John Newcombe

**John Newcombe**

Country	Australia
Residence	-
Date of birth	May 23, 1944
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	-
Weight	-
Turned Pro	1968
Retired	1981
Plays	Right-handed
Career Prize Money	US$1,062,408
Singles
Career record:	429 - 136
Career titles:	68 including 32 in the open era listed in the ATP Webside
Highest ranking:	1 (3-Jun-74)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (1973, 1975)
French Open	QF (1969)
Wimbledon	W (1970, 1971)
U.S. Open	W (1973)
Doubles
Career record:	332 - 113
Career titles:	33
Highest ranking:	1
Infobox last updated on: January 22, 2007.

John David Newcombe AO OBE (born May 23, 1944 in Sydney, Australia) is a former World No. 1 tennis champion.

A natural athlete, as a boy Newcombe played several sports until devoting himself to tennis. He was the Australian junior champion in 1961, 1962 and 1963 and became a member of Australia's Davis Cup winning team in 1964. He won his first Grand Slam major in 1965 by taking the Australian Championships doubles title with fellow Australian Tony Roche. That same year, the duo won the Wimbledon doubles title. They would team up to win the Australian doubles championship three more times, Wimbledon another four times and the US Championships in 1967, the French Championships in 1967 and 1969. Together, Newcombe and Roche won 12 Grand Slam titles, more than any other men's team in tennis history.

Newcombe's powerful serve and volley was the backbone of his attacking game. To the delight of fans, and the surprise of his opponent, he frequently came up with a second-serve ace. His play made him the No. 1 amateur in the world in 1967 according to Lance Tingay (Rex Bellamy ranked him No. 2 amateur behind Roy Emerson) (and the true No. 1 in the world was Rod Laver, a professional player). As a pro, Newcombe was the joint world number one player in 1970 and 1971. In singles play, he was a two time winner of the Australian Open, a three time winner of Wimbledon, and the US Open twice.

As member of Lamar Hunt's, "World Championship Tennis" professional tour group, and part of the players union, he was banned by the International Tennis Federation from competing in the 1972 Wimbledon championships and he boycotted the event in 1973. Very popular with the fans, Newcombe's absence resulted in urgent negotiations that ultimately resolved the issues. He served as President of the Association of Tennis Professionals in 1977 and 1978.

Newcombe and Rod Laver are the only players to ever win both the US Open and Wimbledon men's singles titles as an amateur and as a professional. The grass surfaces favored his game and the French Open's clay surface was the only major singles championship he never won. However, he did take the French doubles title on three occasions. Overall, he won 25 Grand Slam major titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

John Newcombe was the last of the Australians who dominated tennis in the 1950s and 1960s. In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Newcombe in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time,^[1] and also considered Newcombe to have the best second serve in tennis history. In 1986, his achievements were recognized with his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Still active in tennis, he was made captain of Australia's Davis Cup team in 1995.

Notoriously, he was revealed to be President George W. Bush's drinking companion on the night when he was charged with driving under the influence. This controversy surfaced during the 2000 US Presidential Election[1].

He is an Australian Living Treasure.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (7)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1967	Wimbledon	Wilhelm Bungert	6-2, 6-1, 6-1
1967	U.S. Open	Clark Graebner	6-4, 6-4, 8-6
1970	Wimbledon (2)	Ken Rosewall	5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
1971	Wimbledon (3)	Stan Smith	6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
1973	Australian Open	Onny Parun	6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
1973	U.S. Open (2)	Jan Kodeš	6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
1975	Australian Open (2)	Jimmy Connors	7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6

Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1966	U.S. Open	Fred Stolle	4-6, 12-10, 6-3, 6-4
1969	Wimbledon	Rod Laver	6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
1976	Australian Open	Mark Edmondson	6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1

