The roll call of Wimbledon boys’ champions is impressive. There was Roger Federer in 1998, Stefan Edberg in 1983 and a young blond Swede called Bjorn Borg in 1972.
Not many home-grown lads, though. The last was in 1962 and he was better known for his breeding than for hitting a tennis ball. Stanley Matthews was the namesake and only son of one of England’s finest football sons.
The young Matthews enjoyed his greatest sporting moment 49 years ago when he beat the Russian Alex Metreveli 10-8 3-6 6-4 in the boys’ final. The memory has faded. Now 65, Britain’s most recent male singles champion cannot recall much about his triumph. “Looking back, I beat some pretty good players like Tom Okker and then Metreveli, who went on to reach the men’s final at Wimbledon,” he says.
With success came expectation. “Unfortunately, by carrying the name of Stanley Matthews, any time I did anything good it was publicised like crazy and when I didn’t do anything good it was publicised like crazy,” he says. “So I was on a hiding to nothing. It was a proud moment, it was an achievement and it was a notch on the ladder to hopefully greater things. Everybody was touting me as the next Fred Perry, which I certainly wasn’t.
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“There are a lot of things that go into making a tennis player. Not only do you have to be good, you have to be a little lucky. From a personal point of view, it was tough carrying my name and following in the shadow of my dad. No matter how good I was going to be, I was never going to be Stanley Matthews. That played its part but at the same time it opened up a lot of doors. The bottom line, though, was that I wasn’t good enough.”
He had an opportunity to become a footballer, but chose not to. “I was reasonably good but when I was about 12 I decided to pursue a tennis career. In those days footballers earned £20 a week and you had to be unbelievable to make money on your endorsements and tours and that sort of stuff. The possibility of being a tennis player and making a reasonable living, even though it was a shamateur sport, was a lot better. I played football for the Entertainers XI in London in my early 20s. It was a fund-raising charity team with celebrities and pop singers and we would go around the country to raise money.”
After winning three British junior titles, Matthews found success on the professional circuit rare, although he did beat Ilie Nastase in five sets in the first round of the French Open in 1969. He also represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup against Yugoslavia and played in pro events around the world with Rod Laver, John Newcombe and Stan Smith.
“Because I was the last British man to win something in the singles at Wimbledon, every time somebody gets close people remind me about it. To be quite honest, I wish somebody would win the thing, for goodness sake. Records are there to be broken. I would have no qualms about it going. I will be in my wheelchair and they will still be reminding me about it.” Matthews quit professional tennis in 1974 and went into business with a partner in London, putting bubbles over tennis courts. “We were ahead of our time because in those days all tennis clubs were interested in was putting in a squash court. It was a proven revenue-maker.”
He moved to the United States to seek his fortune and found it in Connecticut, where he has lived for 38 years and owns the Four Seasons Racquet Club in Wilton, one of the richest areas in the country. The club has 24 courts, golf facilities, a gym and a sauna. Married with two stepchildren and four grandchildren, Matthews could not be happier. “Everything is perfect,” he says. “I used to teach tennis but gave up five years ago and run the club, the largest tennis and fitness facility in the northeast.”
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Tennis has been kind to Britain’s last male Wimbledon champion.
Join tennis correspondent Barry Flatman at 12.45pm as he sets up the Wimbledon men's final