The amateur years
Australia · born Mont Albert, Victoria, 1927 · Wimbledon champion 1952 · doubles Grand Slam 1951
All playersBack to the rankings
22
Major titles in all events, 1948 to 1952
16
Of the 24 majors played in 1951 and 1952
3
Wimbledon titles in 1952: singles, doubles, mixed
25-3
Davis Cup record, champions 1950 to 1952
Born in Mont Albert, Victoria, in 1927, Sedgman was marked out by Harry Hopman, who called him a potential champion in 1945. Between 1948 and 1952 he won 22 major titles in singles, doubles and mixed, among them five in singles: the Australian Championships in 1949 and 1950, the US Championships in 1951 and 1952, and Wimbledon in 1952. In 1951 he and Ken McGregor won all four major doubles titles, and he helped Australia win the Davis Cup three years running from 1950. He turned professional with Jack Kramer's tour in 1953, won the French Pro and Wembley titles that year, and played until 1967. He entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979. In October 2026, at 99, he was chosen as the face of the Australian Open's 2027 match coin.
| Major singles titles | 5: Wimbledon (1952); Australian (1949, 1950); US (1951, 1952) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 2: Wimbledon 1950, Australian 1952 |
| Other grass singles titles | 16: Queensland Championships 3 (1950, 1951, 1952); Newport 2 (1951, 1952); SA Championships 2 (1950, 1951); Victorian Championships 2 (1950, 1951); WA Championships 2 (1948, 1950); Kent (1948); NSW Championships (1952); Northern Championships (1952); Queen's (1952); Tasmanian Championships (1951) |
| Major doubles titles | 7 doubles (Wimbledon 3, Australian 2, US 2), 6 mixed (Wimbledon 2, Australian 2, US 2) |
| Wimbledon finals | 1950: lost to Budge Patty 6-1, 8-10, 6-2, 6-3. 1952: beat Jaroslav Drobný 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 |
| Wimbledon doubles | 1948 with John Bromwich; 1951 and 1952 with Ken McGregor. The 1951 final beat Drobný and Eric Sturgess 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 |
| Wimbledon mixed | 1951 and 1952 with Doris Hart; in 1952 he won all three Wimbledon events |
| Doubles Grand Slam | 1951 with Ken McGregor, the only men's pair to win all four majors in one year. In 1952 they won the first three and lost the US final in five sets |
| US finals | 1951: beat Vic Seixas 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. 1952: beat Gardnar Mulloy 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 |
| Davis Cup | Champions 1950, 1951 and 1952. In the 1952 Challenge Round he and McGregor beat Tony Trabert and Vic Seixas 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 to put Australia ahead in the tie |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Men's doubles | with John Bromwich |
| 1951 | Men's doubles | with Ken McGregor |
| 1951 | Mixed doubles | with Doris Hart |
| 1952 | Men's doubles | with Ken McGregor |
| 1952 | Mixed doubles | with Doris Hart |
| 1952 | Men's singles | |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1949 | Mixed doubles | with Doris Hart |
| 1949 | Men's singles | |
| 1950 | Mixed doubles | with Doris Hart |
| 1950 | Men's singles | |
| 1951 | Men's doubles | with Ken McGregor |
| 1952 | Men's doubles | with Ken McGregor |
| US Championships | ||
| 1950 | Men's doubles | with John Bromwich |
| 1951 | Men's doubles | with Ken McGregor |
| 1951 | Mixed doubles | with Doris Hart |
| 1951 | Men's singles | |
| 1952 | Mixed doubles | with Doris Hart |
| 1952 | Men's singles | |
| Queensland Championships | ||
| 1950 | Men's singles | |
| 1951 | Men's singles | |
| 1952 | Men's singles | |
| Western Australian Championships | ||
| 1948 | Men's singles | |
| 1950 | Men's singles | |
| South Australian Championships | ||
| 1950 | Men's singles | |
| 1951 | Men's singles | |
| Victorian Championships | ||
| 1950 | Men's singles | |
| 1951 | Men's singles | |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 1951 | Men's singles Newport Casino Invitational | |
| 1952 | Men's singles Newport Casino Invitational | |
| Kent Championships (Beckenham) | ||
| 1948 | Men's singles | |
| Tasmanian Championships | ||
| 1951 | Men's singles | |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1952 | Men's singles | |
| Northern Championships | ||
| 1952 | Men's singles | |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1952 | Men's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"Hopman's pet, Sedgie."
The person behind the player.
Melbourne, 1945
Harry Hopman, writing in the Melbourne Herald in 1945, called the teenage Sedgman a "potential champion" and went on to coach him. Sixty years later, Mervyn Rose was asked who was the best player he had faced. His answer named both men at once: "Hopman's pet, Sedgie."
Source: WikipediaMelbourne, 1952
He married Jean Spence at Toorak Presbyterian Church in January 1952. Harry Hopman used his newspaper column to raise money to keep him amateur, and the fund bought a petrol station in his bride's name. He stayed amateur through 1952, the year he won Wimbledon, and joined the professionals the following year.
Source: WikipediaWimbledon 1952
"I lost the first set, which I wasn't expecting to do," he said of the final against Jaroslav Drobný. He won the next three and ended an 18-year wait for an Australian winner of the men's singles. According to his memoir, he celebrated with a soft drink rather than champagne.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameKooyong and Wimbledon, 1953
Signing with Jack Kramer's professional tour paid him well into six figures, but it cost him at home and abroad. He was barred from Kooyong and the All England Club, and many called him a traitor. The breach healed: he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1979, and Kramer flew from Los Angeles for his 80th birthday.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FamePhillip Island, 1952 onwards
Golf ran alongside tennis for most of his life. "I first won the club championship in 1952, the year I won Wimbledon," he said of Phillip Island Golf Club. He played off a handicap of one, made three holes-in-one and took the club's mixed foursomes title in successive years at the end of the 1960s.
Source: South Gippsland Sentinel-TimesMelbourne, 2026
On his 99th birthday, in October 2026, the Australian Open announced that his image would appear on the 2027 match coin, tossed before every match of the tournament. John Fitzgerald visited him to present the design. Sedgman said the coin carried "such personal significance" for him and his family.
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