John Newcombe
John Newcombe | |||||||||||||
Ron Kroon : John Newcombe (1965) | |||||||||||||
Nation: | Australia | ||||||||||||
Birthday: | May 23, 1944 | ||||||||||||
Size: | 183 cm | ||||||||||||
1st professional season: | 1968 | ||||||||||||
Resignation: | 1981 | ||||||||||||
Playing hand: | Right, one-handed backhand | ||||||||||||
Prize money: | $ 1,062,408 | ||||||||||||
singles | |||||||||||||
Career record: | 436: 145 | ||||||||||||
Career title: | 32 ATP ; 36 before the Open Era | ||||||||||||
Highest ranking: | 1 (June 3 1974) | ||||||||||||
Weeks as No. 1: | 8th | ||||||||||||
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Double | |||||||||||||
Career record: | 333: 115 | ||||||||||||
Career title: | 33 | ||||||||||||
Highest ranking: | 455 (January 3, 1983) | ||||||||||||
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Mixed | |||||||||||||
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Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links ) |
John David Newcombe (born May 23, 1944 in Sydney ) is a retired Australian tennis player .
biography
In his youth, Newcombe played many different sports until he decided to play tennis. He was Australian junior champion in 1961, 1962 and 1963 and was a member of the victorious Australian Davis team in 1964 . He won his first Grand Slam tournament in 1965 when he won doubles at the Australian Open with fellow countryman Tony Roche . In the same year the duo also won the title at Wimbledon . Overall, the two won the Australian championships three more times, at Wimbledon they added four more triumphs and won the US Open in 1967 and the French Open in 1967 and 1969 . Overall, they were victorious in 12 Grand Slam finals in doubles, making them one of the most successful pairings.
John Newcombe's powerful serve and volley game was the guarantee for his aggressive game. To the delight of the spectators and to the surprise of the opponents, he also hit an ace with the second serve. His style of play made him number 1 in amateur sports in 1967. As a professional player, he was first in the rankings in 1970, 1971 and 1974. In singles, he won the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon three times and the US Open twice.
As a member of Lamar Hunt's "World Championship Tennis", a tournament series for professional tennis players, he was excluded from the English championships at Wimbledon in 1972, and a year later the fan-favorite newcombe boycotted the tournament. His boycott was then the reason to finally solve the problem with professional sport. John Newcombe was President of the Professional Tennis Players Association in 1977 and 1978.
Newcombe and Rod Laver were the only players to win the US Open and Wimbledon as both amateur and professional players. The grass pitch was John Newcombe's preferred surface and the French Open remained the only Grand Slam tournament that he could never win in singles. In doubles, however, he was victorious in three tournaments.
In total, John Newcombe won 25 Grand Slam tournaments in singles, doubles and mixed. John Newcombe was the last Australian to dominate men's tennis. In 1986 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Tennis.
He remained connected to tennis even after his retirement and was captain of the Australian Davis Cup team in 1995.
Grand Slam successes
- Australian Open
- Singles - 1973, 1975, final 1976
- Doubles - 1965, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1976
- French Open
- Doubles - 1967, 1969, 1973
- Wimbledon
- Singles - 1967, 1970, 1971, 1969 finals
- Doubles - 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974
- US Open
- Singles - 1967, 1973
- Doubles - 1967, 1971, 1973
- Mixed - 1964
Web links
- ATP profile of John Newcombe (English)
- ITF Profile of John Newcombe (English)
- Davis Cup stats from John Newcombe (English)
- John Newcombe in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Newcombe, John |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Newcombe, John David (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian tennis player |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 23, 1944 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Sydney , Australia |