Tony Roche

Tony Roche

Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	-
Height	5'10 (177 cm)
Turned pro	-
Plays	Left-handed
Prize money	US$529,199
Singles
Career record	235–114
Career titles	7
Highest ranking	8 (16 November 1975)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1964)
French Open	W (1966)
Wimbledon	F (1968)
US Open	F (1969, 1970)
Doubles
Career record	208–94
Career titles	18
Highest ranking	748 (25 June 1984)
Last updated on: 26 January 2007.

Anthony "Tony" Dalton Roche (born 17 May 1945) is a former professional Australian tennis player, born in Tarcutta. He played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga Wagga. He is also very well known for coaching multi-grand slam winning World Number Ones Ivan Lendl, Patrick Rafter, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt.

Playing career

Roche grew up playing in Australia under the tutelage of Harry Hopman, who also coached other Australian tennis players such as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.

Roche had a successful singles and double career. He won one singles Grand Slam tournament - the 1966 French Open at Roland Garros. He was five times the runner-up at Grand Slam tournaments - the French Championships in 1965 and 1967, Wimbledon in 1968, and the US Open in 1969 and 1970. With John Newcombe, he won 12 Grand Slam men's doubles tournaments.

In 1968, Roche turned professional, signing with World Championship Tennis, joining other pros like Cliff Drysdale, Nikki Pilic, and Roger Taylor to form the "Handsome Eight".

Perhaps one of his greatest achievements came in 1977, being called up to play singles in the finals of the Davis Cup tournament versus Italy, nearly 10 years since he had last played for Australia. In the tie, Roche upset top Italian Adriano Panatta 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 to lead Australia to a 3–1 victory, winning the Davis Cup. Shoulder and elbow injuries cut short his career after having finished in the top 10 for six consecutive years.

Coaching career

After completing his playing career Roche has developed a highly successful career as a tennis coach. Ivan Lendl hired Roche as a full-time coach for Roche's advice on volleying. (Lendl dreamed of winning Wimbledon, and because Roche had been a fine grass court player, he sought his tutelage.) Roche also coached former World No. 1 Patrick Rafter from 1997 to the end of his career in 2002. Roche coached current World No. 1 Roger Federer from 2005 to 12 May 2007. It is reputed this was on a "handshake agreement" with no contract - Roche was paid by the week. Federer hired Roche for the opposite reason that Lendl hired him: to work on his clay court game (as Roche had won the French Open). He is currently coaching two-time Grand Slam singles titlist Lleyton Hewitt, who is aiming to get his career back on track after a number of unsuccessful years on the ATP Tour.

Honours

Roche entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame alongside doubles partner and close friend John Newcombe in 1986.

Grand Slam singles finals

Win (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1966	French Championships	Istvan Gulyas	6–1, 6–4, 7–5

Runner-ups (5)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1965	French Championships	Fred Stolle	6–3, 0–6, 2–6, 3–6
1967	French Championships	Roy Emerson	1–6, 4–6, 6–2, 2–6
	↓ Open Era ↓
1968	Wimbledon	Rod Laver	3–6, 4–6, 2–6
1969	US Open	Rod Laver	9–7, 1–6, 2–6, 2–6
1970	US Open	Ken Rosewall	6–2, 4–6, 6–7, 3–6

Grand Slam men's doubles finals (14)

Wins (12)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1965	Australian Championships	John Newcombe	Roy Emerson Fred Stolle	3–6, 4–6, 13–11, 6–3, 6–4
1965	Wimbledon	John Newcombe	Ken Fletcher Bob Hewitt	7–5, 6–3, 6–4
1967	Australian Championships (2)	John Newcombe	Bill Bowrey Owen Davidson	3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–8, 8–6
1967	French Championships	John Newcombe	Roy Emerson Ken Fletcher	6–3, 9–7, 12–10
1967	U.S. Championships	John Newcombe	Bill Bowrey Owen Davidson	6–8, 9–7, 6–3, 6–3
1968	Wimbledon (2)	John Newcombe	Ken Fletcher Ken Rosewall	3–6, 8–6, 5–7, 14–12, 6–3
1969	French Open (2)	John Newcombe	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	4–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4
1969	Wimbledon (3)	John Newcombe	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	7–5, 11–9, 6–3
1970	Wimbledon (4)	John Newcombe	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle	10–8, 6–3, 6–1
1971	Australian Open (3)	John Newcombe	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	6–2, 7–6
1974	Wimbledon (5)	John Newcombe	Bob Lutz Stan Smith	8–6, 6–4, 6–4
1976	Australian Open (5)	John Newcombe	Ross Case Geoff Masters	7–6, 6–4

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1964	French Championships	John Newcombe	Roy Emerson Ken Fletcher	7–5, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5
1966	Australian Championships (2)	John Newcombe	Roy Emerson Fred Stolle	7–9, 6–3, 6–8, 14–12, 12–10

Grand Slam mixed doubles finals (5)

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1966	Australian Championships	Judy Tegart Dalton	Bill Bowrey Robyn Ebbern	6–1, 6–3
1976	Wimbledon	Françoise Durr	Rosie Casals Bob Stockton	6–3, 2–6, 7–5

Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1965	Wimbledon	Judy Tegart Dalton	Ken Fletcher Margaret Court	12–10, 6–3
1967	Australian Championships	Judy Tegart Dalton	Owen Davidson Lesley Turner Bowrey	9–7, 6–4
1969	Wimbledon (2)	Judy Tegart Dalton	Ann Jones Fred Stolle	6–2, 6–3

Grand Slam record

Australian Championships/Open

• Doubles champion: 1965, 1967, 1971, 1976[Jan]
• Men's Doubles runner-up: 1966
• Mixed Doubles champion: 1966
• Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1967

French Championships/Open

• Singles champion: 1966
• Singles runner-up: 1965, 1967
• Men's Doubles champion: 1967, 1969
• Men's Doubles runner-up: 1964

Wimbledon

• Singles runner-up: 1968
• Men's Doubles champion: 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974
• Mixed Doubles champion: 1976
• Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1965, 1969

U.S. Championships/Open

• Singles runner-up: 1969, 1970
• Doubles champion: 1967

External links

• ATP Official Profile
• Tennis Hall of Fame profile
• Roche's page at Sporting-heroes.net