Grand Slam men's doubles finals

Wins (17)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1965	Australian Open	Tony Roche	Roy Emerson Fred Stolle	3-6, 4-6, 13-11, 6-3, 6-4
1965	Wimbledon	Tony Roche	Ken Fletcher Bob Hewitt	7-5, 6-3, 6-4
1966	Wimbledon (2)	Ken Fletcher	Owen Davidson Bill Bowrey	6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
1967	Australian Open (2)	Tony Roche	Bill Bowrey Owen Davidson	3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-8, 8-6
1967	French Open	Tony Roche	Roy Emerson Ken Fletcher	6-3, 9-7, 12-10
1967	U.S. Open	Tony Roche	Bill Bowrey Owen Davidson	6-8, 9-7, 6-3, 6-3
1968	Wimbledon (3)	Tony Roche	Ken Fletcher Ken Rosewall	3-6, 8-6, 5-7, 14-12, 6-3
1969	French Open (2)	Tony Roche	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	4-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
1969	Wimbledon (4)	Tony Roche	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	7-5, 11-9, 6-3
1970	Wimbledon (5)	Tony Roche	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle	10-8, 6-3, 6-1
1971	Australian Open (3)	Tony Roche	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	6-2, 7-6
1971	U.S. Open (2)	Roger Taylor	Stan Smith Erik van Dillen	6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6
1973	Australian Open (4)	Mal Anderson	John Alexander Phil Dent	6-3, 6-4, 7-6
1973	U.S. Open (3)	Owen Davidson	Rod Laver Ken Rosewall	7-5, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
1973	French Open (3)	Tom Okker	Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase	6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
1974	Wimbledon (6)	Tony Roche	Bob Lutz Stan Smith	8-6, 6-4, 6-4
1976	Australian Open (5)	Tony Roche	Ross Case Geoff Masters	7-6, 6-4

Runner-ups (4)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1963	Australian Open	Ken Fletcher	Bob Hewitt Fred Stolle	6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
1964	French Open	Tony Roche	Roy Emerson Ken Fletcher	7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
1966	Australian Championships (2)	Tony Roche	Roy Emerson Fred Stolle	7-9, 6-3, 6-8, 14-12, 12-10
1972	U.S. Open	Owen Davidson	Cliff Drysdale Roger Taylor	6-4, 7-6, 6-3

Grand Slam mixed doubles finals

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1964	U.S. Open	Margaret Smith Court	Ed Rubinoff Judy Tegart Dalton	0-6, 6-4, 6-4
1965	Australian Open	Margaret Smith Court	Owen Davidson Robbyn Ebbern	Shared championship, final not played

Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1965	French Open	Maria Bueno	Ken Fletcher Margaret Smith Court	6-4, 6-4

68 Singles titles including 32 listed by the ATP Website for the Open Era only

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1968	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Cliff Drysdale	6-3, 6-2, 6-4
2.	1969	Rome, Italy	Clay	Tony Roche	6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
3.	1969	Bournemouth, England	Clay	Bob Hewitt	6-8, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
4.	1970	Casablanca WCT, Morocco	Other	Andrés Gimeno	6-4, 6-4, 6-4
5.	1970	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Ken Rosewall	5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
6.	1971	Philadelphia WCT, USA	Carpet	Rod Laver	7-6, 7-6, 6-4
7.	1971	Chicago WCT, USA	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	4-6, 7-6, 6-2
8.	1971	Dallas WCT, USA	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	7-6, 6-4
9.	1971	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Stan Smith	6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
10.	1971	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Tom Okker	6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
11.	1971	Montreal, Canada	Clay	Tom Okker	7-6, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6
12.	1971	Toronto WCT, Canada	Carpet	Tom Okker	7-6, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6
13.	1972	Las Vegas WCT, USA	Hard	Cliff Drysdale	6-3, 6-4
14.	1972	St. Louis WCT, USA	Carpet	Nikola Pilić	6-3, 6-3
15.	1972	Fort Worth WCT, USA	Hard	Ken Rosewall	5-7, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4
16.	1972	Alamo WCT, USA	Outdoor	Cliff Drysdale	6-1, 6-1, 7-5
17.	1972	Vancouver WCT, Canada	Outdoor	Marty Riessen	6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5
18.	1972	Gothenberg WCT, Sweden	Carpet	Roy Emerson	6-0, 6-3, 6-1
19.	1972	Johannesburg-2, South Africa	Hard	John Alexander	6-1, 7-6
20.	1973	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Onny Parun	6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
21.	1973	U.S. Open, New York	Grass	Jan Kodeš	6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
22.	1973	Djakarta, Indonesia	Other	Ross Case	7-6, 7-6, 6-3
23.	1974	St. Petersburg WCT, USA	Hard	Alex Metreveli	6-0, 7-6
24.	1974	La Costa WCT, USA	Hard	Stan Smith	6-2, 4-6, 6-4
25.	1974	Tucson, USA	Hard	Arthur Ashe	6-3, 7-6
26.	1974	New Orleans WCT, USA	Other	Jeff Borowiak	6-4, 6-2
27.	1974	Orlando WCT, USA	Hard	Jaime Fillol	6-2, 3-6, 6-3
28.	1974	Dallas WCT, USA	Carpet	Björn Borg	4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
29.	1974	Maui, USA	Hard	Roscoe Tanner	7-6, 7-6
30.	1974	Tokyo, Japan	Outdoor	Ken Rosewall	3-6, 6-2, 6-3
31.	1974	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Cliff Richey	6-4, 6-3, 6-4
32.	1975	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Jimmy Connors	7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6

