bournemouth Open (Boys 14) at the West Hants Club on 5 August 2007, when he defeated David Wright 6–3, 6–0 in the Final, and in the Frutina Westway Winter Tournament (16 & Under) on 31 December 2007, when he beat Alexander Wilton 6–0, 6–0 in that Final match. Golding was also the recipient of a £2,000 grant from "Tennis First", a charity set up to help young players fulfil their potential, and tennis kit from the manufacturers Fred Perry. Subsequently, on 5 April 2008, Golding beat Zack Evenden 6–3, 6–1 to win the Rickmansworth Junior Tournament (18 & Under Boys Singles).

Golding won his first ITF tournament in July 2008 at the Grade 5 Scottish International ITF doubles competition, partnering Nick Jones. He became the British junior No. 1 in late 2009. In 2010 he reached the semifinals in the junior boys singles at Wimbledon, beating the world Number No. 1 Jason Kubler en route.

At the Youth Olympics Golding beat world No. 1 and Junior Wimbledon champion Márton Fucsovics in round 1 of the singles, and won gold in the boys' doubles with Czech partner Jiří Veselý. This moved him into the top 20 of the ITF boys' world rankings. At the 2010 US Open Golding once again teamed up with Jiří Veselý in the boys' doubles. They reached the final where they lost 6–1, 7–5.

In September 2011, Golding won the US Open boys' singles, reaching as high as No. 2 in the junior combined rankings as a result.

Junior performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

2011

Golding was given a wildcard to play at the Aegon Championships in London but lost in the first round to 2007 finalist Nicolas Mahut in his first non-junior event.

At the French Open Golding was a Boys' Singles quarterfinalist. He was defeated by Bjorn Fratangelo 1–6, 1–6. Golding also reached the quarterfinals of the Boys' doubles at the French Open, partnered with Jiří Veselý, they lost to Mitchell Krueger and Shane Vinsant of the US in 4–6, 6–4, 8–10.

At the Wimbledon Championships Golding reached the Final of the boys' doubles, partnered with Jiří Veselý, where they lost to George Morgan & Mate Pavić in 3 sets 6–3, 4–6, 5–7. Golding reached the second round of the boys' singles.

Golding partnered Liam Broady at the boys' doubles at the 2011 U.S. Open, being beaten by R. Kern and J. Lenz, 6–7 (4–7), 4–6 of Germany in the quarterfinals. In the boys' Singles at the 2011 U.S. Open Golding won the final by defeating Jiří Veselý 5–7, 6–3, 6–4.

Golding finished the 2011 season with an ITF Junior Boys' Rankings world ranking of 3; his highest season ranking was 2.

2012

Through 2012, Golding mainly played on the Futures tour, winning two tournaments and losing one further final as of September 2012. Golding made his ATP Tour debut at the 2012 Aegon Championships and his grand slam debut at Wimbledon, losing both matches.

2014

In August 2014, Golding announced that he was "taking a break" from tour tennis, as he felt he had just been "going through the motions", partly due to his feelings about the reduction in the Lawn Tennis Association's bonus scheme and the closure of the high-performance programme at the National Tennis Centre in Richmond, very near his home. He stated that he felt he would have to relocate to France to continue in top-class tennis, because of a shortage of high quality training locations in the UK. However, he found that he was unwilling to do this, due to his dislike of travelling. As of 2015, Golding was a former tennis player helping out at his mother's tennis coaching school.

2017

Golding made a brief comeback in August when he came through qualifying to win an ITF Futures tournament in Italy defeating Davide Galoppini in the final 7–6 6–3. In the first round he knocked out the number one seed Yaraslav Shyla (298) 6–2 7–6. He followed this by reaching the final of his next futures event in Nottingham.

Golding admitted to being approached by Alexandros Jakupovic to throw a match.

Challengers and Futures finals

Singles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runner-ups)

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Doubles: 15 (9 titles, 6 runner-ups)

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Junior titles

Singles

Junior Grand Slams: 1 (1–0)

Doubles

Youth Olympics 1 (1–0)

Junior Doubles: 0 (0–2)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Current through 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

Education

Golding was educated at Newland House School, an independent school in Twickenham in south west London.

He attended Ganeass Educational Support Services from 2003 to 2010. During that time he achieved five GCSEs by the time he was 14, going on to complete three A levels before the age of 17.

Acting career

Golding's earliest appearance was on television in a commercial for Vauxhall Motors, as a two-year-old baby in 1996. After a small part in a stage version of Wind in the Willows in 1997, his next television role was in 1998 as Nat in the first two episodes of the wartime romantic drama Coming Home, which starred Keira Knightley.

Golding's first film project was as one of four small boys in Mike Leigh's award-winning 2002 comedy drama All or Nothing. His biggest film role to date then came in The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby, a tale of the story of Greyfriars Bobby, a child who takes on the responsibility of a policeman's dog after his death, and who has to win the battle with authority to save the dog's life. Though casting began in 2002, the film was much delayed due to problems with the funding. Shooting largely took place during 2004–05, and the film was released in France on 11 May 2005, Italy in July 2005, the USA on 29 October 2005 and at the Children's Film Festival in the UK on 16 November 2005.

In 2003 Golding portrayed Jeremy Potts in another stage show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in London's West End. In the same year, he appeared as one of the children in Ibsen's play, Brand, which starred Ralph Fiennes and was directed by Adrian Noble.

In March 2004, Golding made an appearance as a young customer in "Elephants and Hens", episode 2 of the third season of Black Books, the television comedy series about a dysfunctional bookshop owner, played by Dylan Moran. Then, in April of the same year, he took the part of Tom Dawson in the fifth episode of the Carlton Television production, Murder in Suburbia, in which Gwyneth Strong played his mother Pat. Finally in 2004, he provided the voice of Xath in the English version of the animated puppet fantasy Strings, co-produced by Birdpic Limited in association with Scandinavian partnerships.

