Former British No. 1 Chris Wilkinson produced his best tennis at grass-court tournaments. He turned professional aged 18. A recipient of nine Wimbledon singles wild cards, the Southampton native reached the third round on four occasions in 1993 (l. to Edberg), 1994 (l. to Ferreira), 1995 (l. to Joyce) and 1998 (l. to Ferreira). He also reached the 1993 Wimbledon doubles quarter-finals with Paul Hand (l. to Bergh-Talbot). His best singles performance came at 1993 Queen�s Club, when he beat World No. 6 Goran Ivanisevic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round. He finished his career with a 20-25 ATP record on grass (28-52 overall). Wilkinson reached two ATP doubles finals in 1997 at Bournemouth (w/ A. Martin) and Nottingham (w/ Sapsford). He represented Great Britain in four Davis Cup ties (1991-93, 1998), amassing a 2-3 record, and also at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in singles (l. to El Aynaoui) and doubles (w/ Castle). On the ATP Challenger Tour he won three singles titles at 1992-Kuala Lumpur 2 (d. R. Smith), 1995-Manchester (d. Saceanu) and 1998-Manchester (d. Pescosolido) from eight finals - 1993-Bronx (l. to Fleurian), 1994-Singapore (l. to Ho), 1995-Hamburen (l. to Kroslak), 1995-Charleroi (l. to Tati-Rascon) and 1999-Bristol (l. to Sluiter). In doubles on the ATP Challenger Tour he clinched seven titles at 1993-Gothenburg (w/ Bates), 1994-Azores (w/ Sapsford), 1994-Dublin (w/ Sapsford), 1995-Singapore (w/ Zumpft), 1997-Madgeburg (w/ Phillips), 1997-Portoroz (w/ Sapsford) and 1998-Olbia (w/ Larkham) from 15 finals � 1993-Bristol (w/ Hand), 1995-Hamburen (w/ Larkham), 1995-Azores (w/ Marques), 1996-Bronx (w/ Haggard), 1997-Lubeck (w/ Phillips), 1998-Madgeburg (w/ Ondruska), 1998-Istanbul (w/ Larkham) and 1998-Edinburgh (w/ Ondruska). He attained a career-high No. 114 (13 September 1993) in singles and No. 86 (16 February 1998) in doubles. He broke into the Top 200 singles for the first time on 17 February 1992 at No. 197. He was once coached by Jonathan Smith. Throughout his professional career Wilkinson turned out for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight squad at LTA County Week. He won two doubles title at the British National Championships and reached two under-18 singles finals. A former Southampton youth footballer, he also had trials with Aston Villa and Coventry Football Clubs. His favourite city is Sydney and preferred clay courts at the start of his career. He is now the Director of Tennis at the Lee-on-the-Solent Tennis Squash and Fitness Club, plays on the senior circuit and has worked as a television commentator for Eurosport and ESPN. He is married to Amanda, the couple has two daughters. Bio: James Buddell � September 2009
