Oliver Golding

Oliver Golding (born 29 September 1993) is a former British professional tennis player and former child actor. Showing promise in reaching a world junior ranking of number two and being the 2011 U.S. Open Boys' Champion.,^[1] Golding failed to transition onto the men's professional circuit, Never entering the top 300 and failing to win a match on the ATP tour.

Oliver Golding

Oliver Golding in 2014
Full name	Oliver Golding
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Residence	Richmond, London, England
Born	(1993-09-29) 29 September 1993 (age 30) Richmond, London, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Turned pro	2011
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$99,692
Singles
Career record	0–3
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 327 (28 April 2014)
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	1R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	0–1
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 409 (27 August 2012)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	1R (2012)
Last updated on: 1 January 2019.

Medal record
Men's tennis
Representing a mixed-NOCs team
Youth Olympic Games
	2010 Singapore	Doubles

Golding is a Youth Olympic Games gold medallist, having won gold in the boys' doubles event in tennis at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics with Czech partner Jiří Veselý, with whom he also reached the final in the boys' doubles at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Tennis

Early career

In 2004, Golding began playing tennis for the Esporta Riverside Club, Chiswick,^[2] and later that year went to Wimbledon, under the Lawn Tennis Association's "Ariel Champions of the Future" scheme, to meet former professionals Martina Navratilova and Todd Woodbridge.^[3]

 

Oliver Golding in action during the 2010 US Open

On 27 November 2005, in the first ever Aberdeen Cup tennis match,^[4] Golding was selected to represent England in one of the junior matches, beating Scotland's Scott Lister 11 games to 4 in their "tie-break" style rubber, to square the match however, Jamie Murray and Elena Baltacha won their subsequent doubles game, to secure a Scottish victory.^[5] It was claimed on the Guardian Unlimited website that Golding had "impressed Andy Murray when he played for England against Scotland".^[6]

In late 2006, as fourth seed, Golding lost 4–6, 2–6, in the semi-final of the Ariel Winter Grand Prix event (promoted by the LTA), to the eventual winner, number two seed Andrew Bettles.^[7]

Golding's first two tournament wins were in the Bournemouth Open (Boys 14) at the West Hants Club on 5 August 2007,^[8] when he defeated David Wright 6–3, 6–0 in the Final,^[9] and in the Frutina Westway Winter Tournament (16 & Under) on 31 December 2007, when he beat Alexander Wilton 6–0, 6–0 in that Final match.^[10] Golding was also the recipient of a £2,000 grant from "Tennis First", a charity set up to help young players fulfil their potential, and tennis kit from the manufacturers Fred Perry.^{[citation needed]} Subsequently, on 5 April 2008, Golding beat Zack Evenden 6–3, 6–1 to win the Rickmansworth Junior Tournament (18 & Under Boys Singles).^[11]

Golding won his first ITF tournament in July 2008 at the Grade 5 Scottish International ITF doubles competition, partnering Nick Jones.^[12] He became the British junior No. 1 in late 2009. In 2010 he reached the semifinals in the junior boys singles at Wimbledon, beating the world Number No. 1 Jason Kubler en route.^[13][14]

At the Youth Olympics Golding beat world No. 1 and Junior Wimbledon champion Márton Fucsovics in round 1 of the singles,^[15] and won gold in the boys' doubles with Czech partner Jiří Veselý. This moved him into the top 20 of the ITF boys' world rankings. At the 2010 US Open Golding once again teamed up with Jiří Veselý in the boys' doubles. They reached the final where they lost 6–1, 7–5.

In September 2011, Golding won the US Open boys' singles, reaching as high as No. 2 in the junior combined rankings as a result.

Junior performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Junior singles

Tournament	2009	2010	2011	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	3R	A	2–1
French Open	A	2R	QF	4–2
Wimbledon	1R	SF	2R	5–3
US Open	A	2R	W	7–1
Win–loss	0–1	8–4	10–2
Youth Olympic Games
Summer Youth Olympics	NH	QF	NH	2–1

Junior doubles

Tournament	2009	2010	2011	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	1R	A	0–1
French Open	A	QF	QF	4–2
Wimbledon	1R	1R	F	4–3
US Open	1R	F	QF	6–3
Win–loss	0–2	5–4	8–3
Youth Olympic Games
Summer Youth Olympics	NH	W	NH	4–0

2011

Golding was given a wildcard to play at the Aegon Championships in London but lost in the first round to 2007 finalist Nicolas Mahut in his first non-junior event.

At the French Open Golding was a Boys' Singles quarterfinalist. He was defeated by Bjorn Fratangelo 1–6, 1–6. Golding also reached the quarterfinals of the Boys' doubles at the French Open, partnered with Jiří Veselý, they lost to Mitchell Krueger and Shane Vinsant of the US in 4–6, 6–4, 8–10.

