Jeremy Bates

Jeremy Bates was the 1974 British junior under-12 champion and he progressed through the LTA system to become one of the leading British players of the 1980s and 90s. Bates was British number one for more than five years and was also five times the national singles champion, and doubles champion on seven occasions. He reached a highest ranking of 54 on the ATP Tour singles in 1995 having been as high as 25 in the doubles in 1991. He won his first and only ATP singles title at the 137th attempt when he beat Germany’s Jörn Renzenbrink to win at Seoul in 1994 and become the first Briton to win an ATP title since Mark Cox 17 years earlier. Bates also won three ATP doubles titles.

Bates’ best Grand Slam singles performance was in reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon in both 1992 and 1994. His most memorable match was in 1992 when he had match-point against Frenchman Guy Forget, but eventually ended up losing in five sets. When Bates next reached the last 16 two years later, he would lose to Forget once more.

Despite the last-16 being his best Grand Slam singles finish, Bates won two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, both with fellow-Briton Jo Durie, at Wimbledon in 1987 and the Australian Open in 1991. Bates also played in 20 Davis Cup ties from 1985 with an 18/18 singles record, and 9/6 doubles record. He was the Great Britain coach from 2000-03 and was team captain team from 2004-06.

After 14 years as a professional, Bates bowed out after walking off Wimbledon’s court 14 following a straight-sets defeat by the Venezuelan Nicolas Pereira. It was Bates’ 15th Wimbledon appearance. After retiring, Bates worked with the LTA and was at one-time an LTA training manager in Florida. He also worked as a coach to the British player Anne Keothavong. Bates also undertook television work as a pundit and commentator for the BBC, Sky Sports and British Eurosport.