A TRUE SPORTSMAN

Colin Allan profiles Roger Taylor who kept the flag flying for British men's tennis during the late 1960s and early 70s

- Colin Allan

It's match point to Britain's Roger Taylor in the Wimbledon quarterfinal of 1973. He is playing the precocious 17-year-old Swede, Björn Borg. Taylor had been five games to one up in the final set but the future star of world tennis had clawed his way back to five-all. The Brit then breaks the Swede's serve to make it 6-5. Taylor has three match points on his own serve. He doubles faults on the first. On his next match point, Roger Taylor proved what a great sportsman he was as well as a superb tennis player. He served what both the line judge and umpire thought was a winner. "Game, set and match," declared the umpire. But Borg looked perplexed by the lack of an "out" call. Taylor appeared equally confused. He generously insisted to the umpire that his serve was out.

Nowadays, Hawk-Eye line technology deals with disputed calls but that was well in the future. Taylor then lost the replayed point. Finally, much to the relief of the home crowd, a bold second service on the next point gave Taylor victory in a truly cliff-hanger of a match. The British number one had won 6-1, 6-8, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Borg would have to wait a bit longer to dominate Wimbledon.

The incident on match point was typical of the way Roger Taylor played his tennis; determined but fair. He had been taught the rudiments of the game by his mother who always insisted on sportsmanship. Taylor carried the torch for British men's tennis throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. He appeared in three Wimbledon singles semi-finals - 1967, 1970 and 1973. He also reached the Australia Open semifinals in 1970 and won the US Open men's double titles in 1971 and 1972.