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General First nameGordon Stephen William
LastnameFitt
GenderMale
CountryEngland
Date of birth1912-12-09
Place of birthNorwich, England
Date of death2002-01-00
Place of death, Scotland


About

GORDON FITT, who has died aged 89, was a tennis player known in his prime as \"B S\" Fitt; the B S stood for \"basic and steady\", because he believed that good tennis resulted from steady practice and that only those who had mastered the basics could afford to begin showing off.
Fitt competed in the Wimbledon tournament five times, appearing in both the singles and the doubles on each occasion. He played in 1938 and 1939, then after the war in the three years from 1946 to 1948.
After his first appearance at the All England Club in 1938, one journalist said that, although Fitt had been knocked out in the first round, he had \"definitely placed himself on the tennis map. Nobody could have been less flurried than Fitt, and if he isn\'t a Davis Cup star in the making I am much mistaken.\"
In the event, however, Fitt had to wait until after the Second World War before he was given a trial for the Davis Cup team. And although he won all his matches, he was told he was too old to qualify. In 1948, however, he captained England in a tournament against Wales held at Newport.
Gordon Stephen William Fitt was born at Norwich on December 9 1912. He was educated at Bracondale School, Norwich, and after leaving school, began working in the family removal business in the town, eventually taking it over when his father died after the war.
Fitt had begun playing tennis as a young boy, taking lessons from an uncle. Intensely competitive by nature, he went on to win the Norfolk county tennis championship 13 times. He also became a county squash player.
At the outbreak of war, Fitt volunteered for the Army and served in the Royal Artillery. Towards the end of the war, he was sent to Kenya to train for the war in Burma. While there, he contracted malaria and had to stay behind in Africa while his regiment boarded a ship at Mombasa, bound for Burma. Some time later, he heard that the vessel had sunk en route, and that his comrades had perished.
Fitt finally gave up competitive tennis in his sixties, though he continued to coach local players. He was eventually forced to give up playing altogether in 1984 after a triple heart bypass operation, but continued to enjoy bowls, fishing and long walks.
He also took up a new hobby - carving walking sticks using fallen branches he found in the woods near his home at Saxlingham Nethergate, near Norwich. The proceeds were given to Papworth Hospital.
Gordon Fitt married, in 1948, Peggy Pointer, who survives him with a son and daughter.

Media


Archive statistics Career1931 - 1952
Tournament wins6
Matches28
Match wins12


Tournament wins 1947 - Suffolk Championships (Amateur)
1939 - Norfolk (Amateur)
1939 - Suffolk Championships (Amateur)
1938 - Hunstanton (Amateur)
1937 - Hunstanton (Amateur)
1937 - Cromer Covered Courts Autumn Meeting (Amateur)


Tournaments Norfolk - 1952 Norfolk - 1950 Norfolk - 1949 Wimbledon - 1948 Wimbledon - 1947 Suffolk Championships - 1947 Cromer Covered Courts - 1947 Cromer Covered Courts Autumn Meeting - 1947 Norfolk - 1947 Wimbledon - 1946 Queens Club Tournament - 1946 Surrey Hard Court Championships - 1946 London Hard Courts - 1946 Wimbledon - 1939 Suffolk Championships - 1939 Norfolk - 1939 Wimbledon - 1938 Norfolk - 1938 Hunstanton - 1938 Cromer Covered Courts Autumn Meeting - 1937 Hunstanton - 1937 Cromer Covered Courts Autumn Meeting - 1931