Wilding remembered

DRESSED IN STYLE: Some Hibiscus Coast Veterans Tennis Club women at the Tony Wilding tournament wore long nighties – the only garments they have resembling tennis gear of 100 years ago.

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They've rolled back the years to the glory days of tennis-playing lawyer Tony Wilding.

Tony who?

That question is understandable because the name Wilding means little to most New Zealanders.

Yet Anthony Frederick Wilding was revered around the world as a sporting giant.

That was why the Hibiscus Coast Veterans Tennis Club last week mounted a period-dress tournament commemorating the 100th anniversary of his first spectacular triumph at Wimbledon.

"It’s sad that his amazing achievements are now totally unknown to most people," says club president Jan Baker. "It may seem hard to credit but many tennis enthusiasts now look blank when his name is mentioned."

Christchurch-born, Mr Wilding qualified as a lawyer in 1906 at the age of 23 and in 1910 – a year after starring in the New Zealand tennis finals at Auckland, he won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

Contemporaries described him as a physical-training fanatic. He regularly worked out with world heavyweight boxing champion, fellow Kiwi Bob Fitzsimons.

He successfully defended the Wimbledon singles championship three times until being beaten by Australian Norman Brookes in 1914.

Other achievements included winning four Wimbledon doubles, in addition to the four singles, and taking bronze at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

During World War One he served as a captain in the Royal Marines. He was killed in action in France in 1915 – just before he was due to marry Hollywood silent screen star Maxine Elliott.

"A remarkable man in so many ways," says Jan Baker. "Our club was delighted to mark his important anniversary with a fun tournament – with members dressed as players would have been at the time and using the heavier old-fashioned racquets."

- © Fairfax NZ News