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Kenneth Bruce McGregor (2 June 1929 – 1
December 2007) was a former tennis player from Australia who won the Men's Singles title at
the Australian Championships (now known as the Australian
Open) in 1952. He and his longtime doubles partner, Frank Sedgman, are
generally considered to be one of the greatest men's doubles teams
of all time. In 1951 and 1952, they won seven consecutive Grand
Slam doubles titles – a feat that has never been matched.
McGregor was also a member of three Australian Davis Cup winning teams in 1950-1952. At the
end of 1952, Jack
Kramer induced both Sedgman and McGregor to turn
professional.
McGregor hitting a smash in the early 1950s
McGregor was a fine all-round athlete, excelling in cricket, Australian rules football,
and tennis. At 6'3", he had a
powerful serve and overhead. The great tennis player Ellsworth Vines
said of McGregor: "He was the same height as Pancho
Gonzales, faster, moved as well and could jump higher, and once
he got to the net he was difficult to pass because of his
prehensile reach. The handsome Aussie had the most extraordinary
overhead of all time." In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the
long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, who brought
McGregor into professional tennis, wrote that "McGregor was one of
the weakest players but one of the nicest guys who ever played for
me in the pros. As nearly as I could tell, all he wanted to do was
save up some money, go back Down Under and play Australian-rules
football, which in fact, he played better than he did tennis. And
that's what he did."
In his 1952-1953 tour against Pancho Segura, McGregor was beaten by 71
matches to 25. In a subsequent 1953-1954 tour against Pancho
Gonzales, he was beaten 15 matches to 0.[1]
In 1999, McGregor was inducted into the International Tennis Hall
of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
McGregor had a history of heart problems, but was diagnosed with
stomach cancer ten days prior to his death on 1 December 2007. He
is survived by his wife, two children, and five grandchildren.
Notes
- ^
The History of Professional Tennis, Joe McCauley, page
199.
Sources
- The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer
with Frank Deford (ISBN 0-399-12336-9)
- The History of Professional Tennis (2003) Joe
McCauley
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