Kyle Edmund's boyhood tennis club in Yorkshire has already produced an Australian Open winner

You'd think that by reaching the Australian Open semi-finals, Kyle Edmund would be breaking new ground for a boy from Beverley.
Dr Colin Gregory (right) with doubles partner Ian CollinsDr Colin Gregory (right) with doubles partner Ian Collins
Dr Colin Gregory (right) with doubles partner Ian Collins

Yet incredibly, his hometown tennis club has already produced a winner of the Grand Slam tournament.

Kyle is an honorary member of Beverley and East Riding Lawn Tennis Club, which was founded in 1880, and returns there to hit when back in Yorkshire.

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He played on its courts as a junior, as well as at the David Lloyd Rackets Centre in nearby Hull.

Kyle Edmund - his successor as Yorkshire's number oneKyle Edmund - his successor as Yorkshire's number one
Kyle Edmund - his successor as Yorkshire's number one

But before the 23-year-old's stunning run in Melbourne, a past club member had already got his hands on the men's singles trophy.

Dr John Colin Gregory - known as Colin - won the Australian Open in 1929, when the event was still played on grass in Kooyong, just a few miles from the current site, and known as the Australasian Championships.

Dr Gregory was the son of a Beverley family doctor, William Herbert, although intriguingly he chose to use his mother's maiden name. He came from strong tennis stock - his mother was the first ever winner of the Yorkshire county singles title for ladies, and he is thought to have been playing by the age of eight. He became Yorkshire champion at 19.

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Born in 1903, he was an all-round athlete who also played rugby, golf, cricket and squash, and he later followed his father into medicine.

Kyle Edmund - his successor as Yorkshire's number oneKyle Edmund - his successor as Yorkshire's number one
Kyle Edmund - his successor as Yorkshire's number one

1929 was a vintage year for Gregory, who would then have been 26; he also won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with partner Ian Collins.

He took the Melbourne crown with a four-set victory over Australian favourite Richard Schlesinger.

After the war, Gregory became GB's Davis Cup captain, and even won a doubles rubber against Yugoslavia at the age of 49 when he was called in as a last-minute injury replacement.

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A respected servant of British tennis, Gregory became chairman of the All-England Club - where Wimbledon is contested - in 1955.

His demise was fitting for one so dedicated to the game. Four years after taking on the position, Gregory collapsed and died in the Wimbledon changing rooms following a match. He was just 55.

His modern-day counterpart Edmund first picked up a racket on the Beverley courts when he was 10 years old - and his early commitment is remembered by head coach Tom Davies.

“Kyle’s a natural athlete which obviously helps, but he’s got to where he is now because he works really hard. “He doesn’t ever miss a session, he puts the time in on the court. These are the qualities that make Edmund a great role model for the club’s next generation of players when he makes return visits on the occasional Saturday."

Honorary secretary David Beckett added:

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“We’re only a small club, we’ve got seven courts. If Kyle does win, he won’t be the first member to do it. We’re used to the fame!”

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