There have been a handful of British tennis players who have left their mark on professional tennis.
The UK’s most successful player is Andy Murray, who has won three Grand Slams and two Olympic gold medals during his near two-decade career.
The likes of Virginia Wade made history by winning three Grand Slam singles titles and four in doubles, making her the only British woman in history to have won titles at all four majors.
But there is one British player who made history at one particular Grand Slam, and he also achieved success at the Olympic Games.
Wilberforce Eaves is the first British man to ever win the US Open title
The first player from Great Britain to reach the US Open final was Wilberforce Eaves.
Despite being born in Melbourne, Australia, he represented the United Kingdom and he made his name by reaching the 1895 men’s singles All-Comers’ Wimbledon final.
Eaves lost to fellow Briton Wilfred Baddeley, despite having a match point.
Two years later, Eaves reached the 1897 US Open final and he made history by becoming the first non-American to reach this stage of the tournament.
He contested a five-set match against Robert Wrenn, but the American triumphed 4-6, 8-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Nine years later, Wilberforce represented Great Britain at an Olympic Games on home soil, where he won a bronze medal by defeating John Richardson 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Wilberforce won 39 singles titles throughout his career and claimed 341 match wins alongside 96 defeats.
What was Wilberforce Eaves’ other profession besides tennis?
Eaves also proved his skills in another area besides the tennis court.
He qualified as a doctor of medicine and he became a civil surgeon. His services were used in the Second World War, which lasted from 1939 to 1945.
In August 1914, the first week of the First World War, Eaves was commissioned in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and after a year’s service, he was promoted to captain.
Following his service to the country and in addition to his tennis career, Eaves was awarded an MBE.
Eaves died in London on 10 February 1920 at the age of 52, and he was laid to rest in Greenwich, leaving a legacy as a tennis history-maker and a proud servant for Great Britain in the First and Second World Wars.
