[2] Born in Melbourne, Sharpe featured in the main draw of all four grand slam tournaments while touring as an Australian in the early 1960s.

Sharpe studied in the United States at Pan American College, Texas and was a member of their collegiate tennis team.

During this period he was also studying to be a stockbroker and was largely absent from the international tour.

[3] In 1969, he began touring again as a member of the Canada Davis Cup team, appearing in a total of five ties in three years.

This includes a 3-2 win over New Zealand in 1970 to qualify Canada for the Americas Inter-Zonal Final, with his singles win over Onny Parun as well as his doubles victory against Parun and Brian Fairlie important to the final outcome.