Chris Lewis (tennis)

For the American tennis player, see Christopher Lewis (tennis).

Chris Lewis
ONZM

Country (sports)	New Zealand
Residence	Irvine, California, US
Born	(1957-03-09) 9 March 1957 Auckland, New Zealand
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	1975
Retired	1986
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$647,550
Singles
Career record	237–196
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 19 (16 April 1984)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (1977Dec, 1981)
French Open	3R (1977)
Wimbledon	F (1983)
US Open	3R (1982)
Doubles
Career record	183–161
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 46 (14 January 1985)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (1980)
French Open	QF (1982)
Wimbledon	QF (1981)
US Open	2R (1981)
Personal details
Relatives	Geneva Lewis (daughter) Mark Lewis (brother) David Lewis (brother)

Christopher John Lewis ONZM (born 9 March 1957) is a New Zealand former professional tennis player. Lewis reached the 1983 Wimbledon singles final as an unseeded player. He won three singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in April 1984. He also won eight doubles titles during his 12 years on the tour. Lewis was coached by Harry Hopman and Tony Roche.

Lewis is the third (and as of 2021 the most recent) man from New Zealand to reach a major singles final, after Anthony Wilding (several times) and Onny Parun at the 1973 Australian Open.

Early life

Lewis was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and received his secondary education at Marcellin College and Lynfield College. He is the eldest of three sons. His brothers are David Lewis and Mark Lewis who also had competitive tennis careers.

Tennis career

Juniors

Lewis reached the No. 1 junior world ranking in 1975, winning the Wimbledon boys' singles title (def. Ricardo Ycaza) and reaching the final of the US Open boys' singles (lost to Howard Schoenfield).

Pro tour

In reaching the 1983 Wimbledon final, after a five-set win over Kevin Curren in the semifinals, Lewis became the seventh unseeded man and only the second New Zealander after Anthony Wilding (who won four times between 1910 and 1913) to reach a Wimbledon singles final. He lost the final to John McEnroe in three sets. He also reached the final at the Cincinnati Masters in 1981, again losing to John McEnroe in straight sets.

After tennis

In the 1999 New Zealand general election, Lewis unsuccessfully stood for parliament as a list candidate for the Libertarianz party. Now a resident in Irvine, California, Lewis is the co-founder of the Brymer Lewis Tennis Academy, based at the Orange County Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine. His daughter Geneva Lewis, born 1998, is a violinist.

In the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours, Lewis was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tennis.

Equipment

Lewis was the first man in history to reach the final of one of the four tennis majors (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) while using an oversize racquet, a Prince original graphite (second only to Pam Shriver in the 1978 US Open). He was also one of the early players equipped with custom made shoes designed for the grass surface.

Grand Slam finals

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1983	Wimbledon	Grass	John McEnroe	2–6, 2–6, 2–6

ATP Masters Series finals

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1981	Cincinnati Masters	Hard	John McEnroe	3–6, 4–6

Career finals

Singles: 10 (3 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Winner – Legend (pre/post 2009) Grand Slam tournaments (0–1) ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–1) ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1) ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–4)

Finals by surface Hard (1–2) Clay (2–1) Grass (0–4) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Dec 1977	Adelaide, Australia	Grass	Tim Gullikson	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 2–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	Jul 1978	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Vladimír Zedník	6–1, 6–4, 6–0
Loss	1–2	Mar 1981	Stuttgart, West Germany	Hard (i)	Ivan Lendl	3–6, 0–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win	2–2	May 1981	Munich, West Germany	Clay	Christophe Roger-Vasselin	4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–1, 6–1
Loss	2–3	Aug 1981	Cincinnati, United States	Hard	John McEnroe	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2–4	Oct 1981	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Mark Edmondson	6–7, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	2–5	Dec 1981	Sydney, Australia	Grass	Tim Wilkison	4–6, 6–7, 3–6
Loss	2–6	Apr 1982	Hilton Head, United States	Clay	Van Winitsky	4–6, 4–6
Loss	2–7	Jun 1983	Wimbledon, London	Grass	John McEnroe	2–6, 2–6, 2–6
Win	3–7	Jan 1985	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Wally Masur	7–5, 6–0, 2–6, 6–4

Doubles: 16 (8 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 1977	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Russell Simpson	Peter Langsford Jonathan Smith	7–6, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Apr 1977	Nice, France	Clay	Chris Kachel	Ion Țiriac Guillermo Vilas	4–6, 1–6
Win	2–1	Apr 1977	Florence, Italy	Clay	Russell Simpson	Iván Molina Jairo Velasco	2–6, 7–6, 6–2
Win	3–1	Jul 1978	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Mike Fishbach	Pavel Huťka Pavel Složil	6–7, 6–4, 6–3
Loss	3–2	Aug 1978	Indianapolis, US	Clay	Jeff Borowiak	Gene Mayer Hank Pfister	3–6, 1–6
Win	4–2	Nov 1978	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Van Winitsky	José Luis Clerc Belus Prajoux	6–4, 3–6, 6–0
Loss	4–3	May 1980	São Paulo, Brazil	Carpet	David Carter	Anand Amritraj Fritz Buehning	6–7, 2–6
Loss	4–4	May 1980	Munich, West Germany	Clay	David Carter	Heinz Günthardt Bob Hewitt	6–7, 1–6
Loss	4–5	Jul 1980	Stuttgart, West Germany	Clay	John Yuill	Colin Dowdeswell Frew McMillan	3–6, 4–6
Loss	4–6	Jul 1980	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Carlos Kirmayr	Klaus Eberhard Ulrich Marten	4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	4–7	Apr 1981	Nice, France	Clay	Pavel Složil	Yannick Noah Pascal Portes	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win	5–7	Oct 1981	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Rod Frawley	Mark Edmondson Mike Estep	7–5, 4–6, 7–6(7–4)
Win	6–7	Jan 1983	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Russell Simpson	David Graham Laurie Warder	7–6, 6–3
Win	7–7	May 1983	Munich, West Germany	Clay	Pavel Složil	Anders Järryd Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 6–2
Loss	7–8	Apr 1984	Aix-en-Provence, France	Clay	Wally Masur	Pat Cash Paul McNamee	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	8–8	Jan 1985	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	John Fitzgerald	Broderick Dyke Wally Masur	7–6, 6–2

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	SR
Australian Open	A	2R	1R	3R	A	1R	1R	3R	3R	3R	2R	2R	0 / 10
French Open	Q2	A	3R		2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	0 / 9
Wimbledon	Q3	2R	1R		1R	A	2R	2R	3R	F	2R	2R	0 / 9
US Open	A	A	A		1R	1R	A	2R	3R	2R	1R	A	0 / 6
Strike rate	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 4		0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 34

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

External links

• Chris Lewis at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Chris Lewis at the International Tennis Federation
• Chris Lewis at the Davis Cup
• Chris Lewis at the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame