Australian 19-time tennis major winner Neale Fraser dies aged 91
Australian tennis great Neale Fraser, a winner of 19 grand slam crowns, has died aged 91.
Fraser reached world number one in singles in 1959, the same year he won his first of three major singles titles at the US championships.
The following year, he beat legend Rod Laver in the Wimbledon and US finals.
Fraser won 11 doubles titles across all the Australian, French, Wimbledon and US championships, and five mixed majors during a prolific stretch from 1956 to 1960.
Fellow Australian tennis hall of famer Lew Hoad once said he had “the best serve in the world”.
Fraser said he “could never think of anything better than representing your country” and, as such, shunned offers to turn professional through the 1960s in the hopes of becoming Australia’s Davis Cup captain.
Neale Fraser (right) beat Rod Laver (left) in the Wimbledon and US singles finals in 1960. (Getty Images: Mirrorpix)
He took over the non-playing role from Harry Hopman in 1970 and held the post until 1993, winning four trophies from his 24 campaigns, adding to four successive titles as a player from 1959-62.
“What Australians like about him best is that he’s been a wonderful representative to Australia [and] for Australia on and off the court,” Hopman said at Fraser’s induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984.
According to Tennis Australia, so prolific was Fraser in the international tournament, Hopman called it “Neale Fraser’s Cup”.
“He was almost like my second dad,” said Pat Cash, who was part of Fraser’s last victorious Davis Cup squad, in 1986.
Fraser (centre) was Davis Cup captain for Australia’s titles in 1973, 1977, 1983 and 1986. (Getty Images: Tony Feder/ALLSPORT)
Fraser was also one of the first five players inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994, just one year after it was created — joining the exclusive group alongside Laver, Margaret Court, long-time doubles partner Roy Emerson and Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
In 2008, Fraser was awarded the International Tennis Federation’s Philippe Chatrier Award for outstanding achievement in tennis.
“I’ve had an incredible career,” he told Tennis Australia.
“I was obviously enjoying something. Whatever deeds I’ve done, I’ve managed to enjoy them all to the Nth degree.”
He is survived by his wife, Thea.
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