Roy Emerson
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Roy Stanley Emerson (born November 3, 1936) is a former champion Australian tennis player. During his career, he won a total of 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He is the only male player in the history of the game to have won singles and doubles titles at all four Grand Slams, and his 28 Grand Slam crowns stand as an all-time record for a male player. Most of his titles were won in the final years of the period where the Grand Slam events were open only to amateur players, just before the start of the 'Open Era' when professionals were admitted into tennis's most prestigious events.
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[edit] Biography
Emerson was born on a farm in Blackbutt, Queensland. His family later moved to Brisbane, where he attended Brisbane Grammar School and Ipswich Grammar School and was able to receive better tennis instruction.
Emerson won his first Grand Slam doubles title in 1959 at Wimbledon (partnering Neale Fraser). In 1961, he captured his first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Championships, beating compatriot Rod Laver in four sets in the final. Later that year, Emerson claimed his second Grand Slam singles crown when he again beat Laver in the final of the US Championships.
Affectionately known as "Emmo" on the tour, the six-foot right-hander was known for training hard and always being ready for strenuous matches because of his outstanding level of fitness. He was primarily a serve-and-volley style player, but was also able to adapt to the rigours of slow courts, allowing him to enjoy success on all surfaces.
From 1963 to 1967, Emerson won five consecutive Australian Championships men's singles titles. His six Australian singles crowns are a record for a male player.
1963 also saw Emerson capture his first French Championships singles title, beating Pierre Darmon in the final.
Emerson's first Wimbledon singles title came in 1964, with a final victory over Fred Stolle. Emerson won 55 consecutive matches during 1964 and finished the year with 109 victories out of 115 matches. He won three of the year's four Grand Slam events that year (failing to win only the French Open).
Emerson was the world's No. 1 ranked amateur player in 1964 and 1965. In 1965, he successfully defended his Australian and Wimbledon singles crowns. He was the heavy favourite to win Wimbledon again in 1966, but during his fourth round match he skidded while chasing the ball and crashed into the umpire's stand, injuring his shoulder. He still finished the match, but was unable to win.
Emerson's last Grand Slam singles title came at the French Championships in 1967 - the year before the Open Era began. His 12 Grand Slam singles titles stood as a men's record until 2000, when it was surpassed by Pete Sampras.
Emerson's final Grand Slam doubles title was won in 1971 at Wimbledon (parnering Rod Laver). His 16 Grand Slam doubles crowns were won with five different partners. From 1960-1965, he won six consecutive French Open men's doubles titles. Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and tennis great, writes in his 1979 autobiography that "Emerson was the best doubles player of all the moderns, very possibly the best forehand court player of all time. He was so quick he could cover everything. He had the perfect doubles shot, a backhand that dipped over the net and came in at the server's feet as he moved to the net. Gene Mako and Johnny van Ryn could hit a shot like that sometimes, but never so often nor as proficiently as Emerson."
Emerson was also a member of a record eight Davis Cup winning teams between 1959 and 1967.
Emerson's 12 singles and 16 doubles titles make him one of the leading players in Grand Slam history. However, whether he should be considered one of the all-time great players is debatable. All his Grand Slam singles titles were won against an amateur field at a time when many of the world's best players had turned professional and were unable to compete in the Grand Slams. Jack Kramer, for instance, a candidate himself as the greatest player of all time, did not consider Emerson even worthy of inclusion in his 1979 list of the 21 best players to that date.[1]
In 1968, moreover, Emerson came into the French Open as the defending champion and lost in the quarterfinals to Pancho Gonzales, who had been the most dominant player in the professional ranks for much of the 1950s and 60s, but was almost 40 years old by the time the open era began. Eight years Gonzales's junior, Emerson seldom managed to beat him in a dozen matches as a professional. In the Champions Classic of 1970 in Miami, Florida, Emerson did beat Gonzales in straight sets, 6-2,6-3,6-2. [2]
Emerson now resides in Newport Beach, California and has a home in Gstaad, Switzerland, where he holds a tennis clinic each summer. His son, Antony, was an All-American in tennis at the University of Southern California and played on the professional tour briefly. Roy and Antony won the United States Hard Court Father-and-Son title in 1978.
Emerson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1982.
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Wins (12)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1961 Australian Championships Rod Laver 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 1961 US Championships Rod Laver 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 1963 Australian Championships Ken Fletcher 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 1963 French Championships Pierre Darmon 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 1964 Australian Championships Fred Stolle 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 1964 Wimbledon Fred Stolle 6-4, 12-10, 4-6, 6-3 1964 US Championships Fred Stolle 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 1965 Australian Championships Fred Stolle 7-9, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 1965 Wimbledon Fred Stolle 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 1966 Australian Championships Arthur Ashe 6-4, 6-8, 6-2, 6-3 1967 Australian Championships Arthur Ashe 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 1967 French Championships Tony Roche 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
[edit] Runner-ups (3)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1962 Australian Championships Rod Laver 8-6, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 1962 French Championships Rod Laver 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 9-7, 6-2 1962 US Championships Rod Laver 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
[edit] Grand Slam doubles tournaments
- Australian Championships / Australian Open:
- Men's Doubles champion – 1962, 1966, 1969
- Men's Doubles losing finalist – 1958, 60, 61, 64, 65
- Mixed Doubles losing finalist – 1956
- French Championships / French Open:
- Men's Doubles champion – 1960-65
- Men's Doubles losing finalist – 1959, 67-69
- Mixed Doubles losing finalist – 1960
- Wimbledon:
- Men's Doubles champion – 1959, 61, 71
- Men's Doubles losing finalist – 1964, 67
- US Championships / US Open:
- Men's Doubles champion – 1959-60, 1965-66
- Men's Doubles losing finalist – 1970
[edit] Notes
- ^ Writing in his 1979 autobiography, Kramer considered the best 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.
- ^ World of Tennis Yearbook 1971, by John Barrett, page 142
[edit] Sources
- World of Tennis Yearbook 1971 (1971), by John Barrett, London
[edit] External links
| 1933: Jack Crawford (3) | 1934: Fred Perry (3) | 1938: Don Budge (4) | 1955: Tony Trabert (3) | 1956: Lew Hoad (3) | 1958: Ashley Cooper (3) | 1962, 1969: Rod Laver (4) | 1964: Roy Emerson (3) | 1974: Jimmy Connors (3) | 1988: Mats Wilander (3) | 2004, 2006: Roger Federer (3) |
