{{Short description|British tennis player}} {{Infobox tennis biography |name = Roy Allen |fullname = Edward Roy Allen |image = |caption= |country ={{GBR}} |birth_date = 28 December 1868 |birth_place = Saint Neots, Bedfordshire, England |death_date = 4 November 1931 (aged 63) |death_place = Prestbury, Gloucestershire, England |turnedpro = 1887 (amateur tour) |retired = 1914 |tennishofyear = |tennishofid = |singlesrecord = 668/200 (76.96%) |singlestitles = 97 |highestsinglesranking = |AustralianOpenresult = |FrenchOpenresult = |Wimbledonresult = 2R (1896, 1899) |USOpenresult = |Othertournaments = |Olympicsresult = |doublesrecord = |doublestitles = |highestdoublesranking = |currentdoublesranking = |AustralianOpenDoublesresult = |FrenchOpenDoublesresult = |WimbledonDoublesresult = F (1896) |USOpenDoublesresult = |OthertournamentsDoubles = |OlympicsDoublesresult = |Mixed = |mixedrecord = |mixedtitles = |AustralianOpenMixedresult = |FrenchOpenMixedresult = |WimbledonMixedresult = |USOpenMixedresult = |OthertournamentsMixedDoubles = |OlympicMixedDoublesresult = }}
'''Edward Roy Allen''' (28 December 1868 – 26 October 1930), and often referred to as '''E.R. Allen''', was a British tennis player active in the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Player Profile: Roy Allen |url=https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/draws_archive/player_profile/d96c5333-396c-4b76-9c0b-72a23f2f14e6.html |website=www.wimbledon.com |publisher=AELTC |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Player Profile: E. Roy Allen |url=https://www.atptour.com/en/players/e-roy-allen/af48/overview |website=ATP Tour |publisher=ATP |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>
In major tournaments of the time he was an all-comers finalist in the men's doubles at the 1896 Wimbledon Championships partnering with his twin brother Charles Gladstone Allen where they lost to Reggie Doherty and Harold Nisbet.<ref>{{cite web |title=Draws Archive: 1896: All Comers Final |url=https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/draws_archive/index.html |website=www.wimbledon.com |publisher=AELTC |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref> Roy played 28 consecutive seasons from 1887 to 1914, and won 97 singles titles.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Gabriel |title=Profile: Allen, Edward Roy |url=https://app.thetennisbase.com/?enlace=playern&player1=ALLEN,%20EDWARD%20ROY |website=thetennisbase.com |publisher=The Tennis Base |access-date=15 December 2022 |location=Madrid}}</ref>
==Career== Roy played his first tournament 1887 at the Stevenage tournament where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Arthur Gore. In 1891 he won his first title at the Boulogne International, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France against Charles Gladstone Allen. In February 1913 he won his final title at the San Remo International tournament in Italy. In 1914 he played his final tournament at the Monte Carlo Championships (today's Monte Carlo Masters) in France
Roy won numerous singles titles throughout his career,<ref>{{cite book |title=Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes |date=1925 |publisher=Baily bros. |location=London |page=95 |url= |language=en |chapter=Obituary:Charles Gladstone Allen}}</ref> he won the Durham County Association Tournament at Sunderland seven times (1900–01, 1906–10), Nottinghamshire Championships five times (1896, 1899, 1900, 1904–04),<ref>{{cite web |title=The John Player Nottingham Tennis Tournament: Record of Winners Nottingham Lawn Tennis Tournament (1887–1970) |url=https://www.nottinghamcastleltc.co.uk/history/?d=John+Player+Nottingham+Tennis+Tournament+1971.pdf |website=Nottingham Castle LTC |publisher=Notts Lawn Tennis Association |access-date=15 December 2022 |pages=1–7 |date=7 June 1971}}</ref> the Sheffield and Hallamshire Championships five times, the East of England Championships at Felixstowe five times (1891, 1893, 1895, 1903–04), the Warwickshire Championships at Leamington Spa five times (1896, 1898–99, 1905, 1910).<ref>The Tennis Base.</ref>
