Chris Wilkinson

As a youngster, Chris Wilkinson was a good footballer, and played for the Southampton youth team. He went to the same college as the Southampton and England striker Alan Shearer. Wilkinson, however, selected tennis as his chosen sport, and went on to reach two national under-18 singles finals.

Wilkinson turned professional at the age of 18 and within five years was the British number one. He played his best tennis on grass and was a wild card entrant at Wimbledon nine times, reaching the third round on four occasions between 1993-98. His best singles performance came on the grass at Queen’s Club in 1993 when he beat the world #6 Goran Ivanišević 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round. Wilkinson never appeared in an ATP singes final but reached two doubles finals, both in 1997, at Bournemouth (with Alberto Martin) and Nottingham (with Danny Sapsford). In addition, Wilkinson won three singles and seven doubles titles between 1992-98 on the ATP Challenger Tour. His career high ATP rankings were 114th singles, and 86th doubles.

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Wilkinson was eliminated in the first round of both the singles and doubles (with Andrew Castle) without winning a set. He represented Great Britain in four Davis Cup ties between 1991-98 with a 2/3 win/loss record in doubles.

Wilkinson retired in 1999. He worked for the LTA as a performance coach and manager, and also continued playing on the Seniors Tour. He later became Director of Tennis at the Lee-on-the-Solent Tennis Squash and Fitness Club, and also worked as a tennis commentator for the Eurosport and ESPN television channels.