At the Wimbledon Championships Golding reached the Final of the boys' doubles, partnered with Jiří Veselý, where they lost to George Morgan & Mate Pavić in 3 sets 6–3, 4–6, 5–7. Golding reached the second round of the boys' singles.

Golding partnered Liam Broady at the boys' doubles at the 2011 U.S. Open, being beaten by R. Kern and J. Lenz, 6–7 (4–7), 4–6 of Germany in the quarterfinals. In the boys' Singles at the 2011 U.S. Open Golding won the final by defeating Jiří Veselý 5–7, 6–3, 6–4.

Golding finished the 2011 season with an ITF Junior Boys' Rankings world ranking of 3; his highest season ranking was 2.

2012

Through 2012, Golding mainly played on the Futures tour, winning two tournaments and losing one further final as of September 2012.^[16] Golding made his ATP Tour debut at the 2012 Aegon Championships and his grand slam debut at Wimbledon, losing both matches.^[17]

2014

In August 2014, Golding announced that he was "taking a break" from tour tennis, as he felt he had just been "going through the motions", partly due to his feelings about the reduction in the Lawn Tennis Association's bonus scheme and the closure of the high-performance programme at the National Tennis Centre in Richmond, very near his home. He stated that he felt he would have to relocate to France to continue in top-class tennis, because of a shortage of high quality training locations in the UK. However, he found that he was unwilling to do this, due to his dislike of travelling.^[18] As of 2015, Golding was a former tennis player helping out at his mother's tennis coaching school.^[19]

2017

Golding made a brief comeback in August when he came through qualifying to win an ITF Futures tournament in Italy defeating Davide Galoppini in the final 7–6 6–3. In the first round he knocked out the number one seed Yaraslav Shyla (298) 6–2 7–6. He followed this by reaching the final of his next futures event in Nottingham.

Golding admitted to being approached by Alexandros Jakupovic to throw a match.^[20]

Challengers and Futures finals

Singles: 12 (6 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Legend (singles) ATP Challenger Tour (0–0) ITF Futures Tour (6–6)

Titles by surface Hard (4–3) Clay (2–3) Grass (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 2012	Great Britain F6, Bournemouth	Futures	Clay	Andrew Fitzpatrick	7–6^(7–4), 6–4
Win	2–0	May 2012	Great Britain F8, Newcastle	Futures	Clay	Daniel Smethurst	6–4, 6–1
Loss	2–1	Aug 2012	Netherlands F5, Enschede	Futures	Clay	Alexander Slabinsky	7–6^(7–5), 3–6, 4–6
Loss	2–2	Oct 2012	Qatar F2, Doha	Futures	Hard	Clément Reix	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2–3	Jun 2013	Spain F15, Madrid	Futures	Clay	Richard Becker	3–6, 2–6
Loss	2–4	Aug 2013	Austria F6, Wels	Futures	Clay	Dennis Novak	2–6, 7–6^(7–2), 6–7^(1–7)
Win	3–4	Nov 2013	Greece F19, Heraklion	Futures	Hard	Luke Bambridge	1–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win	4–4	Nov 2013	Greece F20, Rethymno	Futures	Hard	Nikola Čačić	6–4, 7–6^(7–4)
Win	5–4	Feb 2014	Portugal F1, Vale do Lobo	Futures	Hard	Stanislav Vovk	6–1, 6–3
Loss	5–5	Apr 2014	Qatar F2, Doha	Futures	Hard	Adrien Bossel	4–6, 1–6
Win	6–5	Sep 2017	Italy F27, Piombino	Futures	Hard	Davide Galoppini	7–6^(7–3), 6–3
Loss	6–6	Sep 2017	Great Britain F4, Nottingham	Futures	Hard	Lloyd Glasspool	7–5, 4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 15 (9 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Legend (doubles) ATP Challenger Tour (0–0) ITF Futures Tour (9–6)

