The best male pre-War tennis player from the Netherlands, Henk Timmer twice reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon (1927, 1929). His top world ranking was 6th, in 1930. Timmer had a 43-22 Davis Cup record, playing the 1925 final (a 0-4 loss to France) and the 1923 and 1928 semi-finals. In national championships, he won 23 titles, including 9 in men’s singles. At the 1924 Olympics, Timmer was eliminated in the early rounds of singles and doubles play, but in mixed doubles he reached the semi-finals with Kea Bouman. After losing to Marion Jessup and Vinnie Richards, they won the match for bronze in a walk-over. Timmer missed the opportunity to play at the 1928 Olympics when the IOC suspended tennis from the Games in a dispute over professionalism just before the Olympics. Apart from tennis, Henk Timmer was also a good squash player; in 1941 he became the inaugural Dutch champion. Timmer, who was also a decent golf player and speed skater, worked as an insurance agent. He died in 1998, just four days before his 1924 doubles partner Bouman.
Netherlands