Cliff Drysdale

Cliff Drysdale

Drysdale in 2009
Full name	Eric Clifford Drysdale
Country (sports)	South Africa
Residence	Austin, Texas, United States
Born	(1941-05-26) 26 May 1941 Nelspruit, South Africa
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1968 (amateur from 1962)
Retired	1980
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	2013 (member page)
Official website	www.cliffdrysdale.com
Singles
Career record	685–345 (66.5%) in pre Open-Era & Open Era
Career titles	23
Highest ranking	No. 4 (1965, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1971)
French Open	SF (1965, 1966)
Wimbledon	SF (1965, 1966)
US Open	F (1965)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals	QF (1971, 1972, 1977)
Doubles
Career record	189–160 (54.15%)
Career titles	6
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1971)
French Open	3R (1973)
Wimbledon	SF (1974, 1977)
US Open	W (1972)

Drysdale at the 1966 Davis Cup in the Netherlands

Eric Clifford Drysdale (born 26 May 1941) is a South African former tennis player. After a career as a highly ranked professional player in the 1960s and early 1970s, he became a tennis commentator.

Life and career

Born Eric Clifford 'Cliff' Drysdale in Nelspruit (today known as Mbombela, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa) on May 26, 1941 and completed his high school at Grey High School, Port Elizabeth.

Drysdale won the singles title at the Dutch Open in 1963 and 1964. In 1965, he reached the singles final of the 1965 U. S. Championships and he won the singles title at the German Championships. He defeated Rod Laver in the fourth round of the first US Open in 1968. During his Open-era career, Drysdale captured five singles titles and six doubles titles, including the 1972 US Open doubles crown with Roger Taylor. He was a pioneer of the two-handed backhand shot, which he used to great effect during his playing career.

Drysdale was included among the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championship Tennis group. He became president of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), an association that Drysdale had formed in 1972 with Jack Kramer and Donald Dell.

Following retirement, Drysdale became a naturalized American citizen. He was a tennis commentator for ESPN from the network's inception in 1979. Following the retirement of Bob Ley in 2019, Drysdale became the longest serving commentator at ESPN. He commentated on his last match for ESPN at the US Open on September 4, 2025, calling the semi-final match between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula. ESPN did an extensive tribute to his career that aired during his last match. In 1998, the USTA awarded Drysdale the William M. Johnston award for his contribution to men's tennis. In 2013, he was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1965	U.S. Championships	Grass	Manuel Santana	2–6, 9–7, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1972	US Open	Grass	Roger Taylor	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–3

Open Era finals

Singles: 18 (5 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 1968	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Tom Okker	6–3, 6–3, 6–0
Loss	1–1	Aug 1968	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	John Newcombe	3–6, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	1–2	May 1969	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Ray Moore	6–1, 1–6, 5–7, 8–6, 5–7
Loss	1–3	Apr 1970	Durban, South Africa	Hard	Bob Hewitt	4–6, 6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Win	2–3	Apr 1971	Miami WCT, US	Hard	Rod Laver	6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	2–4	Apr 1971	Denver, US	Carpet (i)	Ken Rosewall	2–6, 2–6
Win	3–4	May 1971	Brussels, Belgium	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–0, 6–1, 7–5
Loss	3–5	Jul 1971	Louisville WCT, US	Clay	Tom Okker	6–3, 4–6, 1–6
Loss	3–6	Aug 1971	Boston WCT, US	Hard	Ken Rosewall	4–6, 3–6, 0–6
Loss	3–7	Feb 1972	Richmond WCT, US	Carpet	Rod Laver	6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 3–6
Loss	3–8	Mar 1972	Miami WCT, US	Hard	Ken Rosewall	6–3, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	3–9	May 1972	Las Vegas, US	Hard	John Newcombe	3–6, 4–6
Loss	3–10	Oct 1972	Alamo WCT, US	Hard	John Newcombe	1–6, 1–6, 5–7
Win	4–10	Mar 1974	Miami WCT	Hard	Tom Gorman	6–4, 7–5
Loss	4–11	Apr 1975	Houston WCT, US	Clay	Ken Rosewall	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss	4–12	Feb 1976	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	1–6, 1–6
Loss	4–13	Apr 1976	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Onny Parun	6–7, 3–6
Win	5–13	Jan 1978	Baltimore, US	Carpet (i)	Tom Gorman	7–5, 6–3

