Colin Dowdeswell

Colin Dowdeswell (born 12 May 1955) is a former professional tennis player who represented, at different times, Rhodesia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and who achieved rank as UK No. 1. During his time on the world tour, he won one singles title and eleven doubles titles. The highlight of his career was reaching the men's doubles final of Wimbledon.

Early life

Dowdeswell was born in London but grew up in Rhodesia. He was educated at Prince Edward School and The University of the Witswatersrand. He also received an MBA at Insead business school in 1987.

Tennis career highlights

Partnering Australian Allan Stone, Dowdeswell finished runner-up in doubles at Wimbledon in 1975. Unseeded, after two straight sets wins, they defeated the No. 7 seeds Tom Okker and Marty Riessen in the round of 16 in four sets. They did likewise in eliminating the No. 3 seeds, Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan, in the quarterfinals. It took Dowdeswell and Stone then five sets to overcome the unseeded team of Dick Crealy and Niki Pilic in the semifinals. They lost the final to another unseeded tandem, Vitas Gerulaitis and Sandy Mayer, 5–7, 6–8, 4–6.

Dowdeswell achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 31 in 1983 and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 24 in 1980.

Career finals

Grand Prix and WCT finals (4)

Singles: 4 (1 title)

Result	W–L	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	1974	Dublin, Ireland	Hard	Template:Flagicon Sherwood Stewart	3–6, 8–9
Win	1–1	1975	Istanbul, Turkey	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ferdi Taygan	6–1, 6–4, 6–2
Loss	1–2	1978	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Template:Flagicon Cliff Richey	2–6, 4–6
Loss	1–3	1983	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Template:Flagicon Johan Kriek	4–6, 6–4, 6–1, 5–7, 3–6

Grand Slam, Grand Prix, and WCT finals

Doubles: 28 (11 titles)

Result	No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	1974	Dublin, Ireland	Hard	Template:Flagicon John Yuill	Template:Flagicon Lito Álvarez Template:Flagicon Jorge Andrew	6–3, 6–2
Loss	1.	1975	Birmingham, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon John Yuill	Template:Flagicon Jürgen Fassbender Template:Flagicon Karl Meiler	1–6, 6–3, 6–7
Loss	2.	1975	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	Template:Flagicon Vitas Gerulaitis Template:Flagicon Sandy Mayer	5–7, 6–8, 4–6
Loss	3.	1975	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ken Rosewall	Template:Flagicon Jürgen Fassbender Template:Flagicon Hans-Jürgen Pohmann	4–6, 7–9, 1–6
Loss	4.	1975	Istanbul, Turkey	Clay	Template:Flagicon John Feaver	Template:Flagicon Colin Dibley Template:Flagicon Thomaz Koch	2–6, 2–6, 2–6
Loss	5.	1976	Nuremberg, Germany	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Paul Kronk	Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan Template:Flagicon Karl Meiler	6–7, 4–6
Loss	6.	1976	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Template:Flagicon Paul Kronk	Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak Template:Flagicon Jacek Niedźwiedzki	2–6, 3–6
Loss	7.	1976	Cologne, Germany	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Mike Estep	Template:Flagicon Bob Hewitt Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan	1–6, 6–3, 6–7
Loss	8.	1977	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Template:Flagicon Bob Hewitt	Template:Flagicon Jürgen Fassbender Template:Flagicon Karl Meiler	4–6, 6–7
Loss	9.	1977	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Chris Kachel	Template:Flagicon Buster Mottram Template:Flagicon Roger Taylor	6–7, 4–6
Win	2.	1978	Sarasota, U.S.	Carpet	Template:Flagicon Geoff Masters	Template:Flagicon Byron Bertram Template:Flagicon Bernard Mitton	2–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	10.	1978	Lagos, Nigeria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jürgen Fassbender	Template:Flagicon George Hardie Template:Flagicon Sashi Menon	3–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win	3.	1978	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jürgen Fassbender	Template:Flagicon Željko Franulović Template:Flagicon Hans Gildemeister	6–3, 6–4
Loss	11.	1978	Toronto, Canada	Clay	Template:Flagicon Heinz Günthardt	Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak Template:Flagicon Tom Okker	3–6, 6–7
Win	4.	1979	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Template:Flagicon Heinz Günthardt	Template:Flagicon Raymond Moore Template:Flagicon Ilie Năstase	6–3, 7–6
Win	5.	1979	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan	Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak Template:Flagicon Pavel Složil	6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4
Loss	12.	1980	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Template:Flagicon Heinz Günthardt	Template:Flagicon Bob Hewitt Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan	4–6, 3–6
Win	6.	1980	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei	Template:Flagicon Mark Edmondson Template:Flagicon Kim Warwick	6–4, 6–4
Win	7.	1980	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan	Template:Flagicon Chris Lewis Template:Flagicon John Yuill	6–3, 6–4
Loss	13.	1983	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak	Template:Flagicon Pavel Složil Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	7–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	14.	1983	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Zoltán Kuhárszky	Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak Template:Flagicon Pavel Složil	5–7, 2–6
Win	8.	1983	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Template:Flagicon Zoltán Kuhárszky	Template:Flagicon Peter Elter Template:Flagicon Peter Feigl	6–4, 7–5
Loss	15.	1984	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak	Template:Flagicon Henri Leconte Template:Flagicon Pascal Portes	6–2, 6–7, 6–7
Loss	16.	1984	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jakob Hlasek	Template:Flagicon Peter Doohan Template:Flagicon Brian Levine	3–6, 4–6
Win	9.	1985	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Template:Flagicon Joakim Nyström	Template:Flagicon Sergio Casal Template:Flagicon Emilio Sánchez	6–4, 6–7, 7–6
Win	10.	1985	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Template:Flagicon Christo van Rensburg	Template:Flagicon Amos Mansdorf Template:Flagicon Shahar Perkiss	3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Win	11.	1986	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Christo Steyn	Template:Flagicon Brian Levine Template:Flagicon Laurie Warder	6–3, 4–6, 6–1
Loss	17.	1986	Nice, France	Clay	Template:Flagicon Gary Donnelly	Template:Flagicon Jakob Hlasek Template:Flagicon Pavel Složil	3–6, 6–4, 9–11

Davis Cup

Dowdeswell participated in one Davis Cup tie for Rhodesia in 1976, posting a 2–0 record in singles and an 0–1 record in doubles. He participated in six Davis Cup ties for Great Britain from 1984 to 1986, posting an 0–2 record in singles and a 5–1 record in doubles.

Life outside tennis

Dowdeswell completed his tennis career in 1986 and began a career in financial services and private banking with Merrill Lynch. Married with three children, he resides in Monaco.

External links

• Template:ATP
• Template:ITF
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Davis CupTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Official website