Tony Wilding Anthony " Tony " Frederick Wilding ( 31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915 ) was a champion tennis player from Christchurch , New Zealand and a soldier killed in action during World War I near Neuve - Chapelle , Pas - de - Calais , France . He was the son of wealthy English immigrants to New Zealand and enjoyed the use of private tennis courts at their home . He obtained a legal education and joined his father ' s law firm . He was a first - class cricketer and a keen motorcycle enthusiast . His tennis career starting with him winning the Canterbury Championships aged 18 . He developed into a leading tennis player in the world during 1909 – 1914 and is considered to be a former World number 1 . He won several Wimbledon Championships , was both World Hard Court and World Covered Court champion , won the Davis Cup several times for Australasia , and won a bronze medal at the 1912 Olympics . In his ranking list of greatest tennis players compiled in 1950 , Norman Brookes put Wilding in fourth place . Early life . Wilding was the second of five children of Frederick Wilding and Julia Anthony and was named after both parents . Cora Wilding was a younger sister . Wilding ' s parents had emigrated from Herefordshire , England in 1879 . His father was a well - to - do lawyer in Christchurch , New Zealand . At their house they had two tennis courts , one asphalt court for use in the winter and one grass court for summer play . Tony was first educated at William Wilson ' s private school for boys in Cranmer Square , where he was captain of the school football team at 12 , then attended the Canterbury University College for six months before going to England in 1902 to study law at Trinity College , Cambridge University , where he developed his tennis game as a member of the Cambridge University Lawn Tennis Club . He passed the law examination and graduated B . A . in June 1905 and returned to New Zealand to join his father ' s law practice . Finishing his education , he was called to the English Bar at the Inner Temple in June 1906 . Sports career . In August 1904 Wilding won the Scottish national championships . In July 1905 he made his first Davis Cup appearance as part of the Australasia team in the semifinal against Austria , played at the Queen ' s Club , London . Australasia won 5 – 0 and Wilding won both his singles matches but in the final they were defeated 5 – 0 by the United States . In 1906 Wilding toured during almost the entire year across continental Europe and England , sometimes travelling by train but most often on his beloved motorcycle . He played and won tournaments in cities throughout Europe including Cannes , Paris , Lyon , Barcelona , Wiesbaden , Reading , Prague , Bad Homburg and Vienna . After winning the singles title at the London Covered Courts Championships in October , beating George Caridia in the final , he travelled by boat to New Zealand and in December won the Australasian Championships singles title , defeating Francis Fisher in the final , and doubles title , partnering compatriot Rodney Heath . A week later he also won the New Zealand Championship against Harry Parker in the final . Between 1907 and 1909 he helped the Australasian team win three consecutive Davis Cups , the first against the British Isles at Wimbledon and the last two against the United States . He won his second Australasian Championships in 1909 , defeating Ernie Parker in the final in straight sets . The same year he qualified as a Barrister and Solicitor at the Supreme Court of New Zealand . Focusing on his tennis game , he won the Wimbledon singles title for four straight years between 1910 and 1913 . In 1910 and 1912 he defeated Arthur Gore in the final , both times in four sets . In 1911 his opponent Herbert Barrett retired in the final at two sets all . In 1913 at Wimbledon tennis player and author A . Wallis Myers says that he played " the best game of his life " , beating American Maurice McLoughlin , the 1912 U . S . National Championships winner , in three straight sets . In 1914 he narrowly missed winning his fifth title in a row , losing in the final to Norman Brookes . In addition , he won four men ' s doubles titles at Wimbledon , in 1907 and 1914 with Norman Brookes and in 1908 and 1910 partnering with Josiah Ritchie . He missed the 1908 Olympics in London because of administrative bungling , but at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm won a bronze medal in the men ' s indoor singles for Australasia . Wilding won a unique World Championships triple in 1913 : At the time these were all three of the official World Championships events ( Major tennis titles ) as designated by the International Lawn Tennis Federation ( ILTF ) . In 1914 Wilding retained his World Hard Court Championship title in Paris without losing a single set . In 1914 , he returned to Davis Cup play , and together with Norman Brookes lead the Australasian team to another championship , defeating the United States team in the Challenge round before their home crowd at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills , New York . This turned out to be his final tournament . He had entered the 1914 U . S . Championships which followed later in August but withdrew due to the outbreak of World War I and returned to England . Wilding was a leading tennis player in the world during 1909 – 1914 and is considered a former World No . 1 . Norman Brookes in 1950 compiled a ranking list of greatest tennis players and put Wilding fourth behind Bill Tilden and the Dohertys , and ahead of Budge , Kramer , Lacoste and Perry . He also played for the Canterbury cricket team in the early 1900s where he participated in two first - class match es . He was a keen motorcycle ( with sidecar ) rider with many long trips in Europe , New Zealand and America . In 1908 he won a gold medal in a reliability trial from Land ' s End to John o ' Groats . Several " mighty rides " ( Myers ) in Europe in 1910 included London to Lake Geneva and back , some , including from Evian to Paris in one day . He ventured into places with poor roads like Hungary and Serbia . Singles titles . Sources : Military service and death . At the outbreak of World War I , Wilding joined the Royal Marines on advice of Winston Churchill who was then First Lord of the Admiralty . He was gazetted a second lieutenant in early October 1914 . Wilding remained in the Marines for just a few days and was then attached to the Intelligence Corps due to his intimate knowledge of the continent and his skills as a motorist . At the end of October he joined the Royal Naval Armoured Car Division in the battlefields of northern France where he had thirty men , three guns and armoured cars under his command . After a week ' s leave in London in February 1915 he returned to France on 16 March 1915 and was posted to a new squadron made up of armoured Rolls Royce cars under the command of the Duke of Westminster . He was ranked a lieutenant . Before long the squadron was moved near the front and on 2 May Wilding received notice of his promotion to captain . In his last letter dated 8 May he wrote " " For really the first time in seven and a half months I have a job on hand which is likely to end in gun , I , and the whole outfit being blown to hell . However if we succeed we will help our infantery no end . " " . The next day , 9 May , he was killed in action at 4 : 45 in the afternoon during the Battle of Aubers Ridge at Neuve - Chapelle , France when a shell exploded on the roof of the dug - out he was sheltering in . Captain Tony Wilding was buried the next day at the front but was later re - interred at the Rue - des - Berceaux Military Cemetery in Richebourg - l ' Avoué , Pas - de - Calais , France . He had been dating and was about to marry Broadway star Maxine Elliott , 15 years his senior . Legacy . In 1978 , he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame . Wilding Park , the principal venue for tennis in Christchurch , New Zealand , was named after his father , Frederick , but in the public perception became associated with him . The New Zealand Post issued a stamp of Anthony Wilding in 1992 as part of the Health Stamps series to support children with emotional and behavioural problems . Wilding Foundation , that grants scholarships was set up in 2009 in part to honour Anthony Wilding . ( http : / / www . wildingfoundation . com ) The Wilding Foundation was active in the Christchurch quakes that destroyed the city quietly raising and donating thousands to local causes . In mid 2013 Anna Wilding discovered that Wilson Tennis Rackets , sold and made , without permission , in Wilding ' s name , for a period spanning 20 years , a line of tennis rackets After Tony Wilding died . Wilson did this without gaining his permission or authorisation or contacting the family . This lead to an article in New York Times in 2012 by leading sports journalist Harvey Araton .