Notes

^ In his 1979 autobiography Kramer considered the best player ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.

External links

Preceded by Ilie Năstase	World No. 1 June 3, 1974 - July 28, 1974	Succeeded by Jimmy Connors

World No. 1s in Men's tennis
Ilie Năstase \| John Newcombe \| Jimmy Connors \| Björn Borg \| John McEnroe \| Ivan Lendl \| Mats Wilander \| Stefan Edberg \| Boris Becker \| Jim Courier \| Pete Sampras \| Andre Agassi \| Thomas Muster \| Marcelo Ríos \| Carlos Moyà \| Yevgeny Kafelnikov \| Patrick Rafter \| Marat Safin \| Gustavo Kuerten \| Lleyton Hewitt \| Juan Carlos Ferrero \| Andy Roddick \| Roger Federer

Pre Open Era Wimbledon men's singles champions*

Australian Open men's singles champions*

* Open Era • (1969) Rod Laver • (1970) Arthur Ashe • (1971-72) Ken Rosewall • (1973) John Newcombe • (1974) Jimmy Connors • (1975) John Newcombe • (1976) Mark Edmondson • (1977 [Jan]) Roscoe Tanner • (1977 [Dec]) Vitas Gerulaitis • (1978-79) Guillermo Vilas • (1980) Brian Teacher • (1981-82) Johan Kriek • (1983-84) Mats Wilander • (1985) Stefan Edberg • (1986) No competition • (1987) Stefan Edberg • (1988) Mats Wilander • (1989-90) Ivan Lendl • (1991) Boris Becker (1992-93) Jim Courier • (1994) Pete Sampras • (1995) Andre Agassi • (1996) Boris Becker • (1997) Pete Sampras • (1998) Petr Korda • (1999) Yevgeny Kafelnikov • (2000-01) Andre Agassi • (2002) Thomas Johansson • (2003) Andre Agassi • (2004) Roger Federer • (2005) Marat Safin • (2006-07) Roger Federer

Wimbledon men's singles champions*

* Open Era • (1968-69) Rod Laver • (1970–71) John Newcombe • (1972) Stan Smith • (1973) Jan Kodeš • (1974) Jimmy Connors • (1975) Arthur Ashe • (1976–80) Björn Borg • (1981) John McEnroe • (1982) Jimmy Connors • (1983–84) John McEnroe • (1985–86) Boris Becker • (1987) Pat Cash • (1988) Stefan Edberg • (1989) Boris Becker • (1990) Stefan Edberg (1991) Michael Stich • (1992) Andre Agassi • (1993–95) Pete Sampras • (1996) Richard Krajicek • (1997–00) Pete Sampras • (2001) Goran Ivanišević • (2002) Lleyton Hewitt • (2003–07) Roger Federer

US Open men's singles champions*

* Open Era • (1968) Arthur Ashe • (1969) Rod Laver • (1970) Ken Rosewall • (1971) Stan Smith • (1972) Ilie Năstase • (1973) John Newcombe • (1974) Jimmy Connors • (1975) Manuel Orantes • (1976) Jimmy Connors • (1977) Guillermo Vilas • (1978) Jimmy Connors • (1979–81) John McEnroe • (1982–83) Jimmy Connors • (1984) John McEnroe • (1985–87) Ivan Lendl • (1988) Mats Wilander • (1989) Boris Becker • (1990) Pete Sampras • (1991–92) Stefan Edberg • (1993) Pete Sampras • (1994) Andre Agassi • (1995–96) Pete Sampras • (1997–98) Patrick Rafter • (1999) Andre Agassi • (2000) Marat Safin • (2001) Lleyton Hewitt • (2002) Pete Sampras • (2003) Andy Roddick • (2004–07) Roger Federer

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Donate to Wikimedia