In June 2008, Golding appeared in the BBC Three TV documentary Child Stars, featuring three promising youngsters with outstanding talent and ambition. However, he has forgone further advancement as an actor to concentrate on a possible tennis career.

Filmography

• All or Nothing (2002)
• Strings (voice) (2004)
• The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2005)

Personal life

Golding lives in London with his partner, former tennis professional and now tennis coach Marta Sirotkina.

References

References

1. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c0033 Youngest ever junior British number one]: [[BBC.co.uk]]. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
2. [http://www.esporta.com/Corporate/Press/Press+archive/Esporta+Serves+An+Ace/!+!/CLASS/Page/DBID/d42cc7266993892755bc782798a41a7d Playing tennis for the Esporta Riverside Club] {{Webarchive. link. (11 September 2007 , 2004: ''Esporta.com'' website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.)
3. [http://www.thisishertfordshire.co.uk/archive/display.var.506057.0.serving_up_future_stars.php "Serving up future stars"]{{Dead link. (July 2018)
4. [https://www.aboutaberdeen.com/aberdeencup.php The Aberdeen Cup 2005] (tennis): ''AboutAberdeen.com'' website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
5. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/4476784.stm Golding wins], but England lose: [[BBC Sport]] website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
6. [https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/jan/22/tennis.jonhenderson Impressing Andy Murray?] Yes, according to ''the Guardian''. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
7. [http://archive.falmouthpacket.co.uk/2007/1/17/77232.html Ariel Winter Grand Prix 2006]{{Dead link. (July 2018). Falmouth Packet]] website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
8. [http://www.coretennis.net/majic/pageServer/0t0100000d/en/tid/2980/index.html Bournemouth Open (Boys 14)] at the West Hants Club: ''CoreTennis.net'' website. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
9. [http://www.coretennis.net/majic/pageServer/0r0100000c/en/tid/2980/index.html 6–3, 6–0] victory for Golding, against David Wright, at the Bournemouth Open: ''CoreTennis.net'' website. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
10. [https://archive.today/20121224032956/http://www.lta.org.uk/Search/FindATournament/EventResults.htm?Id=1-LOZI5&PlayerId=1-WB-31049&BSMGuid=1f7f5e4c-2680-4cfc-8423-d45e63e7e735 6–0, 6–0] victory for Golding, against Alexander France, in the Frutina Westway Winter Tournament: LTA website. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
11. [https://archive.today/20120206084614/http://www.lta.org.uk/Search/FindATournament/EventResults.htm?Id=1-NLUZB&PlayerId=1-WB-31049&BSMGuid=6ef7ae79-3355-40f5-91ae-3c92cbca5dbe 6–3, 6–1] win over Zack Evenden, Rickmansworth Junior Tournament (18 & Under Boys Singles) Final: LTA website. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
12. ITF]]Tennis.com website. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
13. [http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/match_reports/2010-06-30/201006301277917373991.html Golding beats Jason Kubler] at Wimbledon: [[All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Wimbledon.org]] website. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
14. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8780316.stm Defeats Renzo Olivo] to reach Wimbledon Junior semi finals: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
15. (16 August 2010). "Golding hits form at Youth Games". BBC News.
16. ATP. "Oliver Golding Playing Activity 2012".
17. Steinberg, Jacob. (25 June 2012). "Wimbledon 2012". The Guardian.
18. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/atptour/11298902/Rising-tennis-star-who-quit-sport-Oli-Golding-says-its-too-hard-to-find-places-to-play-tennis-in-London.html Rising tennis star who quit sport, Oli Golding, says it's too hard to find places to play tennis in London]: [[Daily Telegraph]] website. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
19. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30878568 Finding a new job after hanging up the tennis racquet]: BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
20. (11 October 2017). "Tennis faces battle to end match-fixing, says British player Oli Golding".
21. [https://archive.today/20120917155329/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23863768-olympics-hopeful-oliver-golding-left-film-set-to-join-the-tennis-set.do Olympic Hopeful Oliver Golding Left Film Set to Join the Tennis Set] ''[[London Evening Standard]]'' – ''This Is London''. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
22. "Ganeass.co.uk".
23. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158653/fullcredits#cast Playing Nat (Nathaniel) in ''Coming Home'']: [[Internet Movie Database. IMDB.com]] website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
24. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158653/plotsummary ''Coming Home (1998 TV series)''], as Nathaniel: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
25. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286261/awards ''All or Nothing (2002 TV film)''], awards won: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
26. BFI.org.uk]] website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
27. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435597/combined ''The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2005 film)''], as Ewan Adams: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
28. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435597/releaseinfo Release info], ''[[The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby]]'': IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
29. [http://www.curtainup.com/brand.html ''Brand (2003 stage play)'']: ''Curtain Up.com'' website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
30. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0526548/ ''Black Books (2004 TV series)''], as a young customer: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
31. [http://www.tv.com/murder-in-suburbia/episode-five/episode/325496/summary.html?tag=ep_list;ep_title;4 ''Murder in Suburbia (2004 TV series)''], as Tom Dawson: [[TV.com]] website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
32. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090117154040/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/777627 ''Strings (2004 animated film)''], English voice of Xath: BFI.org.uk website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
33. (September 2025)
34. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/daviscup/6234319/Oliver-Golding-takes-centre-stage-on-the-junior-tennis-circuit.html Gave up acting] to concentrate on tennis: Daily Telegraph website. Retrieved 4 January 2010.