Brian Fairlie

Brian Fairlie (born 13 June 1948) is a New Zealand tennis player. During his career from 1968 to 1979, he won four titles in doubles, all with the Egyptian player Ismail El Shafei, and 10 singles titles in the Open era (and at least two more in 1967).

Playing career

Juniors

Fairlie was the 1967 Boys' Singles champion of the Australian Championships.

Professional

Fairlie's best result in a Grand Slam was reaching the semi-finals of men's doubles at the French Open in 1971 with partner Frew McMillan. A year earlier, he reached the singles quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, losing to Tony Roche.

While his highest ATP singles ranking was World No. 24 (in September 1973), Fairlie was ranked inside the world's Top 20 in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In 1969, his first full year on the circuit, he upset former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion John Newcombe in the quarterfinals of the Heineken Open in Auckland. The tournament's website describes the atmosphere at the event that year: "There was wild excitement in a packed stadium when Kiwi Brian Fairlie pulled off an upset win over Newcombe in five hard-fought sets. When he went on to face Laver, the gates had to be closed against the huge crowds wanting to get in."

In 1972 he won the Midland RC International a WCT event that year. In both 1975 and 1976, Fairlie reached the finals of this tournament, losing on both occasions to fellow New Zealander Onny Parun. Also in 1972 he won the Wellington Open Championships.

In 1976, Fairlie played in an Australian Open match notable for having the 13th oldest combined age in Grand Slam history. His age and the age of Frank Sedgman, his opponent, averaged 37 years, 10 months, and 9 days.

In winning the second of his two singles titles (in Manila, Philippines in 1976), he lost only one set during the entire tournament.

Davis Cup

From 1966 through 1979, he played in 48 Davis Cup matches for New Zealand, winning 13 in singles and seven in doubles.

Team Tennis

In 1974, the inaugural year of World Team Tennis, he became a member of the Philadelphia Freedoms; the team posted the league's best record for the year at 39–5.

Career finals

Singles (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 1973	London WCT, England	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Mark Cox	2–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Feb 1973	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Jan Kodeš	1–6, 3–6, 1–6
Loss	1–2	Jan 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Template:Flagicon Onny Parun	6–4, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 4–6
Loss	1–3	Mar 1975	London, England	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Mark Cox	1–6, 5–7
Loss	1–4	Dec 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Template:Flagicon Onny Parun	2–6, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win	2–4	Nov 1976	Manila, Philippines	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ray Ruffels	7–5, 6–7, 7–6

Doubles (4 titles, 14 runner-up)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1971	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Template:Flagicon Ray Moore	Template:Flagicon Bob Carmichael Template:Flagicon Ray Ruffels	3–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	0–2	Sep 1972	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Pancho Gonzales Template:Flagicon Jimmy Connors	3–6, 6–4, 6–7
Loss	0–3	Oct 1972	Alamo WCT, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Tom Okker Template:Flagicon Marty Riessen	6–7, 4–6
Loss	0–4	Nov 1972	Gothenburg, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Tom Okker Template:Flagicon Marty Riessen	2–6, 6–7
Loss	0–5	Mar 1973	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Ken Rosewall Template:Flagicon Fred Stolle	7–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	0–6	Apr 1973	Cleveland, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Ken Rosewall Template:Flagicon Fred Stolle	2–6, 3–6
Loss	0–7	Aug 1973	Tanglewood, U.S.	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Bob Carmichael Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan	3–6, 4–6
Win	1–7	Apr 1974	St. Louis, U.S.	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Geoff Masters Template:Flagicon Ross Case	7–6, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	1–8	Jan 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Template:Flagicon Onny Parun	Template:Flagicon Bob Carmichael Template:Flagicon Ray Ruffels	6–7, ret.
Loss	1–9	Apr 1975	Charlotte, US	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Patricio Cornejo Template:Flagicon Jaime Fillol	3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Loss	1–10	Mar 1976	Mexico City, Mexico	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Brian Gottfried Template:Flagicon Raúl Ramírez	4–6, 6–7
Loss	1–11	Oct 1976	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Syd Ball Template:Flagicon Kim Warwick	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–11	Oct 1976	Sydney, Australia	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Syd Ball Template:Flagicon Kim Warwick	7–5, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	2–12	Nov 1976	Tokyo, Japan	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Bob Carmichael Template:Flagicon Ken Rosewall	4–6, 4–6
Win	3–12	Jul 1977	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Tim Gullikson Template:Flagicon Tom Gullikson	6–7, 6–3, 7–6
Win	4–12	Mar 1978	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Lito Álvarez Template:Flagicon George Hardie	6–3, 7–5, 6–2
Loss	4–13	Jul 1978	Cincinnati, U.S.	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Gene Mayer Template:Flagicon Raúl Ramírez	3–6, 3–6
Loss	4–14	Aug 1978	New Orleans, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Erik van Dillen Template:Flagicon Dick Stockton	6–7, 3–6

External links

• Template:ATP
• Template:ITF
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Davis CupTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Transcript of 2008 New Zealand House of Representatives proceedings Template:Webarchive during which Representative Dail Jones reminisced about the matches in Auckland between Fairlie and Onny Parun.