Owen Davidson

Owen Keir Davidson (4 October 1943 – 12 May 2023) was an Australian professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s.

Alongside Billie Jean King, Davidson won eight grand slam mixed doubles titles. In 1967 he won a calendar year slam for mixed doubles, when he won the Australian Championships (with Lesley Turner Bowrey), and the French Championships, Wimbledon and the US Championships (with King).

Davidson became the first player to win a match in the open era of tennis when he defeated John Clifton in the first round of the British Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth played in April 1968.

His best grand slam singles result was at Wimbledon in 1966, when he reached the semifinals (beating top seed Roy Emerson before losing to Manuel Santana). He was also the 1972 Australian Open and the 1973 US Open men's doubles champion, partnering John Newcombe and Ken Rosewall respectively. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 2010. He was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on 26 January 2011 (Australia Day).

Davidson died in Conroe, Texas, on 12 May 2023, at the age of 79.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 6 (2–4)

Mixed doubles: 12 (11–1)

Career finals Open-era doubles (10 wins, 10 losses) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 1969 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay John Newcombe Pancho Gonzales Dennis Ralston 7–5, 11–13, 6–2, 6–1Win 2. 1969 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Dennis Ralston Thomaz Koch Ove Nils Bengtson 8–6, 6–3Loss 1. 1970 Rome, Italy Clay Bill Bowrey Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac 6–0, 8–10, 3–6, 8–6, 1–6Win 3. 1970 Hilversum, Netherlands Hard Bill Bowrey John Alexander Phil Dent 6–3, 6–4, 6–2Loss 2. 1970 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Bob Carmichael Arthur Ashe Stan Smith 0–6, 7–5, 5–7Win 4. 1971 Bournemouth, England Clay Bill Bowrey Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol 8–6, 6–2, 3–6, 4–6, 6–3Win 5. 1972 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Ken Rosewall Ross Case Geoff Masters 3–6, 7–6, 6–3Loss 3. 1972 US Open, New York Grass John Newcombe Cliff Drysdale Roger Taylor 4–6, 6–7, 4–6Loss 4. 1973 Montreal, Canada Hard John Newcombe Rod Laver Ken Rosewall 5–7, 6–7Win 6. 1973 US Open, New York Grass John Newcombe Roy Emerson Rod Laver 7–5, 2–6, 7–5, 7–5Win 7. 1973 Chicago, US Carpet John Newcombe Gerald Battrick Graham Stilwell 6–7, 7–6, 7–6Loss 5. 1973 Fort Worth, US Hard John Newcombe Brian Gottfried Dick Stockton 6–7, 4–6Win 8. 1973 London Carpet Mark Cox Gerald Battrick Graham Stilwell 6–4, 8–6Loss 6. 1974 Baltimore, US Carpet Clark Graebner Jürgen Fassbender Karl Meiler 6–7, 5–7Win 9. 1974 St. Petersburg WCT, US Hard John Newcombe Clark Graebner Charlie Pasarell 4–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss 7. 1974 New Orleans WCT, US John Newcombe Robert Lutz Stan Smith 6–4, 4–6, 6–7Win 10. 1974 Orlando WCT, US Clay John Newcombe Brian Gottfried Dick Stockton 7–6, 6–3Loss 8. 1974 Charlotte, US Clay John Newcombe Buster Mottram Raúl Ramírez 3–6, 6–1, 3–6Loss 9. 1974 World Doubles WCT, Montreal Carpet John Newcombe Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 2–6, 7–6, 1–6, 2–6Loss 10. 1974 Maui, US Hard John Newcombe Dick Stockton Roscoe Tanner 3–6, 6–7