Tennis: Mark the Giant Killer

So much for amateurs. That is what the experts figured when the overlords of international tennis gave their blessing to open competition between amateurs and pros. No amateur, they said, could hope to beat the older, more experienced pros. Last week, in the British Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth, England—the world’s first open tournament—an obscure British amateur proved that the talent gap may not be so big after all. On successive afternoons, Mark Cox, 24, who was not even considered good enough to play singles for the British Davis Cup team, upset two of the game’s biggest names: the U.S.’s Pancho Gonzales, 39, king of the pros for 18 years, and Australia’s Roy Emerson, 31, king of the amateurs until he signed a $75,000 pro contract last month.

Lefthander Cox started out shakily against Gonzales—blowing six straight games. “A love, love and love defeat crossed my mind,” he said later. “I was very pleased finally to win a game. After that it was different.” It sure was. Cox forced the panting Pancho into the first five-set match he had played in five years and wore him down in 2¼ hrs. 0-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Next day Cox disposed of Emerson in 75 min., blasting the Aussie off the court in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, 7-5.

It took Australia’s Rod Laver, 29, currently the world’s No. 1 professional, to repair the damage. In the semifinals, Laver beat Cox easily 6-4, 6-1, 6-0. Nevertheless, Giant Killer Cox had served fair warning: tennis’ pros had better tend to business if they want to stay on top of the game.