Richard Russell
Country (sports) Caribbean/West Indies
 Jamaica
Born (1945-09-08) 8 September 1945
Kingston, Jamaica
Singles
Career record173-241
Career titles5
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1964, 1966, 1967)
French Open2R (1974)
Wimbledon2R (1969)
US Open2R (1968)

Richard Russell (born 8 September 1945) is a Jamaican former professional tennis player.

Biography

Russell is the only Jamaican to progress past the first round at all four grand slam tournaments. At the 1966 Australian Championships he won his first round match over Richie Chopra, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

Russell won the 1966 Kingston International Championships at Kingston, Jamaica defeating Arthur Ashe in the final in three sets. This was an annual tournament in the international circuit and Russell would be the only Jamaican to win the event.

Outside of grand slam competition, he had a noted win over Dennis Ralston in 1972 at an invitational tournament in Puerto Rico.[1] In 1975 he took part in the inaugural Nations Cup (then the name of the World Team Cup), as a member of the Caribbean team.[2]

Davis Cup

A national champion at the age of 16, Russell represented the Caribbean/West Indies in Davis Cup competition. He was the team's most successful player during its existence, winning a record ten rubbers between 1964 and 1976, eight of those in singles. In the 1966 Davis Cup competition he won the deciding fifth rubber over Venezuela's Isaías Pimentel to give the Caribbean/West Indies their first ever win in a tie and also won a doubles match against the American duo of Arthur Ashe and Charlie Passarel.[3] In 1972 he won a singles rubber against Erik van Dillen of the United States.

His son Ryan played Davis Cup for Jamaica.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Ralston Beaten by Russell". The New York Times. 29 March 1972.
  2. ↑ "Tennis - First World Cup - Kingston, Jamaica". The Canberra Times. 22 September 1975. p. 10. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Trove.
  3. 1 2 Aitcheson, Connie (26 December 2013). "Taking a shot on tennis in Jamaica". ESPN.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.