John Newcombe

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Template:Short description Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox tennis biography

John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles. Newcombe won a combined 26 major titles: seven in singles, a former record 17 in men's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. He also contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when the Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the majors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tennis magazine rated him the 10th best male player of the period 1965–2005.Template:Cn

Career

Amateur

Newcombe played several sports as a boy before devoting himself to tennis. Newcombe's powerful serve and volley was the backbone of his attacking game. He frequently came up with a second-serve ace. He was the Australian junior champion from 1961 to 1963 and was a member of Australia's Davis Cup winning team in 1964.

In singles, Newcombe entered the Australian Championships in January 1960 aged 15 years and 8 months and lost in the first round to Bob Mark.<ref name=":newmar1960">Template:Cite news</ref> He was younger than three other 15 year old entrants: Vivian McGrath in 1932 (who was about to turn 16),<ref name=":mcgrath1932">Template:Cite news</ref> Dinny Pails (15 years and 10 months) in 1937<ref name=":pails1937">Template:Cite news</ref> and Lleyton Hewitt (15 years and 10 months) in 1997.<ref name=":hewitt1997">Template:Cite news</ref> Newcombe's first Grand Slam singles final was at the US championships in 1966 when he lost in four sets to Fred Stolle (both players were unseeded).<ref name=":newsto1966us">Template:Cite news</ref>

Newcombe's first Grand Slam singles title came at Wimbledon 1967, when he lost five games in beating Wilhelm Bungert in the final.<ref name=":newbun1967">Template:Cite news</ref> At the 1967 U.S. Championships, he beat Clark Graebner in straight sets in the final.<ref name=":newgra1967">Template:Cite news</ref> Newcombe was the top ranked amateur in the world in 1967 according to Lance Tingay, World Tennis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and an Ulrich Kaiser panel of 13 experts<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and was the first recipient of the Martini and Rossi award after finishing top of their points system in 1967.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional

In January 1968, Newcombe signed a three-year professional contract with Lamar Hunt's World Championship Tennis (WCT) and became part of the "Handsome Eight", the original eight WCT players.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Newcombe was guaranteed $135,000 annually, which was higher than what the best paid baseball player received that year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The open era began in April 1968.

Although all his Grand Slam singles titles were won on grass, Newcombe showed his prowess on clay when he won the 1968 German Open, beating Cliff Drysdale in straight sets in the final<ref name=":newdry1968">Template:Cite news</ref> and the 1969 Italian Open, beating Tony Roche in five sets in the final.<ref name=":newroc1969">Template:Cite news</ref> In the 1969 Wimbledon final, Newcombe led 4–1 in the third set at one set all before Rod Laver won in four sets.<ref name=":lavnew1969">Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 1970 Wimbledon quarter finals, Newcombe outlasted Roy Emerson 11–9 in the fifth set in a "dour three-hour serve-and volley battle".<ref name=":neweme1970wim">Template:Cite news</ref> In the final Newcombe beat Rosewall in five sets. "If Rosewall had the shots and the crowd behind him, Newcombe had the youth, the strength- and the service".<ref name=":newc1970wim">Template:Cite news</ref> He was ranked world number one in 1970 by Tingay,<ref name=":9">Template:Cite book</ref> World Tennis,<ref>Muscles, Ken Rosewall as told to Richard Naughton, 2012, p.208</ref> Bud Collins,Template:Sfnp Mike Gibson<ref name=":gibson70">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Tennis magazine (Germany).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In the 1971 Wimbledon final, Newcombe beat Stan Smith in five sets. It "was a battle of power serves and volleys, with the Aussie's experience finally winning out".<ref name=":newc1971wim">Template:Cite news</ref> He was ranked world No. 1 in 1971 by Tingay,<ref name=":9" /> Rex Bellamy,<ref>The Times (London), 31 December 1971, p. 5</ref> Collins,Template:Sfnp Frank Rostron<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and World Tennis<ref>The Times (London), 20 November 1971, p. 16</ref> and he and Stan Smith were joint recipients of The 'Martini and Rossi' Award, voted for by 11 journalists.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a member of the WCT professional tour group and the Players' Union, Newcombe was banned by the International Tennis Federation from competing in the 1972 Wimbledon Championships and he joined the ATP boycott of the event in 1973.

