Major Ritchie

Major Ritchie

Full name	Major Josiah George Ritchie
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Born	18 October 1870 Westminster, England
Died	28 February 1955 (aged 84) Ashford, Middlesex, England
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	580-127
Career titles	76
Highest ranking	No. 8 (1905, Karoly Mazak)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
Wimbledon	F (1902^AC, 1903^AC, 1904^AC, 1909^Ch)
US Open	1R (1905)
Other tournaments
WCCC	SF (1920)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon	W (1908, 1910)
Medal record Olympic Games – Tennis 1908 London Singles 1908 London Doubles 1908 London Indoor singles

Major Josiah George Ritchie (18 October 1870 – 28 February 1955) was a male tennis player from Great Britain.^{[lower-alpha 1]} 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.^[3] 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.^[4] 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 Lawrence Doherty in the Monte Carlo singles final.^[5][6] 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).^{[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]} 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

He was ranked World No. 8 for 1905, 1908 and 1909 by Karoly Mazak.^[1]

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.^[10] That year he co-authored a book on table tennis titled Table tennis and how to play it, with rules.^[11] In 1909 he authored The Text Book of Lawn Tennis.^[12]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1909	Wimbledon	Grass	Arthur Gore	8–6, 6–1, 2–6, 2–6, 2–6

Doubles (2 titles)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1908	Wimbledon	Grass	Anthony Wilding	Arthur Gore Herbert Roper Barrett	6–1, 6–2, 1–6, 9–7
Winner	1910	Wimbledon	Grass	Anthony Wilding	Arthur Gore Herbert Roper Barrett	6–1, 6–1, 6–2

Notes

1. Major was his first name, not a military title. There is no contemporary evidence that he was known as Josiah Ritchie.^[2]
2. At the time the German Championships used the Challenge Round system. This meant that after winning his first German title in 1903 Ritchie did not have to play through the 1904 tournament but only played against the winner of the All Comers event, Kurt von Wessely. In 1905 and 1906 he defeated Anthony Wilding and Friedrich Wilhelm Rahe respectively in the Challenge Round.
3. After winning his third German title in 1905 he became the owner of the cup, a general custom at the time. The cup was in all likelihood lost when his house was bombed in World War II.^[7]

References

1. Mazak, Karoly (2010). The Concise History of Tennis, p. 33.
2. Alexandra Willis (14 December 2011). "Ian Ritchie Bids Farewell". Wimbledon.
3. "Major Ritchie Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
4. "Lawn Tennis – Success of Wilding and Ritchie". Evening Post. 17 August 1910. p. 9.
5. "Lawn Tennis.". The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times (Albury, NSW : 1903 - 1920). Albury, NSW: National Library of Australia. 19 March 1908. p. 4.
6. "Ritchie Beats H. Doherty". Taranaki Herald. LIV (13425). 16 March 1907. p. 5.
7. Gillmeister, Heiner (1998). Tennis : A Cultural History. Washington Square, N.Y.: New York University Press. p. 409. ISBN 081473121X.
8. "Lawn Tennis – Surrey Championships". Evening Post. 9 July 1910. p. 14.
9. "The Late M.J.G. Ritchie". Lawn Tennis and Badminton. XLI (New Series) (6): 121. 15 March 1955.
10. Gillmeister, Heiner (1998). Tennis : A Cultural History. Washington Square, N.Y.: New York University Press. p. 299. ISBN 081473121X.
11. M.J.G. Ritchie (1902). Table tennis and how to play it, with rules (PDF). London: C. Arthur Pearson. p. 47. OCLC 5651743.
12. "The text book of lawn tennis". Worldcat.

External links

• Major Ritchie at the International Tennis Federation
• Major Ritchie at the Davis Cup
• Josiah Ritchie at Sports Reference
• Olympics Profile