T&RA Annual Dinner & Awards 2025

Julian is unquestionably the best and most successful amateur Real Tennis player in the last 40 years. Born in 1964, he and James Male were contemporaries at Radley and together won the Schools Rackets Doubles in 1982.

Julian is the only Amateur to have earned the right to challenge for the World Tennis Championship in the last half century, losing to Rob Fahey 4-7 in 1998. But he and Tim Chisholm won the inaugural World Doubles Championship in 2001. His style of Tennis is based on marvellously consistent ground strokes on both wings, allied to exemplary concentration and formidable tactical awareness. His record of tournament wins is awesome. In just the UK alone his wins include:-

• 4 Open Singles Championships
• 2 Open Doubles Championships with James Male
• 19 Amateur Singles Championships
• 13 Amateur Doubles Championships with 5 different partners
• 1 U21 Open Singles Championship
• 4 U24 Open Singles Championships
• 4 U24 Open Doubles Championships with Mike Gooding
• 9 MCC Gold Racquets
• 9 Henry Leaf Old Boys team wins
• 1 Over 40’s Singles Championship
• 10 Baerlein Cups
• 1 Greenwood Cup

There are two more areas of Real Tennis where Julian has particularly excelled. First, as a fervent member or Captain of numerous UK Bathurst Cup teams, as a singles player and an indefatigable doubles player with Mike McMurragh and James Acheson-Gray; and secondly, as an extraordinary performer in numerous handicap events, able to compete successfully whilst giving away huge handicaps at singles or doubles.

After a period earlier this Century living in Australia, Julian is now back living in the UK, so closer again to his beloved racecourses! As well as his remarkable prowess on the Tennis court, he is noted for his acerbic wit and willingness to back his own judgement on real tennis matters – well actually on nearly any subject, for that matter!