The Open Era
United States · born Goose Creek, Texas, 1946 · right-handed · Wimbledon mixed doubles champion 1988, the oldest man to win it
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42
Age when he won the 1988 Wimbledon mixed, the oldest man to take the title
5
Grand Slam titles: three in men's doubles, two in mixed
50+
Tour doubles titles, 1972 to 1987
5
Wimbledon invitation doubles titles with Marty Riessen and Fred Stolle, 1983 to 1993
1967
NCAA College Division singles champion for Lamar
Sherwood Stewart was born in Goose Creek, Texas, on 6 June 1946 and played at Lamar University in Beaumont, where he won the NCAA College Division singles title in 1967 and three Southland Conference doubles titles in a row. He turned professional in the late 1960s and reached No. 60 in singles, winning one singles title, on the grass of the Northern Championships in Manchester in 1973.
Doubles made his name. He won the French Open with Fred McNair in 1976 and with Ferdi Taygan in 1982, the Australian Open with Mark Edmondson in 1984, and more than 50 tour titles in all, reaching No. 4 in the doubles ranking in 1983. He won the Grand Prix doubles points title in 1979 and 1982, lost the 1978 US Open final with Marty Riessen and played Davis Cup for the United States in 1977, 1978 and 1981.
In his forties he turned to mixed doubles with Zina Garrison, a fellow Texan whom he also coached: they won the Australian Open in 1987 and Wimbledon in 1988 and were runners-up in Melbourne in 1989. He kept playing the invitation doubles at Wimbledon into the 1990s, and he lives in The Woodlands, Texas. He was inducted into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996.
| Wimbledon mixed 1988 | Seeded 14th with Zina Garrison; beat John Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Smylie 6-4, 6-7 (10-12), 6-3 in the semi-final, a 22-point tiebreak that is a record for the event, then Kelly Jones and Gretchen Magers 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) in the final on No.1 Court |
|---|---|
| Australian Open | Men's doubles 1984 with Mark Edmondson, beat Joakim Nyström and Mats Wilander 6-2, 6-2, 7-5. Mixed 1987 with Garrison, beat Andrew Castle and Anne Hobbs 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. Runner-up in the men's doubles 1983 with Steve Denton and in the mixed 1989 with Garrison |
| Manchester 1973 | Won the Northern Championships singles at the Northern Lawn Tennis Club, beating Dick Crealy 6-3, 6-4, his only tour singles title |
| Sydney 1978 | Won the doubles with Hank Pfister, beating Syd Ball and Bob Carmichael 6-4, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon invitation doubles | 35 and over: won 1983 with Fred Stolle, 1984 and 1986 with Marty Riessen, runner-up 1985 and 1987. 45 and over: won 1992 and 1993 with Riessen, beating John Newcombe and Tony Roche in both finals |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Mixed doubles | with Zina Garrison |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1984 | Men's doubles Australian Open | with Mark Edmondson |
| 1987 | Mixed doubles Australian Open | with Zina Garrison |
| Northern Championships | ||
| 1973 | Men's singles Manchester Open | |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1978 | Men's doubles New South Wales Open | with Hank Pfister |
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
The person behind the player.
Beaumont, 1967
He remains the only Lamar player to win an NCAA national championship, the College Division singles of 1967. In 1968 he went 20-1 in dual-match singles, still a Lamar record, and he entered the university's Hall of Honor in 1984.
Source: Lamar University Cardinal Hall of HonorCentre Court, 1974
In 1974 he was drawn to play the defending champion, Jan Kodeš, in the opening match on Centre Court, the slot traditionally given to the holder.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025Texas, late 1980s
He coached Zina Garrison, the leading American player of the late 1980s, while partnering her in mixed doubles. He also reached a French Open mixed final in 1987 with another Texan, Lori McNeil.
Source: Texas Tennis Museum and Hall of FameWimbledon, 1988
At 42 years and 28 days he became the oldest man to win the Wimbledon mixed doubles, a record the Compendium still lists.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025Wimbledon, 1983 to 1998
With Marty Riessen he reached eight finals in the Wimbledon invitation doubles for veterans, winning five titles across the 35 and over and 45 and over events, the last of them in 1993.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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