Jiro Yamagishi

Jiro Yamagishi (山岸二郎, Yamagishi Jirō, 23 May 1912 – 30 January 1997) was an amateur tennis player from Japan who competed primarily in the 1930s. He was ranked World No 8 in 1938.[3]

Jiro Yamagishi
Yamagishi and Vivian McGrath at the 1934 Davis Cup.
Country (sports) Japan
Born(1912-05-23)23 May 1912
Moji, Japan
Died30 January 1997(1997-01-30) (aged 84)
Turned pro1932 (amateur tour)
Retired1953
Singles
Career record102-34 (75%) [1]
Career titles11 [2]
Highest rankingNo. 8 (1938, A. Wallis Myers)[3]
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open2R (1935)
Wimbledon4R (1934)
US Open4R (1937)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
WimbledonQF (1937)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
WimbledonQF (1937)

Career

He played his first tournament at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in June 1932. He competed in the Wimbledon Championships in 1934, 1935 and 1937. In the singles event his best result was reaching the fourth round in 1934, losing to eventual finalist Jack Crawford. In 1937 he made it to the quarterfinal of the doubles competition, partnering Fumiteru Nakano, and the mixed doubles event, with Betty Nuthall.[4]

Yamagishi won his first singles title at the Surrey Championships in 1934 in all Japanese final against Hideo Nishimura [5] he was a finalist at the Kent Championships the same year but then went on to win the title twice in 1935 and 1937.[6]

Between 1934 and 1938 he was a part of the Japanese Davis Cup team and played in six ties, compiling a record of eight wins and ten losses. In 1934 he was the roommate of Jiro Sato on board the ship sailing to Europe for the Davis Cup match against Australia in the second round of the 1934 International Lawn Tennis Challenge. On 5 April 1934 at 11:30 p.m. he discovered that Sato was missing and had committed suicide by jumping overboard.[7] In 1935 he won the Northern Championships at Manchester and the East of England Championships at Felixstowe on grass

In October 1937 he was narrowly defeated in three sets by World no. 1 Don Budge at the Pacific Coast Championships in Berkeley.[8] He won his final singles title at the Japanese Championships on clay in Tokyo in October 1938 which was his third at the event (1933–34). He played his last tournament at the Newport Casino Invitational in August 1953 losing to Ken Rosewall in straight sets.

He was ranked No. 8 in the world by A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph in 1938.[3]

In a 1934 article Fred Perry compared Yamagishi's playing style to Sato and stated that his service was superior to Sato's.[9]

References
  1. Garcia, Gabriel. "Jiro Yamagishi: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  2. Garcia, Gabriel. "Jiro Yamagishi: Career tournament results". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  3. "Bromwich Placed Third", The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 October 1938.
  4. "Wimbledon players archive – Jiro Yamagishi". AELTC.
  5. "All Japan Semi Finals in Surrey". nlb.gov.sg. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 9 June 1934, Page 15. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  6. "Kent Championships – Gentleman's Singles Roll of Honour" (PDF). Beckenham Tennis Club. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2012.
  7. John Cottrell (30 August 1971). "Death En Route To Wimbledon". Sports Illustrated. Sydney, Australia: Sports Illustrated. 35 (9).
  8. "Budge in Semi-Finals In Coast Tennis Play". Lodi News-Sentinel. 2 October 1937.
  9. "Rising Hopes – Young Trio From Japan". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 December 1934.
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