Role Tennis player Name Major Ritchie | Career titles 76 Career record 580-127 Highest ranking No. | |
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Full name Major Josiah George Ritchie Born 18 October 1870Westminster, England ( 1870-10-18 ) Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand) Wimbledon F (1902, 1903, 1904, 1909) Died February 28, 1955, Ashford, United Kingdom Similar People Tony Wilding, Otto Froitzheim, Jana Novotna | ||
Major Josiah George Ritchie (18 October 1870 – 28 February 1955) was a male tennis player from Great Britain. He was born in Westminster and died in Ashford, Middlesex and educated at Brighton College.
Career
He was a three-time medalist at the 1908 London Olympics. At the Games he won a Gold (Men's Singles), Silver (Men's Doubles) and Bronze (Men's Indoor Singles) medal. He remained the last British player to win an Olympic medal in singles until Andy Murray won Gold in the 2012 games, also in London. In 1908 and 1910 he and Anthony Wilding won the doubles in Wimbledon. In 1909 he reached the Wimbledon singles Challenge Round, losing to Arthur Gore. He also reached the All-Comers final in 1902, 1903 and 1904. In March 1907 Ritchie caused an upset by defeating Laurence Doherty in the Monte Carlo singles final. In June 1907 he won the Irish championships. Ritchie was a five times winner of the Championships of Germany, played in Hamburg, from 1903 to 1906 and in 1908 (in 1904 and 1906 he also won the doubles title). He was also a five-time winner of the singles title at the Austrian Championship (from 1900 to 1903 and 1905). In 1908 he was member of the British Davis Cup team. He won three consecutive titles at the Surrey Championships from 1908–1910.
In 1911 Ritchie won the Queen's Club Covered Courts Championship, defeating Wilding in five sets. In 1920, at age 50, he reached the semifinal of the World Covered Court Championships at the Queen's Club in London.
He was ranked World No. 8 for 1905, 1908 and 1909 by Karoly Mazak.
Ritchie was also active in other sports. In 1903 he competed in a regatta in Laleham and won the single sculls and coxless pairs events. In addition he competed in table tennis and was the secretary of the Table Tennis Association, founded in 1902. That year he co-authored a book on table tennis titled Table tennis and how to play it, with rules. In 1909 he authored The Text Book of Lawn Tennis.