He also won the Boulogne International Championship four times (1891, 1895, 1896–97), the East Grinstead Open four times (1906, 1908–1910). The following tournaments he won three times, the Hampshire County Lawn Tennis Championship (1907–1909), the Lowestoft Tournament (1907–08, 1910), the Shropshire Championships at Shrewsbury (1905, 1907–08), the Norwich Open (1907–08, 1910), the Burton-on-Trent Open (1893, 1896, 1905), the Leicestershire Championships (1900–01, 1905), the Suffolk Championships at Saxmundham (1895–96, 1903) and the Colchester Championship (1893–95).<ref>The Tennis Base.</ref>
The following tournaments he won at least two times including Italian Riviera Championships (1912–13), the Riviera Championships at Menton (1903, 1912), the Exmouth Open (1898, 1910), the Château-d'Œx tournament (1907–08), Nice (1902, 1906), Chichester Open (1896, 1905), the East Grinstead Open (1904, 1909), Gore Court Championships (1901, 1903), the Mid-Kent Championships (1900, 1904), the Yorkshire Championships (1894, 1905), Bradford Open (1893, 1896) and Bournemouth Open (1904–05).<ref>The Tennis Base.</ref>
In addition he won a single title at each of the following events, Newcastle Open (1894), West of England Championships (1895), Fitzwilliam Plate (1896), Kirkcaldy (1899), Essex Championships (1900), Frinton-on-Sea (1905), South Northumberland Tournament (1905), Cranbrook (1905), Warwick (1906), the French Switzerland Championships (1907), Worcestershire Championships (1908), Worthing (1908), Derbyshire Championships (1909) at Buxton, Southampton (1909), Skegness (1909), Great Yarmouth (1910) and the Dorset County Championships (1910).<ref>The Tennis Base.</ref>
He currently holds the all-time record for most titles won on grass courts at 82.<ref>{{cite web|title=Most titles Grass|url=https://app.thetennisbase.com/?enlace=records&id=OODGHHBALI|website=thetennisbase.com|publisher=Tennis Base|access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>
==Grand Slam finals==
===Doubles=== ====All-Comers (1 runner up)==== {| class='sortable wikitable' !style="width:40px"|Result !style="width:40px"|Year !style="width:130px"|Championship !style="width:50px"|Surface !style="width:160px"|Partner !style="width:160px"|Opponents !style="width:170px" class="unsortable"|Score |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1896<ref>{{cite web |title=The Championships 1896 - Gentlemen's All-Comers' Doubles |url=https://assets.wimbledon.com/archive/draws/pdfs/draws/1896_MD_A4.pdf |website=Wimbledon |publisher=AELTC |access-date=12 December 2023 |location=London, England}}</ref> || Wimbledon || Grass || {{flagicon|UKGBI}} Charles Gladstone Allen || {{flagicon|UKGBI}} Reginald Doherty<br />{{flagicon|UKGBI}} Harold Nisbet ||6–3, 5–7, 4–6, 1–6 |}
==Personal== Roy was born in 1868 Saint Neots, Bedfordshire, England. He was one of the twin sons of Rev. Hunter Bird Allen, the Rector of Colmworth Parish,<ref>{{cite book |title=Kelly's directory of Bedfordshire, Hunts, and Northamptonshire |date=1885 |publisher=Kellys Directories Limited |page=48 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-4NAAAAQAAJ&dq=Rev.+Hunter+Bird+Allen&pg=PA48 |language=en |chapter=Bedfordshire}}</ref> and Adelaide Mary Gladstone.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Council |first1=Bedford |title=The Allen Family of Colmworth |url=https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Colmworth/TheAllenFamilyOfColmworth.aspx |website=bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk |publisher=Bedfordshire Archives|access-date=15 December 2022 |date=21 June 2019}}</ref> His twin brother was the other notable tennis player Charles Gladstone Allen.<ref>Bedfordshire Archives</ref> It was Hunter Bird who taught Charles and Roy how to play tennis which proved very successful for both of them.<ref>Bedfordshire Archives</ref> He died on 4 November 1931.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.atptour.com/en/players/e-roy-allen/af48/overview ATP Profile: E. Roy Allen.] * [https://www.wimbledon.com/en%20GB/draws%20archive/player%20profile/d96c5333-396c-4b76-9c0b-72a23f2f14e6.html Wimbledon Player Profile: Roy Allen.]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Roy}} Category:1868 births Category:1931 deaths Category:19th-century male tennis players Category:19th-century English sportsmen Category:English male tennis players Category:British male tennis players Category:Sportspeople from Bedfordshire