player – Tennisarchives.com

General First nameLouis Albert
LastnameMeldon
GenderMale
CountryIreland
Date of birth1886-10-10
Place of birthDublin, Ireland
Date of death1956-02-21
Place of deathDublin, Ireland

About

From The Dictionary of Irish Biography

By Jim Shanahan

Meldon, Louis Albert (1886-1956), tennis and cricket international, was born 10 October 1886 in Dublin, son of Louis Stanislaus Meldon, solicitor, and Mary Rose Meldon (née Kenny) of Ailesbury Road, Dublin. Educated at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, England, he served with the Royal Army Service Corps in France, Belgium, and Salonika during the first world war.

A talented all-round sportsman, he initially made his sporting reputation as a cricketer playing for Pembroke Cricket Club and Leinster. He played six matches for Ireland, four of which (1909-12) had first-class status. His first-class record was 151 runs at an average of 25.16, with a highest score of 47. He was also selected for Ireland at hockey on one occasion but was unavailable to play.

Louis Meldon is chiefly remembered as one of the finest Irish tennis players of the 1920s. A member of the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, he was first selected for Ireland in 1914 and remained a regular on the Irish team till 1927, playing in six Davis Cup matches, including Ireland’s inaugural tie against India (1923), and subsequently against France (twice), Austria, Spain, and South Africa. He also played internationals against England, Scotland, Australia, and the USA.

He won the singles title at the Irish Open in 1924 and played in the Wimbledon championships in 1923 and 1924. He won the doubles title at the Irish Open championships in four consecutive years (1923-6) with four different partners, and won the mixed doubles title in 1929, in his forty-third year. His tennis career was interrupted by the first world war, and as a result he probably never reached his true potential.

Meldon was rather plump in appearance, and suffered from a lack of speed around the court; his great strengths were his powerful service and his good volleying technique. As such, he was particularly suited to doubles tennis, in which he was regarded as a top-class player. He was known to whistle constantly through matches, and one of his tricks was to look one way while serving in the opposite direction.

A solicitor by profession, he qualified in 1919 and spent most of his working life as a partner in his own firm, as well as being a local government department auditor, a position from which he retired in 1950; he was also a keen fisherman. In 1926 he married Margaret Smith. Residing in Dún Laoghaire, he died 22 February 1956 and is buried in Glasnevin cemetery.

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