Juniors

Fairlie was the 1967 Boys' Singles champion of the Australian Championships.^[3]

Professional

Fairlie's best result in a Grand Slam was reaching the semi-finals of men's doubles at the French Open in 1971 with partner Frew McMillan. A year earlier, he reached the singles quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, losing to Tony Roche.

While his highest ATP singles ranking was World No. 24 (in September 1973), Fairlie was ranked inside the world's Top 20 in the late 1960s and early 1970s.^[1][4]

In 1969, his first full year on the circuit, he upset former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion John Newcombe in the quarterfinals of the Heineken Open in Auckland. The tournament's website describes the atmosphere at the event that year: "There was wild excitement in a packed stadium when Kiwi Brian Fairlie pulled off an upset win over Newcombe in five hard-fought sets. When he went on to face Laver, the gates had to be closed against the huge crowds wanting to get in."^[5] In both 1975 and 1976, Fairlie reached the finals of this tournament, losing on both occasions to fellow New Zealander Onny Parun.

In 1976, Fairlie played in an Australian Open match notable for having the 13th oldest combined age in Grand Slam history. His age and the age of Frank Sedgman, his opponent, averaged 37 years, 10 months, and 9 days.^[6]

In winning the second of his two singles titles (in Manila, Philippines in 1976), he lost only one set during the entire tournament.^[7]

Davis Cup

From 1966 through 1979, he played in 48 Davis Cup matches for New Zealand, winning 13 in singles and seven in doubles.^[8]

Team Tennis

In 1974, the inaugural year of World Team Tennis, he became a member of the Philadelphia Freedoms; the team posted the league's best record for the year at 39–5.^[9]

Singles (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 1973	London WCT, England	Hard (i)	Mark Cox	2–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Feb 1973	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Jan Kodeš	1–6, 3–6, 1–6
Loss	1–2	Jan 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Onny Parun	6–4, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 4–6
Loss	1–3	Mar 1975	London, England	Carpet (i)	Mark Cox	1–6, 5–7
Loss	1–4	Dec 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Onny Parun	2–6, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win	2–4	Nov 1976	Manila, Philippines	Hard	Ray Ruffels	7–5, 6–7, 7–6

Doubles (4 titles, 14 runner-up)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1971	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Ray Moore	Bob Carmichael Ray Ruffels	3–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	0–2	Sep 1972	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Ismail El Shafei	Pancho Gonzales Jimmy Connors	3–6, 6–4, 6–7
Loss	0–3	Oct 1972	Alamo WCT, U.S.	Hard	Ismail El Shafei	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	6–7, 4–6
Loss	0–4	Nov 1972	Gothenburg, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Ismail El Shafei	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	2–6, 6–7
Loss	0–5	Mar 1973	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Ismail El Shafei	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle	7–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	0–6	Apr 1973	Cleveland, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Ismail El Shafei	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle	2–6, 3–6
Loss	0–7	Aug 1973	Tanglewood, U.S.	Clay	Ismail El Shafei	Bob Carmichael Frew McMillan	3–6, 4–6
Win	1–7	Apr 1974	St. Louis, U.S.	Clay	Ismail El Shafei	Geoff Masters Ross Case	7–6, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	1–8	Jan 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Onny Parun	Bob Carmichael Ray Ruffels	6–7, ret.
Loss	1–9	Apr 1975	Charlotte, US	Clay	Ismail El Shafei	Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol	3–6, 7–5, 4–6
Loss	1–10	Mar 1976	Mexico City, Mexico	Clay	Ismail El Shafei	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	4–6, 6–7
Loss	1–11	Oct 1976	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Ismail El Shafei	Syd Ball Kim Warwick	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–11	Oct 1976	Sydney, Australia	Hard (i)	Ismail El Shafei	Syd Ball Kim Warwick	7–5, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	2–12	Nov 1976	Tokyo, Japan	Clay	Ismail El Shafei	Bob Carmichael Ken Rosewall	4–6, 4–6
Win	3–12	Jul 1977	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Ismail El Shafei	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	6–7, 6–3, 7–6
Win	4–12	Mar 1978	Cairo, Egypt	Clay	Ismail El Shafei	Lito Álvarez George Hardie	6–3, 7–5, 6–2
Loss	4–13	Jul 1978	Cincinnati, U.S.	Clay	Ismail El Shafei	Gene Mayer Raúl Ramírez	3–6, 3–6
Loss	4–14	Aug 1978	New Orleans, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Ismail El Shafei	Erik van Dillen Dick Stockton	6–7, 3–6