Cliff Drysdale

Drysdale at the 1966 Davis Cup in the Netherlands

Eric Clifford Drysdale (born 26 May 1941) is a South African former tennis player. After a career as a highly ranked professional player in the 1960s and early 1970s, he became a tennis commentator.

Life and career

Born Eric Clifford 'Cliff' Drysdale in Nelspruit (today known as Mbombela, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa) on May 26, 1941 and completed his high school at Grey High School, Port Elizabeth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Drysdale won the singles title at the Dutch Open in 1963 and 1964. In 1965, he reached the singles final of the 1965 U. S. Championships<ref name="talbert">Template:Cite book</ref> and he won the singles title at the German Championships. He defeated Rod Laver in the fourth round of the first US Open in 1968. During his Open-era career, Drysdale captured five singles titles and six doubles titles, including the 1972 US Open doubles crown with Roger Taylor.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He was a pioneer of the two-handed backhand shot, which he used to great effect during his playing career.

Drysdale was included among the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championship Tennis group.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He became president of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), an association that Drysdale had formed in 1972 with Jack Kramer and Donald Dell.<ref name="USLTAEncyclopedia" /><ref name="tennis.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Following retirement, Drysdale became a naturalized American citizen. He has been a tennis commentator for ESPN since the network's inception in 1979.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following the retirement of Bob Ley in 2019, Drysdale became the longest serving commentator at ESPN. He commentated on his last match for ESPN at the US Open on September 4, 2025, calling the semi-final match between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula. ESPN did an extensive tribute to his career that aired during his last match.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1998, the USTA awarded Drysdale the William M. Johnston award for his contribution to men's tennis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, he was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1965	U.S. Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Manuel Santana	2–6, 9–7, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1972	US Open	Grass	Template:Flagicon Roger Taylor	Template:Flagicon Owen Davidson Template:Flagicon John Newcombe	6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–3

Grand Prix Championship Series finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1971	Boston WCT	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ken Rosewall	4–6, 3–6, 0–6
Loss	1972	Las Vegas	Hard	Template:Flagicon John Newcombe	3–6, 4–6

Open Era finals

Singles (5 titles)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	Jul 1968	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tom Okker	6–3, 6–3, 6–0
Win	2.	Apr 1971	Miami WCT, U. S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Rod Laver	6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win	3.	May 1971	Brussels, Belgium	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ilie Năstase	6–0, 6–1, 7–5
Win	4.	Mar 1974	Miami WCT (2)	Hard	Template:Flagicon Tom Gorman	6–4, 7–5
Win	5.	Jan 1978	Baltimore, U. S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Tom Gorman	7–5, 6–3

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	Template:Tooltip
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1
French Open	1R	2R	QF	SF	SF	A	A	1R	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A		A	A	A	0 / 7
Wimbledon	1R	1R	2R	SF	SF	4R	3R	QF	3R	1R	A	A	3R	A	2R	3R		A	1R	2R	0 / 15
US Open	3R	2R	3R	F	3R	2R	QF	1R	2R	A	4R	3R	A	2R	A	1R		1R	A	A	0 / 14
Strike rate	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2		0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	Template:Nowrap

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

External links

• Template:ATP
• Template:ITF
• Template:Tennis Hall of Fame
• Template:IMDb name
• Biography and images of Cliff on the Cliff Drysdale site
• Red Ledges Cliff Drysdale Tennis Academy in Utah
• ESPN's Cliff Drysdale to emcee "Legends Ball"
• Cliff Drysdale ESPN Bio