Newcombe won his first Australian Open singles title in 1973 with a four set victory over Onny Parun in the final.<ref name=":newc1973aus">Template:Cite news</ref> In the quarter finals of the 1973 US Open Newcombe beat Jimmy Connors, not losing his serve in a straight sets win.<ref name=":newcon1973us">Template:Cite news</ref> In the semis he overcame Rosewall<ref name=":newc1973us">Template:Cite news</ref> and in the final, Newcombe beat Jan Kodeš in five sets. "Newcombe's superior service power- he thundered down 15 aces against 6 by Kodes- got him the victory".<ref name=":newc1973us" /> In 1973 Newcombe was ranked world No. 1 by Tingay<ref name=":9" /> and Judith Elian.<ref name="quidet1989">Template:Cite book</ref>

Newcombe was the WCT champion for 1974, defeating Tom Okker,<ref name=":newbor1974">Template:Cite news</ref> Stan Smith,<ref name=":newbor1974" /> and Björn Borg in the final. "Big John, puffing and snorting like an old bull, handled Borg's flashy, go-for-broke attack with sometimes casual confidence".<ref name=":newbor1974" /> In winning his last Grand Slam singles title in 1975, Newcombe won his quarter final against Geoff Masters 10-8 in the fifth set,<ref name=":newmas1975aus">Template:Cite news</ref> then came from 5-2 down and 3 match points down in the fifth set to beat Roche in the semi finals<ref name=":roche1975aus">Template:Cite news</ref> and in the final beat Connors in four sets.<ref name=":connew1975">Template:Cite news</ref> His last Grand Slam singles final at the 1976 Australian Open was played during a severe windstorm that caused the match to be suspended for half an hour and Newcombe lost in four sets to Mark Edmondson.<ref name=":edmondson1976aus">Template:Cite news</ref>

Newcombe was the last of the Australians who dominated tennis in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Doubles

He won his first Grand Slam title 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 teamed 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 the French Open in 1969. They won 12 Grand Slam titles, which remained the all-time record for a men's doubles team until 2013, when it was surpassed by Bob and Mike Bryan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy

Newcombe was captain of the Australian Davis Cup team from 1995 until 2000, leading his team to victory in 1999, defeating France in the final.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>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.</ref> In 2018 tennis.com listed Newcombe as the 15th greatest player in the open era.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Newcombe was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in 1986 his achievements were recognised with his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 10 (7 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1966 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Fred Stolle 6–4, 10–12, 3–6, 4–6
Win 1967 Wimbledon Grass Template:Flagicon Wilhelm Bungert 6–2, 6–1, 6–1
Win 1967 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Clark Graebner 6–4, 6–4, 8–6
↓ Open Era ↓
Loss 1969 Wimbledon Grass Template:Flagicon Rod Laver 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Win 1970 Wimbledon Grass Template:Flagicon Ken Rosewall 5–7, 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 6–1
Win 1971 Wimbledon Grass Template:Flagicon Stan Smith 6–3, 5–7, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win 1973 Australian Open Grass Template:Flagicon Onny Parun 6–3, 6–7, 7–5, 6–1
Win 1973 US Open Grass Template:Flagicon Jan Kodeš 6–4, 1–6, 4–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win 1975 Australian Open Grass Template:Flagicon Jimmy Connors 7–5, 3–6, 6–4, 7–6
Loss 1976 Australian Open Grass Template:Flagicon Mark Edmondson 7–6, 3–6, 6–7, 1–6

Grand Slam performance timeline

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Singles

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Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 SR Template:Tooltip Win %
Template:Nowrap 1R A QF QF QF SF SF SF A QF QF 3R QF W QF W F A QF A 1 / 1 46–14 76.7
French Open A 3R 3R 2R 2R QF 3R 4R A QF A A A 1R A A 1R A A 1 / 7 16–10 61.5
Wimbledon A 1R 2R 1R 1R 4R 3R W 4R F W W A A QF A 3R A 4R 2 / 12 45–11 80.4
US Open A A A 4R 3R A F W QF SF SF 1R 3R W SF A A A A 0 / 6 45–9 83.3
Win–loss 0–1 0–2 5–3 5–3 5–4 10–3 14–4 20–2 7–2 18–4 13–2 8–2 4–2 12–1 12–3 6–0 7–3 3–1 3–1 Template:Nowrap Template:Nowrap 77.6

Source: ITF<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Distinctions

See also

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References

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Bibliography

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