Jack Arkinstall

Arkinstall came from a poor family, however his father laid a private tennis court on the property of the family farm. He was asked in 1959 by tennis promoter Jack Kramer to become a professional tennis player.^[2] He was about the same age as two other Australian players, Bill Sidwell and Dinny Pails.

He played and won his first title at the Northern Rivers Championships in 1946.^[1] Arkinstall had a lengthy amateur tennis player, and traveled the world. He won numerous matches and international tennis tournaments, however never reached the top of his country.^[3][4] At the Wimbledon Championships he reached the fourth round in 1953 when he was in the fifth set against in his compatriot Ken Rosewall, whom he had lost against previously. At Wimbledon in 1954 Arkinstall lost in the first round against the eventual champion, Yugoslav Jaroslav Drobny.^[5][6] He competed again in 1955 at Wimbledon, this time reaching the third round to fall against Drobny. At Wimbledon in 1956, Arkinstall lost to the eventual semifinalist, American Ham Richardson. In his last appearance at Wimbledon 1957, he lost in the first round in a large defeat against the Brit Mike Davies.^[7]

He never won the Australian Open Championships or any other Grand Slam tournament. Once he played against Rosewall in his professional career and lost narrowly in the final, fifth set. Arkinstall broke through late into international tennis. In 1950, when he was thirty years old, he played his first international tennis tournament. In 1954, Arkinstall won in the final against the number one player from India Ramanathan Krishnan. He won the Yugoslavian Championships that year against the number one Yugoslav Jaroslav Drobny. In 1954 he won the All India Hard Court Championships in Madras, and again in 1956. In an indoor tournament India Krishnan revenged himself by winning the final against Arkinstall. In 1956 Arkinstall played the Nation Cup for his country - he lost the men's doubles match with Lew Hoad against his Italian opponents Guiseppo Merlo and Orlando Sirola (numbers two). He won his last amateur title and the 1957 Bochum International.^[1] He played his final amateur event at the 1957 Wimbledon Championships.^[1]

In 1958, he played as a professional in his debut at the Wembley Championships in London when he lost the first round of his compatriot Frank Sedgman. The year after Arkinstall played back on Wembley Championships and he again lost against compatriot Ashley Cooper. At the French Pro Championship in 1959 Arkinstall was defeated in the fourth round and repeated that at the tournament in 1960. In 1960, Arkinstall played at the Wembley Pro and again lost in the first round, this time against the Spaniard Andrés Gimeno, the Spanish number one. In 1962, he competed as a pro in the US Pro Championships reaching the quarterfinal against Earl Buchholz. That was his last year in professional tennis.

He won his first pro title in 1958 at the German Pro International Championships held in Bad Ems against Pat Molloy,^[1] and won his second and final pro title at the 1961 Southern Pro Championships held in Jacksonville, Florida against Don Budge.^[1]