Harry Hopman

Henry Christian Hopman CBE (12 August 1906 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian tennis player and coach.

Early life

Harry Hopman was born on 12 August 1906 in Glebe, Sydney as the third child of John Henry Hopman, a schoolteacher, and Jennie Siberteen, née Glad. His family then moved to Parramatta.

Hopman started playing tennis at the age of 13 and, playing barefoot, won an open singles tournament on a court in the playground of Rosehill Public School where his father was headmaster.<ref name=adb>Template:Cite book</ref> He was later a student at Parramatta High School where he played tennis and cricket.

Davis Cup

File:Harry Hopman 1931 (cropped).jpeg

Hopman in Brisbane in 1931

Hopman was the successful captain-coach of 22 Australian Davis Cup teams from 1939 to 1967. With players such as Frank Sedgman, Ken McGregor, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, Neale Fraser, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle, Tony Roche, Roy Emerson, Ashley Cooper, Rex Hartwig, Mervyn Rose and Mal Anderson, he won the cup an unmatched 16 times.

In late 1951, when it appeared that Davis Cup player Frank Sedgman was about to turn professional, Hopman used his column in the Melbourne Herald to lead a fundraising campaign designed to keep Sedgman in the amateur ranks. Enough money was raised to purchase a petrol station in the name of Sedgman's wife-to-be and Sedgman remained an amateur for one more year. As Joe McCauley writes in The History of Professional Tennis, "For some reason, the pious Hopman, a strong opponent of the paid game, did not regard this as an infringement of Sedgman's amateur status."<ref>The History of Professional Tennis (2003) Joe McCauley, p. 58.</ref>

Journalism

File:Harry Hopman 1930s.jpg

Hopman hitting an overhead in the 1930s

Hopman was also a journalist, joining the Melbourne Herald in 1933 as a sportswriter. He provided sporting commentary. After World War II, this became his focus until he was once again coaxed into tennis coaching. As an example of Hopman's journalism, Kramer writes that Sedgman, by then a successful touring professional, once "volunteered to help train the Aussie Davis Cup team. Hopman accepted the offer, and then he took Sedg aside and told him that what Hoad and Rosewall needed was confidence. So he told Sedg to go easy on them, which he gladly did. After a few days, Hopman wrote an exclusive in his newspaper column revealing how his kids could whip Sedgman and how this proved once again that amateurs were better than the pros."<ref name=kramer>Template:Cite book</ref>

Legacy

The Hopman Cup was named in his honour. Until her death in mid-2018, his widow Lucy Hopman travelled to Perth, Western Australia each year for the tournament.

Hopman was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1978.

Tennis great Jack Kramer, who was also a successful promoter of the professional tour, writes in his 1979 autobiography that Hopman "always knew exactly what was going on with all his amateurs. He had no children, no hobbies, and tennis was everything to him. Hopman always said he hated the pros, and he battled open tennis to the bitter end, but as early as the time when Sedgman and McGregor signed, Hopman was trying to get himself included in the deal so he could get a job with pro tennis in America."<ref name=kramer/>

Kramer, who admits that Hopman "has never been my favorite guy", goes on to say: "The minute one of his stars would turn pro, Hopman would turn on him. No matter how close he'd been to a player, as soon as he was out of Hopman's control, the guy was an outcast. 'It was as if we'd never existed' Rosewall said once."<ref name=kramer/>

Personal life

Hopman was first married to Nell Hall, with whom he won four mixed doubles finals. The marriage took place on 19 March 1934 at St Philip's Anglican Church in Sydney. She died of an intracranial tumour on 10 January 1968.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Hopman emigrated to the United States in 1969 and became a successful professional coach, at Port Washington Tennis Academy, of future champions such as Vitas Gerulaitis and later John McEnroe. Hopman later opened the Harry Hopman's International Tennis camp in Treasure Island then Largo, Florida, with his second wife, Lucy Pope Fox, whom he married on 2 February 1971. One more tennis camp followed in Bologna (Italy)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1951 New Year Honours for services to sport, and promoted to Commander of the Order (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours, again for services to sport (particularly tennis).<ref>Australia :Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>Australia list: Template:London Gazette</ref>

