The Open Era
Australia · born Melbourne, 1943 · died 2023 · left-handed · four times Wimbledon mixed doubles champion with Billie Jean King
All playersBack to the rankings
11
Major mixed doubles titles, eight with Billie Jean King
4
Wimbledon mixed doubles titles, 1967 to 1974
1967
All four major mixed titles in one year, the third player to do it
1966
Wimbledon singles semi-final as an unseeded player
22 April 1968
Won the first match of the Open Era, at Bournemouth
Owen Davidson was born in Melbourne on 4 October 1943. A left-hander with a sliced serve, sharp volleys and a strong overhead, he was coached early by Mervyn Rose and worked with Harry Hopman. Unseeded at Wimbledon in 1966, he beat the two-time defending champion Roy Emerson in the quarter-finals and lost the semi-final to Manolo Santana. He reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Championships five times and of the US Championships twice, and was ranked No. 8 in the world in 1967.
In 1967 he won all four major mixed titles, the Australian with Lesley Turner and the French, Wimbledon and US with Billie Jean King. With King he won eight majors in all, including Wimbledon in 1967, 1971, 1973 and 1974; he won 11 major mixed titles in total, and the men's doubles at the 1972 Australian Open with Ken Rosewall and the 1973 US Open with John Newcombe. From 1967 to 1970 he worked for the Lawn Tennis Association as head professional at the All England Club, manager of British competitive tennis and coach of the British Davis Cup team. On 22 April 1968 he won the first match of the Open Era, against John Clifton at the British Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth.
He later moved to the United States, coaching at the John Newcombe Tennis Academy in Texas and The Woodlands Country Club near Houston, and wrote books on the game. He entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011. He died in Conroe, Texas, on 12 May 2023, aged 79.
| Wimbledon mixed finals with Billie Jean King | 1967: beat Ken Fletcher and Maria Bueno 7-5, 6-2. 1971: beat Marty Riessen and Margaret Court 3-6, 6-2, 15-13. 1973: beat Raúl RamÃrez and Janet Newberry 6-3, 6-2. 1974: beat Mark Farrell and Lesley Charles 6-3, 9-7 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1971 mixed final | The 28-game third set is the longest set in a Wimbledon mixed final, and at 2 hours 30 minutes it remains the longest mixed final on record |
| Wimbledon men's doubles | 1966: lost the final with Bill Bowrey to Ken Fletcher and John Newcombe 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. 1967: with Bowrey beat Mark Cox and Roger Taylor 6-1, 6-2, 30-28 in the third round, a 58-game match |
| Other Wimbledon notes | 1965: won the All England Plate, beating Tom Okker 6-3, 8-6. 1968: played the defending champion John Newcombe in the opening match on Centre Court at the first open Wimbledon |
| Grass majors elsewhere | US Championships mixed 1966 with Donna Floyd Fales and 1967 with King; US Open mixed 1971 and 1973 with King; 1973 US Open men's doubles with Newcombe, beating Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall in the final |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Mixed doubles | with Billie Jean King |
| 1971 | Mixed doubles | with Billie Jean King |
| 1973 | Mixed doubles | with Billie Jean King |
| 1974 | Mixed doubles | with Billie Jean King |
| US Championships | ||
| 1966 | Mixed doubles | with Donna Floyd Fales |
| 1967 | Mixed doubles | with Billie Jean King |
| 1971 | Mixed doubles US Open | with Billie Jean King |
| 1973 | Men's doubles US Open | with John Newcombe |
| 1973 | Mixed doubles US Open | with Billie Jean King |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1967 | Mixed doubles | with Lesley Turner Bowrey |
| 1972 | Men's doubles Australian Open | with Ken Rosewall |
| Kent Championships (Beckenham) | ||
| 1967 | Men's singles | |
| Northern Championships | ||
| 1967 | Men's singles | |
| Southampton (Meadow Club) | ||
| 1967 | Men's singles Southampton Invitational | |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1969 | Men's doubles | with Dennis Ralston |
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
"How we got out of that one I'll never know."
The person behind the player.
Bournemouth, 1968
On 22 April 1968, in Bournemouth, Davidson beat John Clifton in the first round of the British Hard Court Championships. It was the first match of the Open Era, played two months before the first open Wimbledon.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameWimbledon, 1971
The 1971 mixed final against Margaret Court and Marty Riessen went to 15-13 in the third set. Billie Jean King recalled: "We'd been out there a long time and at 13-all, I said to him, 'Owen, let's get out of here.'" They won the next two games.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameForest Hills, 1973
In the 1973 US Open men's doubles final he and John Newcombe played Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. "We played Laver and Rosewall, two of our heroes, in the final," Davidson said. "It was amazing simply to be on the court with them." They won it.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameThe partnership
King described his game: "He had that rough lefty serve, great volleys, and a fantastic overhead." Of the partnership she said: "We also got along so well. Just a great, great partner." Davidson returned the compliment: "Billie Jean was an incredible volleyer and a terrific partner."
Source: Tennis.comTexas
In Texas he coached at John Newcombe's academy and its fantasy camps, and was still coaching at Newcombe's mixed doubles event in March 2023, two months before his death. The writer Joel Drucker, one of his pupils there, said he lived his life inside the game.
Source: Tennis.comFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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