Jeremy Bates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Jeremy Bates (born June 19, 1962 in Solihull, England) is a former professional tennis player from the United Kingdom. During his career, he won two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. After retiring from the professional circuit, he has served as the captain of Britain's Davis Cup team.
Bates turned professional in 1982. Partnering his fellow British player Jo Durie, he won the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1987 and the Australian Open in 1991. He was also a men's doubles runner-up at the Australian Open in 1988 (partnering Sweden's Peter Lundgren).
As a singles player, he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon twice – in 1992 and 1994 – losing on both occasions to France's Guy Forget. In the 1992 encounter Bates held a match point against Forget in the fourth-set, but failed to convert it and ended up losing in five sets 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6.
Bates won one top-level singles title during his career – at Seoul in 1994 when he was aged 31 (he was the oldest champion on the tour that season). He also won three men's doubles titles at Tel Aviv (1989), Queen's Club (1990), and Rotterdam (1994). He was the British national champion six times, and played in 20 Davis Cup ties for Britain. His career-high rankings were World No. 54 in singles (in 1995) and No. 25 in doubles (in 1991).
Bates retired from the professional tour in 1996. Since leaving the tour, he has served as captain of Britain's Davis Cup team as well as playing in seniors' events. He is currently Head of Performance for the Lawn Tennis Association.
