Roy Allen (tennis)

Edward Roy Allen (March 1859 – 26 October 1930), and often referred to as E.R. Allen, was a British tennis player active in the late 19th century and early 20th century.^[1][2]

Roy Allen

Full name	Edward Roy Allen
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Born	28 December 1868 Saint Neots, Bedfordshire, England
Died	4 November 1931 (aged 63) Prestbury, Gloucestershire, England
Turned pro	1887 (amateur tour)
Retired	1914
Singles
Career record	668/200 (76.96%)
Career titles	97
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	2R (1896, 1899)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	F (1896)

In major tournaments of the time he was an all-comers finalist in the men's doubles at the 1896 Wimbledon Championships partnering with his twin brother Charles Gladstone Allen where they lost to Reggie Doherty and Harold Nisbet.^[3] Roy played 28 consecutive seasons from 1887 to 1914, and won 97 singles titles.^[4]

Career

Roy played his first tournament 1887 at the Stevenage tournament where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Arthur Gore. In 1891 he won his first title at the Boulogne International, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France against Charles Gladstone Allen. In February 1913 he won his final title at the San Remo International tournament in Italy. In 1914 he played his final tournament at the Monte Carlo Championships (today's Monte Carlo Masters) in France

Roy won numerous singles titles throughout his career,^[5] he won the Durham County Association Tournament at Sunderland seven times (1900–01, 1906–10), Nottinghamshire Championships five times (1896, 1899, 1900, 1904–04),^[6] the Sheffield and Hallamshire Championships five times, the East of England Championships at Felixstowe five times (1891, 1893, 1895, 1903–04), the Warwickshire Championships at Leamington Spa five times (1896, 1898–99, 1905, 1910).^[7]

He also won the Boulogne International Championship four times (1891, 1895, 1896–97), the 1910 – East Grinstead Open four times (1906, 1908–1910). The following tournaments he won three times, the Hampshire County Lawn Tennis Championship (1907–1909), the Lowestoft Tournament (1907–08, 1910), the Shropshire Championships at Shrewsbury (1905, 1907–08), the Norwich Open (1907–08, 1910), the Burton-on-Trent Open (1893, 1896, 1905), the Leicestershire Championships (1900–01, 1905), the Suffolk Championships at Saxmundham (1895–96, 1903) and the Colchester Championship (1893–95).^[8]

The following tournaments he won at least two times including Italian Riviera Championships (1912–13), the Riviera Championships at Menton (1903, 1912), the Exmouth Open (1898, 1910), the Château-d'Œx tournament (1907–08), Nice (1902, 1906), Chichester Open (1896, 1905), the East Grinstead Open (1904, 1909), Gore Court Championships (1901, 1903), the Mid-Kent Championships (1900, 1904), the Yorkshire Championships (1894, 1905), Bradford (1893, 1896) and Bournemouth Open Tournament (1904–05).^[9]

In addition he won a single title at each of the following events, Newcastle Open (1894), West of England Championships (1895), Fitzwilliam Plate (1896), Kirkcaldy (1899), Essex Championships (1900), Frinton-on-Sea (1905), South Northumberland Tournament (1905), Cranbrook (1905), Warwick (1906), the French Switzerland Championships (1907), Worcestershire Championships (1908), Worthing (1908), Derbyshire Championships (1909) at Buxton, Southampton (1909), Skegness (1909), Great Yarmouth (1910) and the Dorset County Championships (1910).^[10]

He currently holds the all-time record for most titles won on grass courts at 82.^[11]

Grand Slam finals

Doubles

All-Comers (1 runner up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1896^[12]	Wimbledon	Grass	Charles Gladstone Allen	Reginald Doherty   Harold Nisbet	6–3, 5–7, 4–6, 1–6

Personal

Roy was born in 1868 Saint Neots, Bedfordshire, England. He was one of the twin sons of Rev. Hunter Bird Allen, the Rector of Colmworth Parish,^[13] and Adelaide Mary Gladstone.^[14] His twin brother was the other notable tennis player Charles Gladstone Allen.^[15] It was Hunter Bird who taught Charles and Roy how to play tennis which proved very successful for both of them.^[16] He died on 4 November 1931.

References

1. "Player Profile: Roy Allen". www.wimbledon.com. AELTC. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
2. "Player Profile: E. Roy Allen". ATP Tour. ATP. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
3. "Draws Archive: 1896: All Comers Final". www.wimbledon.com. AELTC. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
4. Garcia, Gabriel. "Profile: Allen, Edward Roy". thetennisbase.com. Madrid: The Tennis Base. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
5. "Obituary:Charles Gladstone Allen". Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes. London: Baily bros. 1925. p. 95.
6. "The John Player Nottingham Tennis Tournament: Record of Winners Nottingham Lawn Tennis Tournament (1887–1970)" (PDF). Nottingham Castle LTC. Notts Lawn Tennis Association. 7 June 1971. pp. 1–7. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
7. The Tennis Base.
8. The Tennis Base.
9. The Tennis Base.
10. The Tennis Base.
11. "Most titles Grass". thetennisbase.com. Tennis Base. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
12. "The Championships 1896 - Gentlemen's All-Comers' Doubles" (PDF). Wimbledon. London, England: AELTC. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
13. "Bedfordshire". Kelly's directory of Bedfordshire, Hunts, and Northamptonshire. Kellys Directories Limited. 1885. p. 48.
14. Council, Bedford (21 June 2019). "The Allen Family of Colmworth". bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk. Bedfordshire Archives. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
15. Bedfordshire Archives
16. Bedfordshire Archives

External links

• ATP Profile: E. Roy Allen.
• Wimbledon Player Profile: Roy Allen.