Titles by surface Hard (7–4) Clay (2–2) Grass (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2010	Great Britain F12, Roehampton	Futures	Hard	Neal Skupski	Ashwin Kumar   Laurent Rochette	2–6, 7–6^(10–8), [6–10]
Win	1–1	Oct 2011	Sweden F6, Falun	Futures	Hard (i)	Daniel Smethurst	Pierre Bonfre   Viktor Stjern	7–6^(7–2), 7–6^(8–6)
Win	2–1	Oct 2011	Great Britain F17, Cardiff	Futures	Hard (i)	Sean Thornley	Daniel Cox   Daniel Smethurst	6–4, 6–4
Win	3–1	Dec 2011	Turkey F33, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Joris De Loore	Damir Džumhur   Aldin Šetkić	6–3, 7–6^(7–5)
Win	4–1	Dec 2011	Turkey F35, Antalya	Futures	Hard	Gleb Sakharov	Antonio Comporto   Thomas Fabbiano	6–2, 6–1
Win	5–1	Jul 2012	Belgium F3, Knokke	Futures	Clay	Joris De Loore	Alexander Blom   Thanasi Kokkinakis	5–7, 7–6^(7–3), [10–7]
Loss	5–2	Aug 2012	Great Britain F12, Wrexham	Futures	Hard	Sean Thornley	Lewis Burton   Edward Corrie	4–6, 0–6
Loss	5–3	Aug 2012	Belgium F8, Koksijde	Futures	Clay	Joris De Loore	Daniel Glancy   Manuel Sánchez	6–3, 2–6, [8–10]
Loss	5–4	May 2013	Italy F6, Pozzuoli	Futures	Clay	Denys Mylokostov	Ken Skupski   Neal Skupski	3–6, 3–6
Win	6–4	Jun 2013	Spain F15, Madrid	Futures	Clay	Alexander Ward	Richard Becker   Lorenzo Giustino	6–3, 2–6, [10–5]
Loss	6–5	Nov 2013	Greece F18, Heraklion	Futures	Hard	Luke Bambridge	Marko Djokovic   Carlos Gómez-Herrera	1–6, 7–6^(7–3), [11–13]
Win	7–5	Nov 2013	Greece F19, Heraklion	Futures	Hard	Luke Bambridge	Andreas Mies   Oscar Otte	6–3, 7–5
Win	8–5	Mar 2014	Greece F1, Heraklion	Futures	Hard	Alexandros Jakupovic	Nikola Čačić   Ilija Vucic	6–1, 3–6, [10–5]
Loss	8–6	Apr 2014	Qatar F3, Doha	Futures	Hard	Joshua Ward-Hibbert	Chen Ti   Ruan Roelofse	1–6, 1–6
Win	9–6	Jul 2014	Great Britain F12, Manchester	Futures	Hard	George Morgan	Edward Corrie   Joshua Ward-Hibbert	7–6^(7–4), 4–6, [10–6]

Junior titles

Singles

Junior Grand Slams: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	2011	US Open	Hard	Jiří Veselý	5–7, 6–3, 6–4

Doubles

Youth Olympics 1 (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	20 August 2010	Youth Olympics, Singapore	Hard	Jiří Veselý	Victor Baluda   Mikhail Biryukov	6–3, 6–1

Junior Doubles: 0 (0–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	13 September 2010	US Open	Hard	Jiří Veselý	Duilio Beretta   Roberto Quiroz	1–6, 5–7
Runner-up	2.	3 July 2011	Wimbledon	Grass	Jiří Veselý	George Morgan   Mate Pavić	6–3, 4–6, 5–7

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	2011	2012	2013	2014	Career SR	Career W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	0/0	0–0
French Open	A	A	A	A	0/0	0–0
Wimbledon	Q2	1R	A	Q2	0/1	0–1
US Open	A	A	A	A	0/0	0–0
Win–loss	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0/1	0–1
Career statistics
Tournaments played	1	2	0	0	Career total: 3
Titles	0	0	0	0	Career total: 0
Finals reached	0	0	0	0	Career total: 0
Overall win–loss	0–1	0–2	0–0	0–0	0/3	0–3
Win %	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Year end ranking	701	431	406		–

Doubles

Current through 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament	2011	2012	Career S/R	Career W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	0/0	0–0
French Open	A	A	0/0	0–0
Wimbledon	Q1	1R	0/1	0–1
US Open	A	A	0/0	0–0
Summer Olympics	Not held	A	0/0	0–0
Win–loss	0–0	0–1	0/1	0–1
Career statistics
Tournaments played	0	1	Career total: 1
Titles	0	0	Career total: 0
Finals reached	0	0	Career total: 0
Overall win–loss	0–0	0–1	0/1	0–1
Win %	0%	0%	0%	0%
Year end ranking	477		–

Education

Golding was educated at Newland House School, an independent school in Twickenham in south west London.^[21]

He attended Ganeass Educational Support Services from 2003 to 2010. During that time he achieved five GCSEs by the time he was 14, going on to complete three A levels before the age of 17.^[22]

Acting career

Golding's earliest appearance was on television in a commercial for Vauxhall Motors, as a two-year-old baby in 1996.^{[citation needed]} After a small part in a stage version of Wind in the Willows in 1997, his next television role was in 1998 as Nat^[23] in the first two episodes of the wartime romantic drama Coming Home, which starred Keira Knightley.^[24]

