Paddy Roberts (tennis)

{{Short description|British tennis player}}

{{Infobox tennis biography

| name = Paddy Roberts

| image =

| fullname = Arthur Gordon Roberts

| country_represented = {{GBR}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|11|21|df=yes}}

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| death_date =

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| height =

| plays = Right-handed

| careerprizemoney =

| singlesrecord =

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| FrenchOpenresult = 3R (1951)

| Wimbledonresult = 2R (1948, 1949, 1950)

}}

Arthur Gordon "Paddy" Roberts (born 21 November 1929) is a British former professional tennis player. He is the son of tennis coach Arthur Roberts Sr, who guided Sue Barker and Angela Mortimer to grand slam titles.{{cite news |last1=Fraser |first1=Stuart |title=There is more to Sue Barker than Question of Sport – she was a great on court |url=https://www.thetimes.com/sport/tennis/article/there-is-more-to-sue-barker-than-question-of-sport-she-was-a-great-on-court-kf966llg9 |work=The Times |date=5 June 2020 |language=en}}

Roberts, native of Torquay, was British junior champion in 1946 and 1947.{{cite news |title=Roberts Keeps His Title |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/861639572 |work=Herald Express |date=13 September 1947}} As an 18-year old in 1948 he had an upset win over France's number five ranked player Roger Duboc at the British Hard Court Championships.{{cite news |title=Paddy Roberts: 'The Best Performance Of Career' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/811916633 |work=Herald Express |date=29 April 1948}} He progressed to win titles at Cheltenham and Exmouth amongst others over the next few years. In 1951 he featured for the Great Britain Davis Cup team in a tie against France and lost his reverse singles match to Bernard Destremau in five sets.{{cite news |title=Paddy Roberts in British Davis Cup side |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/851107520 |work=Evening Despatch |date=31 May 1951}} Later in the year he had a close loss to Eric Sturgess in the final of the Scottish Championships.{{cite news |title=Paddy Roberts coming British tennis star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/877222108 |work=Daily Mail |date=6 August 1951}} In 1952 he opted to turn professional. He was a two-time winner of the British Professional Championships.{{cite news |title=Paddy Roberts Joins Professional Ranks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/826885019 |work=Herald Express |date=7 February 1952}}