Hopman died of a heart attack on 27 December 1985.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Tournament record

Australia Davis Cup

Player

• 1928, 1930, 1932

Captain

• 1938–1939, 1950–1969
  • Winner: 1939, 1950–1953, 1955–1957, 1959–1962, 1964–1967
  • Runner-up: 1938, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1968

Italian Championship

• Mixed Doubles 1934

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1930	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Edgar Moon	3–6, 1–6, 3–6
Loss	1931	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford	4–6, 2–6, 6–2, 1–6
Loss	1932	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford	4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1929	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford	Template:Flagicon Jack Cummings Template:Flagicon Edgar Moon	6–1, 6–8, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win	1930	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford	Template:Flagicon Tim Fitchett Template:Flagicon John Hawkes	8–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–3
Loss	1930	French Championships	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jim Willard	Template:Flagicon Henri Cochet Template:Flagicon Jacques Brugnon	3–6, 7–8, 3–6
Loss	1931	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford	Template:Flagicon James Anderson Template:Flagicon Norman Brookes	2–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	1932	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Gerald Patterson	Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford Template:Flagicon Edgar Moon	10–12, 3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss	1939	US Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford	Template:Flagicon Adrian Quist Template:Flagicon John Bromwich	6–8, 1–6, 4–6
Loss	1948	French Championships	Clay	Template:Flagicon Frank Sedgman	Template:Flagicon Lennart Bergelin Template:Flagicon Jaroslav Drobný	6–8, 1–6, 10–12

Mixed doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1930	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Nell Hall Hopman	Template:Flagicon Marjorie Cox Crawford Template:Flagicon Jack Crawford	11–9, 3–6, 6–3
Loss	1932	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Josane Sigart	Template:Flagicon Elizabeth Ryan Template:Flagicon Enrique Maier	5–7, 2–6
Loss	1935	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Nell Hall Hopman	Template:Flagicon Dorothy Round Little Template:Flagicon Fred Perry	5–7, 6–4, 2–6
Win	1936	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Nell Hall Hopman	Template:Flagicon May Blick Template:Flagicon Abe Kay	6–2, 6–0
Win	1937	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Nell Hall Hopman	Template:Flagicon Dorothy Stevenson Template:Flagicon Don Turnbull	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win	1939	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Nell Hall Hopman	Template:Flagicon Margaret Wilson Template:Flagicon John Bromwich	6–8, 6–2, 6–3
Win	1939	US Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Alice Marble	Template:Flagicon Sarah Palfrey Cooke Template:Flagicon Elwood Cooke	9–7, 6–1
Loss	1940	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Nell Hall Hopman	Template:Flagicon Nancye Wynne Bolton Template:Flagicon Colin Long	5–7, 6–2, 4–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	SR	W–L	Win %
Australia	3R	2R	QF	SF	F	F	F	QF	QF	3R	SF	SF	3R	QF	QF	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	QF	1R	2R	3R	3R	2R	A	A	0 / 21	39–20	66.1
France	A	A	2R	A	QF	A	A	A	4R	4R	A	A	A	A	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	2R	A	3R	A	1R	2R	0 / 8	10–6	62.5
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	A	3R	A	3R	A	4R	4R	A	A	A	A	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	2R	A	2R	A	3R	A	1R	A	0 / 9	15–9	62.5
United States	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	2R	A	2R	A	A	A	0 / 6	9–6	60.0
Win–loss	1–1	0–1	3–4	3–1	9–3	4–1	6–2	2–1	7–3	6–3	3–1	3–1	4–2	5–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	4–3	0–0	3–4	1–1	6–4	1–1	0–1	0–0	0 / 44	73–41	64.0

Sources

• The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (Template:ISBN)
• The History of Professional Tennis (2003), Joe McCauley
• Rich Hillway, tennis historian

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Tennis Hall of Fame
• Template:ATP
• Template:Davis Cup player
• Template:ITF profile
• Template:Tennis Australia
• Parramatta High School biography Template:Webarchive