George Worthington (tennis)


George Allan Worthington was an Australian male tennis player who was active in the 1940s and 1950s.

Career

Worthington won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Championships in 1951, 1952 and 1953 together with Thelma Coyne Long.
He was twice runner-up with compatriot Frank Sedgman in Grand Slam men's doubles championship. In 1947 they lost the final of the Australian Championship against Adrian Quist and John Bromwich in straight sets and in 1949 in the U.S. National Championship they met the same fate against fellow Australians John Bromwich and Bill Sidwell.
He won a number of career singles titles including the British Pro Championships 6 times consecutively from 1957 to 1962, the Slazenger Pro Championships two times,, the Sydney Metropolitan Championships three times,, and the Surrey Championships one time,, the East of England Championships one time, and the New Zealand Championships one time,.
After his active playing career he became coach at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club and coached both the English Davis Cup team and Wightman Cup team.
According to Ken Rosewall, he was "an excellent player in practice. He was known as the 'Champion of Practice'".

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (2 runner-ups)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss1947Australian ChampionshipsGrass Frank Sedgman Adrian Quist
John Bromwich
1–6, 3–6, 1–6
Loss1949U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Frank Sedgman John Bromwich
Bill Sidwell
4–6, 0–6, 1–6

Mixed doubles (3 titles)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1951Australian ChampionshipsGrass Thelma Coyne Long Clare Proctor
Jack May
6–4, 3–6, 6–2
Win1952Australian ChampionshipsGrass Thelma Coyne Long Gwen Thiele
Tom Warhurst
9–7, 7–5
Win1955Australian ChampionshipsGrass Thelma Coyne Long Jenny Staley
Lew Hoad
6–2, 6–1