John M. P. Marks (born 9 December 1952) is a former professional tennis player from Australia.

John Marks
Full nameJohn M. P. Marks
Country (sports) Australia
ResidenceSydney, Australia
Born (1952-12-09) 9 December 1952 (age 71)
Sydney, Australia
Turned pro1975
Retired1980
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record175-134
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 44 (3 January 1979)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenF (1978)
French Open2R (1978)
Wimbledon2R (1978)
US Open1R (1977, 1979)
Doubles
Career record153–102
Career titles7
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (1977Dec)
French OpenQF (1978)
WimbledonQF (1978)
US OpenSF (1978)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
WimbledonQF (1979)[2]
Medal record
Summer Universiade
Bronze medal – third place 1973 Moscow Mixed doubles

Marks won the ILTF Western Australian Championships on grass in 1978 at Perth defeating Mark Edmondson, Chris Kachel, and Bob Carmichael in a marathon five set final. Marks would finish as runner-up in the same event in 1979 losing the final to Edmondson.

Marks is best remembered for finishing runner-up in singles at the 1978 Australian Open, defeating Arthur Ashe in the semifinals. As a result of this slam final appearance, he achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 44, after entering the tournament ranked No. 177.[1]

Marks never won a Grand Slam singles title during his career, but won 7 doubles titles and reached the semifinals of the men's doubles at the 1978 US Open. As a junior, Marks won the Australian Open boys' doubles in 1971, partnering Michael Phillips.

Career finals edit

Singles (2 runners-up ) edit

Result W/L Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 1975 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass   Ross Case 2–6, 1–6
Loss 0–2 1978 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass   Guillermo Vilas 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6

Doubles (7 titles, 7 runner-ups) edit

Result W/L Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 1975 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass   Mark Edmondson   Chris Kachel
  Peter McNamara
6–1, 6–1
Loss 1–1 1976 Palma, Spain Clay   Mark Edmondson   John Andrews
  Colin Dibley
6–2, 3–6, 2–6
Loss 1–2 1976 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass   Mark Edmondson   Syd Ball
  Kim Warwick
3–6, 4–6
Win 2–2 1977 Cairo, Egypt Clay   John Bartlett   Pat DuPré
  Chris Lewis
7–5, 6–1, 6–3
Win 3–2 1977 Båstad, Sweden Clay   Mark Edmondson   Jean-Louis Haillet
  François Jauffret
6–4, 6–0
Win 4–2 1977 Manila, Philippines Hard   Chris Kachel   Mike Cahill
  Terry Moor
4–6, 6–0, 7–6
Loss 4–3 1978 Florence, Italy Clay   Mark Edmondson   Corrado Barazzutti
  Adriano Panatta
3–6, 7–6, 3–6
Loss 4–4 1978 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i)   Mark Edmondson   John Newcombe
  Tony Roche
4–6, 3–6
Win 5–4 1978 Hong Kong Hard   Mark Edmondson   Hank Pfister
  Brad Rowe
5–7, 7–6, 6–1
Loss 5–5 1978 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet (i)   Mark Edmondson   Sherwood Stewart
  Butch Walts
2–6, 7–6, 6–7
Loss 5–6 1979 Hamburg, Germany Clay   Mark Edmondson   Jan Kodeš
  Tomáš Šmíd
3–6, 1–6, 6–7
Win 6–6 1979 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay   Mark Edmondson   Ion Țiriac
  Guillermo Vilas
2–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss 6–7 1979 Båstad, Sweden Clay   Mark Edmondson   Heinz Günthardt
  Bob Hewitt
2–6, 2–6
Win 7–7 1979 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet (i)   Mark Edmondson   Pat DuPré
  Robert Lutz
6–1, 3–6, 6–4

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline edit

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.

Singles edit

Tournament 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 SR
Australian Open 1R 1R 1R F 1R Q1 0 / 5
French Open A A 2R 1R A 0 / 2
Wimbledon 1R 1R 2R 1R Q1 0 / 4
US Open A 1R A 1R A 0 / 2
Strike rate 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 0 0 / 13

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

References edit

External links edit