History
Tall and well-built, Gerald Patterson played a strong serve-and-volley game that won him three major singles. Patterson was known as the "Human Catapult" for his powerful serve that many of the top players had trouble returning. He also enjoyed great success representing Australia in Davis Cup and amassed a 32–14 win–loss record (singles 21–10, doubles 11–4) and was part of the winning team in 1919. Gerald played Davis cup 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1928 and finally as captain in 1946. He was a player ahead of his time, playing with a steel racquet strung with wire in 1925.
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1989 and then the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in August 1997.
Patterson was the nephew of Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba and father of racing driver Bill Patterson. Patterson was awarded the Military Cross for bravery as an officer in Royal Field Artillery in 1917 at Messines.
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