Tennis Scotland pays tribute to national champion Malcolm Watt
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Tennis Scotland are deeply saddened to learn of the death of the highly decorated former Scottish national champion Malcolm Watt.
Malcolm, who was aged 56 and known as Malky, will be very fondly remembered by the Scottish tennis community and was an inspiration to the many friends he made along the way.
A champion throughout his life, Malky was awarded the coveted Wilkinson Sword trophy in 1982 for his incredible achievements in junior tennis, before earning a tennis scholarship at the University of Stirling in 1986.
There, he won the Scottish universities singles championships four years in a row and went on to become Head Coach at Newlands Lawn Tennis Club, where he won the Scottish Cup on many occasions, and was a firm fixture of the West of Scotland County Team – appearing at the County Cup for 23 consecutive years.
Malky also represented Scotland on the international stage and played for Great Britain at the ITF World Team Championships in Spain in 2009 before being diagnosed with incurable frontal lobe dementia two years later.
Despite the condition, Malky continued to play tennis at an impressively high level and even added more titles to his collection – including the Scottish Senior Championships 40 & Over singles title as part of the ITF Masters Tour.
Blane Dodds, the Chief Executive of Tennis Scotland, was a close friend of Malky and said: “I think I speak for us all, that if your path crossed with Malky you would remember not only his talent as a tennis player and athlete, you would also remember his extremely kind and big heart, his selflessness and his unique sense of fun.
"Whether you played tennis with Malky, or travelled to tournaments, or just spent time apres tennis, we all remember how he made the experience better, and we all remember laughing with Malky.
"Malky had such a significant impact on Scottish tennis as a player and coach, but it was his sense of making everything better and more enjoyable that we will all miss the most."
The thoughts of everyone at Tennis Scotland are with Malky’s family, including his parents Tommy and Pam, his brother Stuart, sister Shona and his son Leo.
