# Chris Wilkinson

Christopher Wilkinson (born 5 January 1970) is a former tennis player from England.

## Career

Born and bred in Southampton, Chris Wilkinson has achieved much in the world of tennis. But it could have been very different as his first passion was football in which he excelled for Southampton and had trials for Aston Villa and Coventry. Wilkinson started his winning ways with tennis tournament success as a 10-year-old junior. From there Wilkinson went on to win national and overseas tournaments and represented Great Britain in the World Championships at all junior age groups.
On the main Tour Wilkinson played some of his best tennis at Wimbledon where he reached the 3rd round in Singles on four occasions and made the quarter finals of Doubles. Wilkinson had the privilege of playing on Centre and No. 1 court on many occasions. He will probably be best remembered for his Centre Court battle in 1993 against Stefan Edberg, in which he broke the champion's serve no less than seven times before faltering on his own and succumbing to defeat in three close sets. His best win was over Goran Ivanišević in 1993 at Queen's. Wilkinson has recorded many notable wins over several top 20 world ranked players. Wimbledon continues to be a special place for the former British No. 1 and he is regularly invited to compete in the Gentleman's senior invitational event.
In 1993 Wilkinson achieved his ambition of becoming British No. 1 Singles player. He represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Wilkinson retired from the main tour in 1999 but kept up his competitive play in the following years and in 2005 became the British and world over-35 champion.
Wilkinson is still very much involved with the sport, working with the LTA as a National Performance Coach/captain for the 12 to 16-year-old boys. In February 2018, he was appointed as County Performance Manager for Hampshire and Isle of Wight LTA.
Wilkinson also remains very busy in the media world, including TV commentating for Eurosport, ATP media and ITV4. He also has a regular column with ESPN.
As for playing tennis, Wilkinson is regularly invited to exhibition events where he often plays with some of the all-time greats of the tennis world.
Wilkinson currently resides in Hampshire with his wife Amanda and their two daughters, Alice born in 1998 and Emily born in 2001.
In 1984 he featured in an advert shown in the UK and Ireland for Bisto gravy.

## ATP career finals
### Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP Masters Series (0–0)
* ATP Championship Series (0–0)
* ATP World Series (0–2)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–1)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoors (0–2)
* Indoors (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Jun 1997 | Nottingham, United Kingdom | World Series | Grass | Danny Sapsford | Ellis Ferreira Patrick Galbraith | 6–4, 6–7, 6–7 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Sep 1997 | Bournemouth, United Kingdom | World Series | Clay | Alberto Martín | Kent Kinnear Aleksandar Kitinov | 6–7, 2–6 |

## ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 8 (3–5)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (3–5)
* ITF Futures (0–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (1–3)
* Clay (0–0)
* Grass (2–1)
* Carpet (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Nov 1992 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Challenger | Hard | Roger Smith | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Aug 1993 | Bronx, United States | Challenger | Hard | Jean-Philippe Fleurian | 6–3, 5–7, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Sep 1994 | Singapore, Singapore | Challenger | Hard | Tommy Ho | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Feb 1995 | Hambühren, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Ján Krošlák | 6–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–3 | Jul 1995 | Manchester, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass | Christian Saceanu | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Oct 1995 | Charleroi, Belgium | Challenger | Hard | Juan-Luis Rascon-Lope | 7–6, 3–6, 6–7 |
| Win | 3–4 | Jul 1998 | Manchester, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass | Stefano Pescosolido | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–5 | Jul 1999 | Bristol, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass | Raemon Sluiter | 3–6, 7–6, 6–7 |

### Doubles: 15 (7–8)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (7–7)
* ITF Futures (0–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (5–3)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (2–4)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Cancelled | 0–0 | Jul 1993 | Bristol, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass | Paul Hand | Jeremy Bates Mark Petchey | 6–7, 6–4, abandoned |
| Win | 1–0 | Oct 1993 | Gothenburg, Sweden | Challenger | Hard | Jeremy Bates | Andrew Foster Ross Matheson | 7–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–0 | Sep 1994 | Azores, Portugal | Challenger | Hard | Danny Sapsford | Emanuel Couto Eyal Ran | 7–5, 6–1 |
| Win | 3–0 | Oct 1994 | Dublin, Ireland | Challenger | Carpet | Danny Sapsford | Arne Thoms Fernon Wibier | 7–6, 2–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 3–1 | Feb 1995 | Hambühren, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Brent Larkham | Bret Garnett T. J. Middleton | 2–6, 0–3 ret. |
| Loss | 3–2 | Sep 1995 | Azores, Portugal | Challenger | Hard | Nuno Marques | Tim Henman Christian Saceanu | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 4–2 | Sep 1995 | Singapore, Singapore | Challenger | Hard | Martin Zumpft | Nicola Bruno Mosé Navarra | 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–3 | Aug 1996 | Bronx, United States | Challenger | Hard | Chris Haggard | David Di Lucia Scott Humphries | 4–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 4–4 | Feb 1997 | Lübeck, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Trey Phillips | Mathias Huning Joost Winnink | 6–7, 6–7 |
| Win | 5–4 | Mar 1997 | Magdeburg, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Trey Phillips | Tomas Anzari Petr Luxa | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 6–4 | Nov 1997 | Portorož, Slovenia | Challenger | Hard | Danny Sapsford | Saša Hiršzon Udo Plamberger | 6–0, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 6–5 | Mar 1998 | Magdeburg, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Marcos Ondruska | Eyal Erlich Mosé Navarra | 6–4, 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 6–6 | Aug 1998 | Istanbul, Turkey | Challenger | Hard | Todd Larkham | Eyal Ran Petr Luxa | 4–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 6–7 | Sep 1998 | Edinburgh, United Kingdom | Challenger | Clay | Marcos Ondruska | Peter Wessels Edwin Kempes | 7–6, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 7–7 | Oct 1998 | Olbia, Italy | Challenger | Hard | Todd Larkham | Thomas Shimada Filippo Veglio | 3–6, 6–3, 7–6 |
| Loss | 7–8 | Apr 1999 | France F3, Melun | Futures | Carpet | Tom Spinks | Aleksandar Kitinov Gerald Mandl | 3–6, 2–6 |

## Performance timelines

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |

### Singles

| Tournament | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Wimbledon | Q2 | A | Q3 | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 9 | 11–9 | 55% |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | Q1 | Q2 | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0 / 10 | 11–10 | 52% |
| Olympic Games ||||||||||||||||
| Summer Olympics | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 1R | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 ||||||||||||||||
| Miami | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Canada | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Cincinnati | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Stuttgart | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 3 | 0–3 | 0% |

### Doubles

| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Wimbledon | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 10 | 4–10 | 29% |
| US Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0 / 12 | 5–12 | 29% |
| Olympic Games ||||||||||||||
| Summer Olympics | NH | NH | 1R | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 ||||||||||||||
| Canada | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
* ↑ "UK: Edberg ends Wilkinson hopes at Wimbledon". Reuters. 26 June 1993.
* ↑ "County Performance Manager – Chris Wilkinson – LTA". www3.lta.org.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
* ↑ "Chris Wilkinson: Memories of SW19". ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2019.