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General First nameGeorge Courtenay
LastnameBall Greene
GenderMale
CountryIreland
Date of birth1870-11-25
Place of birthKilliney, County Dublin, Ireland
Date of death1958-01-14
Place of deathDun Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland


About

Irish-born George Courtenay Ball-Green was educated at Twyford School and Winchester College before going to Dublin University. He qualified as a barrister in 1893 but practised very little, preferring to work on the London Stock Exchange as a partner in the stockbroking firm of S. Marcus & Co.

At school, Ball-Greene was a fine cricketer before his love for lawn tennis got the better of him. He went on to enjoy a successful competitive tennis career of more than 20 years after making his début in his first major tournament, the North of Ireland Championships in 1910. Major career wins of Ball-Greene included the 1891 North of Ireland Championship, the Welsh Championships of 1893 and 1894 and in Germany, he enjoyed success at the Bad Homburg Championships in 1903 and 1904, and at Baden-Baden in 1906.

Ball-Greene took part in the singles at Wimbledon seven times between 1894-1908 but with little success. At the 1903 Championships he reached the semi-final of the men’s doubles challenge round with Wilberfoce Eaves, only to be eliminated by the eventual champions Laurie and Reggie Doherty. Ball-Greene’s last major singles tournament was a Deauville in 1912 when he retired after one set against Max Décugis, winner of three gold medals at the 1906 Intercalated Olympics in Athens.

Despite playing his last major event in 1912, Ball-Greene continued playing tennis well into his 40s and, in 1919 at age of 48, played in the men’s doubles at the Leicester Tournament with Arthur Wentworth Gore, the three-time Wimbledon singles champion and double Olympic gold medallist. The combined age of the two men at the time was 101 years and 54 days.

Media


Archive statistics Career1890 - 1912
Tournament wins9
Matches338
Match wins227


Tournament wins 1905 - Baden-Baden (Amateur)
1904 - Homburg Cup (Amateur)
1903 - Homburg Cup (Amateur)
1897 - Sussex Championships (Amateur)
1894 - Championships of Wales (Amateur)
1893 - Championships of Wales (Amateur)
1893 - Edgbaston (Amateur)
1891 - North of Ireland Championships (Amateur)
1891 - Darlington (Amateur)


Tournaments Deauville - 1912 Wimbledon - 1908 Monte Carlo - 1908 Cannes Championships - 1908 Olympics, Olympic Games - 1908 South of France Championships - 1908 Leicester - 1908 Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament - 1908 Homburg Cup - 1907 Baden-Baden - 1907 Leicester - 1907 Wimbledon - 1906 European Championship - 1906 Homburg Cup - 1906 Baden-Baden - 1906 Wimbledon - 1905 European Championship - 1905 Homburg Cup - 1905 Baden-Baden - 1905 Wimbledon Plate (Consolation) - 1905 Wimbledon - 1904 Northumberland Championships - 1904 Homburg Cup - 1904 Baden-Baden - 1904 Wimbledon - 1903 Northumberland Championships - 1903 Homburg Cup - 1903 Homburg International Championship - 1903 Wimbledon - 1902 Northumberland Championships - 1902 Homburg Cup - 1902 Homburg Coronation Cup - 1902 Buxton - 1902 Irish Championships - 1901 Irish Championships - 1900 South of England Championships - 1900 Irish Championships - 1899 Sussex Championships - 1899 South of England Championships - 1899 Monte Carlo - 1898 Irish Championships - 1898 Sussex Championships - 1898 South of England Championships - 1898 Bournemouth - 1898 Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament - 1898 Welsh Covered Court Championships - 1898 Fitzwilliam Plate - 1898 Irish Championships - 1897 German International Championships - 1897 Sussex Championships - 1897 Homburg Cup - 1897 Baden-Baden - 1897 South of England Championships - 1897 Welsh Covered Court Championships - 1897 Fitzwilliam Club Championships - 1897 Fitzwilliam Plate - 1897 Irish Championships - 1896 Sussex Championships - 1896 Warwickshire Championships - 1896 Fitzwilliam Plate - 1896 Irish Championships - 1895 Sussex Championships - 1895 West of England Championships - 1895 Championships of Wales - 1895 South of England Championships - 1895 Yorkshire Championships - 1895 Exmouth - 1895 Teignmouth and Shaldon - 1895 Clifton - 1895 Fitzwilliam Club Championships - 1895 Wimbledon - 1894 Irish Championships - 1894 Sussex Championships - 1894 Championships of Wales - 1894 South of England Championships - 1894 Exmouth - 1894 Buxton - 1894 Fitzwilliam Club Championships - 1894 Irish Championships - 1893 Sussex Championships - 1893 North of England Championships - 1893 Championships of Wales - 1893 Nottingham - 1893 Northumberland Championships - 1893 South of England Championships - 1893 Yorkshire Championships - 1893 Exmouth - 1893 Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament - 1893 Craigside - 1893 Warwickshire Championships - 1893 Buxton - 1893 Edgbaston - 1893 County Dublin Championships - 1893 Fitzwilliam Club Championships - 1893 Bradford - 1893 Sussex Championships - 1892 Nottingham - 1892 Northumberland Championships - 1892 South of England Championships - 1892 Warwickshire Championships - 1892 Buxton - 1892 Burton on Trent - 1892 Edgbaston - 1892 Darlington - 1892 Fitzwilliam Club Championships - 1892 North of Ireland Championships - 1892 Irish Championships - 1891 Nottingham - 1891 Northumberland Championships - 1891 Leicester - 1891 Northern Lawn Tennis Association Tournament - 1891 Sheffield - 1891 Buxton - 1891 Burton on Trent - 1891 Dublin University LT Championships - 1891 Darlington - 1891 County Dublin Championships - 1891 Fitzwilliam Club Championships - 1891 North of Ireland Championships - 1891 Irish Championships - 1890 Dublin University LT Championships - 1890 County Dublin Championships - 1890 North of Ireland Championships - 1890