Ernest George Meers (1849 – 20 August 1928) was an English tennis player, organist and gum merchant.

Ernest Meers
Meers (before 1903)
Full nameErnest George Meers
Country (sports) United Kingdom
Born1849[1]
Kingsnorth, Kent, England[2]
Died20 August 1928 (aged 79)[3]
York, Yorkshire, England
Turned pro1885 (amateur tour)
Retired1895
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record95-57, (62.5%) [4]
Career titles8 [5]
Grand Slam singles results
WimbledonSF (1895)
US OpenSF (1889)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
WimbledonF (1888)

Biography

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Meers was born in Kingsnorth, near Ashford, Kent. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Queen's College, Oxford and was later chairman and managing director of Watts Ltd, gummakers.[6] He married Eliza Rose, daughter of Captain Henry Douglas-Hart of the Madras Army, who was assassinated while serving in India in 1858. They had three sons and two daughters who survived him.[7]

Tennis career

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His played first tournament at the North of England Championships in Scarborough in 1884 going out in the round of 16.[8] He reached his first final at Sittingbourne in 1885 losing to Ernest Wool Lewis.[9] Meers played at the Wimbledon Championships between 1890 and 1895, reaching the quarterfinals of the all-comers competition in 1894 and the semifinals in 1895.[10] He reached the semifinals of the U.S. National Championships in 1889 and won the British Covered Court Championships in 1892.[11] His other singles successes included winning the British Covered Court Championships indoors on hard wood courts in 1891.[12] He won the Kent Championships on grass three times (1888, 1890–91).[13] In addition he also won three titles at the Essex Championships (1887–88, 1890) and the Chingford Open (1888), the Middlesex Championships onetime in 1891.[14] He played his last tournament at the British Covered Court Championships in 1896 going out in the quarter-finals.[15]

References

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  1. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
  2. ^ 1911 England Census
  3. ^ Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1987
  4. ^ "Player – Ernest George Meers". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Player – Ernest George Meers". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Mr. E. G. Meers". The Times. 23 August 1928. p. 14.
  7. ^ "The Late Mr. E. G. Meers". The Times. 31 August 1928. p. 14.
  8. ^ Garcia, Gabriel, the "Tennisbase", 2018
  9. ^ Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  10. ^ Collins, B. (2010): History of Tennis. 2nd edition. New Chapter Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0, p. 414.
  11. ^ Myers, A.W. (1903): Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. Scribner's sons, New York, p. 77. (online)
  12. ^ Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  13. ^ Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  14. ^ Nieuwland, Tennis Archives
  15. ^ Nieuwland, Tennis Archives