Lew Hoad

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Lew Hoad

Lewis Alan Hoad (born November 23, 1934 in Glebe , New South Wales , Australia , † July 3, 1994 in Fuengirola , Spain ) was an Australian tennis player .

life and career

Lew Hoad became a tennis icon in the 1950s because of his looks, powerful athleticism and personality.

Power played an important role in his style of play; he played for victory more often than looking for a chance in long rallies. Despite this style of play, he also had the ability to win the French Open on the slow surface of the clay court . From 1952 to 1956 he was placed in the world rankings in the top 10, in 1956 he was then number 1 in world tennis.

Lew Hoad was a member of the Australian Davis Cup team , with which he won the Davis Cup three times in 1953 , 1955 and 1956 . In 1956 he won the first three Grand Slam tournaments and was about to win the US Open and thus the Grand Slam and get an attractive contract in professional tennis , but he lost to his compatriot Ken Rosewall in Forest Hills . That year he won the Grand Slam in doubles with Ken Rosewall . Ironically, by defeating Hoad, Ken Rosewall received the contract originally offered to Lew Hoad and played with Pancho Gonzales on the professional tour.

At a time when only amateur players were allowed to take part in the Grand Slam tournaments, Hoad finally switched to the professionals after his Wimbledon victory in 1957.

In his first year as a professional, Hoad played a series of 87 games against the reigning "king" of professional tennis, Pancho Gonzales. Hoad won 18 of the first 27 games, but Gonzales hit back, eventually winning 51 to 36.

Gonzales, probably one of the best tennis players of all time, said Hoad was the greatest challenge he ever faced.

Back problems forced Hoad to retire in the 1960s. He moved to the vicinity of Málaga (Spain), where he and his tennis-playing wife Jenny Staley ran a tennis resort for his personal friends such as Sean Connery , Kirk Douglas and Charlton Heston .

Lew Hoad contracted leukemia and was waiting for a bone marrow donation when he died of a heart attack in 1994 at the age of 59.

He was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1980.

Grand Slam victories

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hoad, Lew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hoad, Lewis Alan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Glebe, New South Wales , Australia
DATE OF DEATH 3rd July 1994
Place of death Fuengirola, Spain