Clement Cazalet

Clement Cazalet was one of 10 children, but only son, born to wealthy businessman and Surrey JP, William Cazalet. Clement was privately educated before attending Rugby school and then going to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1887. The following year he made the first of his 16 appearances at Wimbledon between then and 1919. His best performance in the singles was in 1896 when he lost to Wilberforce Eaves in the quarter-final and in 1906 he reached the same stage before losing to Sidney Smith. He reached the all-comers doubles final on three occasions, in 1897, 1902 and 1906 and in the second of those years, Cazalet and George Hillyard led Sidney Smith and Frank Riseley two sets to one before losing 3-2.

One of his best individual performances was in beating Josiah Ritchie to win the all-comers final of the South of England championship in 1902 before losing to Sidney Smith. At the 1908 London Olympics Cazalet won the bronze medal in the men’s doubles with Charles Dixon. He served as a Major with the Red Cross Society and Order of St John as a voluntary driver during World War I and won the British War Medal, Victory Medal and 1914 Star. He was mentioned in despatches and obtained a DSO in 1917. He later worked as a marine engineer and was involved in the laying of cables across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Cazalet continued playing tennis into the late 1920s and competed in the Eastbourne tournament in 1928 at the age of 59. His second wife Mildred was also a competitive tennis player and they took part in many top tournaments together, notably in the 1925 Cromer covered court championship when they lost to the crack French duo of Jacques Brugnon and Suzanne Lenglen. Cazalet was a member of the Renelagh Club and played golf for them well into his 60s and in 1932 he had the honour of captaining the Great Britain seniors golf team on their tour of North America when they played matches against the United States and Canada.