Gerald Leighton Patterson
Born: December 17, 1895
Died: June 13, 1967
Hometown: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Citizenship: Australia
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1989
Grand Slam Record
Australian Singles 1927
Singles finalist 1914, 22, 25
Doubles 1914, 22, 25-27
Doubles finalist 1924, 32
Wimbledon Singles 1919, 22
Singles finalist 1920
Doubles finalist 1922, 26
Mixed 1920
Tournament Record
Davis Cup Team Member 1919, 20, 22, 1924-25, 28
A strapping 6-footer, Gerald Leighton Patterson followed Norman Brookes as Australia’s second international tennis star. A heroic Military Cross winner with the Australian army in World I, he played the game with daring, too, charging the net behind an explosive serve, both flat and twisting. His exemplary smash, stiff volleying and good forehand rewarded him with two Wimbledon championships.
An all-or-nothing outlook never was displayed more glaringly than in his Australian championship victory in 1927. Beating lefty Jack Hawkes in the fifth, he blasted 29 aces and 29 double faults. In 1919 Patterson took the title from Brookes, who had to wait through World War I, to defend in the challenge round. Patterson lost it to Bill Tilden in 1920, but with Tilden failing to defend in 1922, he helped christen the “new” (present) site by defeating Randolph Lycett easily. It was over so fast (6-3, 6-4, 6-2) that no fat lady had a chance to sing. But the world’s most famous singer was in the debuting Centre Court, beaming, if not for her Gerald. That was Dame Nellie Melba, the great Australian diva, Patterson’s aunt and No. 1 fan. Patterson was known as the “Human Catapult” at home for his brutal serve, and there were tales that some of his aces were so forceful they bounded into the grandstand.
He spurred Australia to the Davis Cup finales of 1922 and 1924, and helped win the only the U.S. at Forest Hills, joining Pat O’Hara Wood for a doubles victory over Tilden and Vinnie Richards in 1922. In 1925 he was considerably ahead of his time, using for a while a steel racket strung with wire. His best U.S. showings were semifinal finishes at Forest Hills, losing to Tilden in 1922, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, and Bill Johnston 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 in 1924. He did better against Johnston when Bill won the 1919 title, losing 7-5 in the fifth, a fourth-rounder. But that summer in Boston, Patterson and Norman Brookes made the first dent in the U.S. that would become a canyon: Aussies taking one of the Yanks’ championships, the doubles, as they beat Tilden and Richards in five.
Five Aussie doubles titles were his between 1914 and 1927, three with Hawkes. He was among the World Top Ten six times between 1919 and 1925, No. 1 in 1919. Patterson was born December 17, 1895, in Melbourne, and died there June 13, 1967. He was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1989.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.