Bio & Information
Kenneth “Ken” Robert Rosewall AM, MBE (Australian 1934-) Bio
Ken is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won a record 23 tennis Majors, including 8 Grand Slam singles titles and, before the Open Era, a record 15 Pro Slam titles, overall, he reached a record 35 Major finals. He won the Pro Grand Slam in 1963. Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career doubles grand slam. He had a renowned backhand and enjoyed a long career at the highest levels from the early 1950s to the early 1970s. Rosewall was world No. 1 player for a number of years in the early 1960s in some rankings. Rosewall was first ranked in the top 20 in 1952 and last ranked in the top 20 in 1977. Rosewall is the only player to have simultaneously held Pro Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (1962–1963). At the 1971 Australian Open he became the first male player during the open era to win a Grand Slam tournament without dropping a set. Rosewall won world professional championship tours in 1963, 1964, and the WCT titles in 1971 and 1972.
A natural left-hander, he was taught by his father to play right-handed. He developed a powerful and effective backhand but never had anything more than an accurate but relatively soft serve. He was 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) tall, weighed 67 kg (148 lb) and was ironically nicknamed “Muscles” by his fellow-players because of his lack of them. He was, however, fast, agile, and tireless, with a deadly volley. The father of two and grandfather of five, Rosewall now lives in northern Sydney.
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open Winner (1953, 1955, 1971, 1972), French Open Winner (1953, 1968), Wimbledon Runner up (1954, 1956, 1970, 1974), US Open Winner (1956, 1970), Australian Open Winner (1953, 1956, 1972), French Open Winner (1953, 1968)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon Winner (1953, 1956), US Open Winner (1956, 1969)
Henry Christian “Harry” Hopman, CBE (Australian 1934-1985) Bio
Harry was a world-acclaimed Australian tennis player and coach. Harry was born in Glebe, Sydney, New South Wales, before his family moved to Parramatta, Hopman was a student at Rosehill Public Primary (elementary) school, where his father was headmaster, and later at Parramatta High School, where he played tennis and cricket. He 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.
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.
The Hopman Cup is named in his honour. His widow, Lucy Hopman, travels to Perth, Western Australia in January 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. 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. Harry was also four times Australian squash champion