Golding's first film project was as one of four small boys in Mike Leigh's award-winning^[25] 2002 comedy drama All or Nothing.^[26] His biggest film role to date then came in The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby, a tale of the story of Greyfriars Bobby, a child who takes on the responsibility of a policeman's dog after his death, and who has to win the battle with authority to save the dog's life. Though casting began in 2002, the film was much delayed due to problems with the funding.^[27] Shooting largely took place during 2004–05, and the film was released in France on 11 May 2005, Italy in July 2005, the USA on 29 October 2005 and at the Children's Film Festival in the UK on 16 November 2005.^[28]

In 2003 Golding portrayed Jeremy Potts in another stage show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in London's West End. In the same year, he appeared as one of the children in Ibsen's play, Brand, which starred Ralph Fiennes and was directed by Adrian Noble.^[29]

In March 2004, Golding made an appearance as a young customer in "Elephants and Hens", episode 2 of the third season of Black Books, the television comedy series about a dysfunctional bookshop owner, played by Dylan Moran.^[30] Then, in April of the same year, he took the part of Tom Dawson in the fifth episode of the Carlton Television production, Murder in Suburbia, in which Gwyneth Strong played his mother Pat.^[31] Finally in 2004, he provided the voice of Xath in the English version of the animated puppet fantasy Strings, co-produced by Birdpic Limited in association with Scandinavian partnerships.^[32]

In June 2008, Golding appeared in the BBC Three TV documentary Child Stars, featuring three promising youngsters with outstanding talent and ambition.^[33] However, he has forgone further advancement as an actor to concentrate on a possible tennis career.^[34]

Filmography

• All or Nothing (2002)
• Strings (voice) (2004)
• The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2005)

Personal life

Golding lives in London with his partner, former tennis professional and now tennis coach Marta Sirotkina.

References

1. Youngest ever junior British number one: BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
2. Playing tennis for the Esporta Riverside Club 11 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, 2004: Esporta.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
3. "Serving up future stars"^{[permanent dead link]}: Newsquest's ThisIsHertfordshire website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
4. The Aberdeen Cup 2005 (tennis): AboutAberdeen.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
5. Golding wins, but England lose: BBC Sport website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
6. Impressing Andy Murray? Yes, according to the Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
7. Ariel Winter Grand Prix 2006^{[permanent dead link]}, semi-finalist: Falmouth Packet website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
8. Bournemouth Open (Boys 14) at the West Hants Club: CoreTennis.net website. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
9. 6–3, 6–0 victory for Golding, against David Wright, at the Bournemouth Open: CoreTennis.net website. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
10. 6–0, 6–0 victory for Golding, against Alexander France, in the Frutina Westway Winter Tournament: LTA website. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
11. 6–3, 6–1 win over Zack Evenden, Rickmansworth Junior Tournament (18 & Under Boys Singles) Final: LTA website. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
12. Doubles success partnering Nick Jones, Scottish Junior International Championships, July 2008: ITFTennis.com website. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
13. Golding beats Jason Kubler at Wimbledon: Wimbledon.org website. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
14. Defeats Renzo Olivo to reach Wimbledon Junior semi finals: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
15. "Golding hits form at Youth Games". BBC News. 16 August 2010.
16. ATP. "Oliver Golding Playing Activity 2012". Retrieved 4 September 2012.
17. Steinberg, Jacob (25 June 2012). "Wimbledon 2012". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
18. Rising tennis star who quit sport, Oli Golding, says it's too hard to find places to play tennis in London: Daily Telegraph website. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
19. Finding a new job after hanging up the tennis racquet: BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
20. "Tennis faces battle to end match-fixing, says British player Oli Golding". 11 October 2017.
21. Olympic Hopeful Oliver Golding Left Film Set to Join the Tennis Set London Evening Standard – This Is London. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
22. "Ganeass.co.uk".
23. Playing Nat (Nathaniel) in Coming Home: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
24. Coming Home (1998 TV series), as Nathaniel: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
25. All or Nothing (2002 TV film), awards won: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
26. (small boy): BFI.org.uk website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
27. The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2005 film), as Ewan Adams: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
28. Release info, The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
29. Brand (2003 stage play): Curtain Up.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
30. Black Books (2004 TV series), as a young customer: IMDB.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
31. Murder in Suburbia (2004 TV series), as Tom Dawson: TV.com website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
32. , English voice of Xath: BFI.org.uk website. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
33. Appearance in BBC Three documentary^{[permanent dead link]} ("Child Stars", June 2008): BBC TV Listings. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
34. Gave up acting to concentrate on tennis: Daily Telegraph website. Retrieved 4 January 2010.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oliver Golding.

• Oliver Golding at the Association of Tennis Professionals  
• Oliver Golding at the International Tennis Federation  
• Oliver Golding's personal website
• Oliver Golding at IMDb
• Oliver Golding Interview^{[permanent dead link]} from ITV Online's Popcorn children's cinema site
• Latest tournaments involving Oliver Golding, from 2007 onwards, at CoreTennis.net