George Ball-Greene

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.