Doubles: 22 (7 titles / 15 runner-ups)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Sep 1968	Los Angeles, US	Hard	Roger Taylor	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle	5–7, 1–6
Win	1–1	Apr 1969	Durban, South Africa	Hard	Keith Diepraam	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	3–6, 9–7, 3–6, 9–7, 6–3
Loss	1–2	Jun 1969	Bristol, UK	Grass	Roger Taylor	John Newcombe Marty Riessen	6–4, 13–15, 3–6
Win	2–2	Jul 1970	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Roger Taylor	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	2–3	Aug 1970	Toronto, Canada	Clay	Fred Stolle	Bill Bowrey Marty Riessen	3–6, 2–6
Loss	2–4	Oct 1971	Barcelona WCT, Spain	Clay	Andrés Gimeno	Željko Franulović Juan Gisbert	6–7, 2–6, 6–7
Win	3–4	Aug 1972	Cleveland, US	Hard	Roger Taylor	Frank Froehling Charlie Pasarell	7–6, 6–3
Win	4–4	Sep 1972	US Open	Grass	Roger Taylor	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–3
Loss	4–5	Oct 1972	Vancouver WCT, Canada	Carpet (i)	Allan Stone	Bill Bowrey Clark Graebner	6–7, 0–6
Loss	4–6	Apr 1973	Munich WCT, Germany	Carpet (i)	Cliff Richey	Niki Pilić Allan Stone	5–7, 7–5, 4–6
Loss	4–7	Feb 1975	San Antonio WCT, US	Hard	Mark Cox	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–7, 6–4, 4–6
Loss	4–8	Mar 1975	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Mark Cox	Erik van Dillen Dick Stockton	6–1, 5–7, 4–6
Loss	4–9	Mar 1975	Atlanta WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Mark Cox	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	3–6, 2–6
Loss	4–10	May 1975	World Doubles, Mexico	Carpet (i)	Mark Cox	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 6–7(6–8)
Loss	4–11	May 1975	Las Vegas, US	Hard	Bob Carmichael	John Alexander Phil Dent	1–6, 4–6
Win	5–11	Aug 1975	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Phil Dent	Marcelo Lara Joaquín Loyo-Mayo	7–6, 6–4
Win	6–11	Aug 1975	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Raymond Moore	Jan Kodeš Ilie Năstase	6–4, 5–7, 7–6
Loss	6–12	Sep 1975	Los Angeles, US	Hard	Marty Riessen	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	6–7, 6–4, 4–6
Loss	6–13	Mar 1976	Washington WCT, US	Carpet (i)	Mark Cox	Eddie Dibbs Harold Solomon	4–6, 5–7
Loss	6–14	Jan 1979	Baltimore, US	Carpet (i)	Anand Amritraj	Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 4–6
Loss	6–15	Feb 1979	Rancho Mirage, US	Hard	Bruce Manson	Gene Mayer Sandy Mayer	4–6, 6–7
Win	7–15	Apr 1979	Dayton, US	Carpet	Bruce Manson	Ross Case Phil Dent	3–6, 6–3, 7–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1
French Open	1R	2R	QF	SF	SF	A	A	1R	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A		A	A	A	0 / 7
Wimbledon	1R	1R	2R	SF	SF	4R	3R	QF	3R	1R	A	A	3R	A	2R	3R		A	1R	2R	0 / 15
US Open	3R	2R	3R	F	3R	2R	QF	1R	2R	A	4R	3R	A	2R	A	1R		1R	A	A	0 / 14
Strike rate	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2		0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 37

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

External links

• Cliff Drysdale at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Cliff Drysdale at World Tennis
• Cliff Drysdale at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Cliff Drysdale at IMDb
• Biography and images of Cliff on the Cliff Drysdale site
• Red Ledges Cliff Drysdale Tennis Academy in Utah
• ESPN's Cliff Drysdale to emcee "Legends Ball"
• Cliff Drysdale ESPN Bio