Brendan Macken

Major Accomplishments

Won the Canadian Open men’s singles title in 1950 and added doubles crowns in 1946 and 1951.
Canada’s top-ranked male player in 1946, 1948, 1950 and 1952 and was a Top 3 ranked player for nine of 10 years between 1946-1955
Davis Cup team member from 1946-1952 and in 1954.

Biography

Brendan Macken was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. He won the 1950 Canadian Open men’s singles defeating Henri Rochon decisively in the final 6-0, 6-0, 6-3. He also won the doubles title in 1946 with his brother, Jim, and in 1951 with Lorne Main. He was runner-up in the 1946 Mixed Doubles event with partner N. Haney.

Macken would also travel to the United States to play and he was very successful when he did. He competed in nine consecutive US National Championships in singles from 1945 to 1953.

Macken competed in the Wimbledon main draw in 1946, but ended up losing his first round match to Kurt Nielsen in four sets.

In Davis Cup action, he played for Canada in 10 ties over the span of nine years which began in 1946. The team was in the Americans Zone and pulled off wins against Cuba in 1951 and Mexico in 1952. Macken played a big role on the team during their match against Mexico in 1952. He upset Fernando Llamas in five sets 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 and pulled off the win for his country. This allowed Canada to advance to the Americas Zone final, but they faced a tough American team and ended up losing 4-1 to the United States. Although in a losing cause, the biggest win of Macken’s career occurred in the 1949 Davis Cup tie with Australia. He defeated O.W. (Bill) Sidwell 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 8-6. Australia went on to reach the Challenge Round.