Fate brought tennis and Ip Koon Hung together, while his love for the sport motivated him to continue competing for many years and his raw talent made him into a local legend. All this young man had when he first started was a simple wooden racquet, a stray ball he found from the side of a court, and a dented wall to hit against. With these bare essentials, hard work, and a natural gift for the sport, he won an astounding 52 local majors (26 singles, 17 doubles, and 9 mixed doubles), the most by any player in the history of Hong Kong tennis. These were further highlighted by records of 15 men’s singles titles at the Grass Court Championships and 11 men’s singles titles at the CRC Open.
He competed in the 1947 U.S. National Championships (now US Open) at Forest Hills against No. 14-seeded Australian Bill Sidwell, who was ranked as high as No. 10 for 1949 by John Olliff. Ip played singles at Wimbledon four times between 1950-1954 and in 1951 finished runner-up to South Africa’s Nigel Cockburn in the Plate, 7-5, 5-7, 10-8. Ip also partnered fellow Hong Kong player, Edwin Tsai, at SW19 in men’s doubles in 1952 and 1954. It was in 1954 when they bested the Belgian-Australian duo of Pierre Geelhand de Merxem and Harry Hopman in the first round before they were defeated by defending champions Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall, 6-4, 8-6, 6-3.
In 1950, Ip finished runner-up at the Midland Counties Championships at Edgbaston to Jaroslav Drobny, who was ranked world No. 1 in 1954 by Lance Tingay. Ip also competed in multiple years notable pre-Wimbledon events, such as the Queen’s Club and Surrey Championships. He and his wife, Yeung Wai Pun, captured the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively at the 1948 China National Games representing Guangzhou. Ip also captained the Hong Kong team at the 1958 and 1966 Asian Games. Commanding one of the best serves during his time, great approach shots, precision volleying, and his greatest asset of self-belief, he ruled much of Hong Kong tennis during his heyday and became a true legend in the history of the sport.
Local Majors
Men’s Singles
Hong Kong Grass Court Championships
1947 1949 1950 1951 1952 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
CRC Open
1948 1951 1952 1954 1957 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964
Men’s Doubles
Hong Kong Grass Court Championships
1950 1951 1952 1954 1955 1958 1959 1961 1963 1964
CRC Open
1952 1953 1954 1957 1962 1965 1967
Mixed Doubles
Hong Kong Hardcourt Championships
1949 1950 1951 1954 1956 1958 1960 1963 1965