Lorne Main

Lorne Main (July 9, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was a Canadian world-class amateur tennis player who competed in 11 Grand Slam tournaments in singles.

Main reached the round of 32 in singles five times in a major - at the 1951, '53, and '54 U.S. National, as well as the 1954 French Championships and Wimbledon.

At Roland Garros, Main defeated his first two opponents, both Frenchmen, handily to set up a third round encounter with No.

At the 1954 U.S. National Championships - Men's Singles, as a result of his very solid year to that point, Main was seeded No.

Further singles titles that Main won include 1949 Vancouver City, 1950 British Columbia for both Lawn (an ILTF tournament) and Clay Courts, 1950 Western Canada Lawn, 1951 Quebec Indoor, 1948 and 1951 Ontario Championships, and the 1953 Quebec Open where he defeated fellow Davis Cup teammate Robert Bédard in the final.

He won four prominent clay court tournaments in 1954, which would be his finest season: the Quebec Championships (defeating Robert Bédard in a long final), the Florida West Coast at St. Petersburg (defeating Gil Shea and Tony Vincent), the Belgian Championships in Brussels (defeating strong clay court players Irvin Dorfman and Ramanathan Krishnan), and Monte Carlo over Bobby Wilson, Paul Rémy, Władysław Skonecki (the winner in 1953 and 1955) in a four set semifinal, and Tony Vincent in a four-set final.

[1] Of his victory at the Monte Carlo, Main stated that "I missed Princess Grace by two years" but was awarded the trophy with a handshake by Prince Rainier, and spent the 20 francs prize money in the casino.

Canada did not progress beyond the America Zone Final stage during Main's time, losing either to the United States or Australia in that round.

Main was credited by tennis historian Bud Collins as the first player to use two hands on both forehand and backhand.

Main was a keen squash player and became a four-time consecutive Canadian doubles champion in the early 1960s, partnering David Pemberton-Smith.

[citation needed] In 2016, Main married Adrienne Avis, an Australian tennis player he met at the World Championships in Austria in 2010.