Mervyn Rose
Full name | Mervyn Gordon Rose |
---|---|
Country (sports) | Australia |
Born | Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia | 23 January 1930
Died | 24 July 2017 Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia | (aged 87)
Turned pro | 1959 (amateur tour from 1949) |
Retired | 1972 |
Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Int. Tennis HoF | 2001 (member page) |
Singles | |
Highest ranking | No. 3 (1958, Lance Tingay)[1] |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Australian Open | W (1954) |
French Open | W (1958) |
Wimbledon | SF (1952, 1953, 1958) |
US Open | SF (1952) |
Other tournaments | |
Professional majors | |
Wembley Pro | QF (1959) |
French Pro | QF (1959) |
TOC | 1R (1959FH) |
Doubles | |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
Australian Open | W (1954) |
French Open | F (1953, 1957) |
Wimbledon | W (1954) |
US Open | W (1952, 1953) |
Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
French Open | F (1951, 1953) |
Wimbledon | W (1957) |
US Open | F (1951) |
Mervyn Gordon Rose AM (23 January 1930 – 23 July 2017) was an Australian male tennis player who won seven Grand Slam titles (singles, doubles and mixed doubles).
Career
[edit]Rose was born in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, and turned professional in 1959. He was ranked inside the world's Top 10 throughout much of his tennis career and represented Australia in the Davis Cup from 1951 to 1957. He was ranked World No. 3 in 1958 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.[1]
Rose won the singles title at the 1954 Australian Championships in Sydney, defeating compatriot Rex Hartwig in the final in four sets.[2][3] Four years later, in 1958, he became the French singles champion after a straight-sets victory in the final against Luis Ayala.[4][5]
Rose won the 1953 Canadian Open singles title, defeating Hartwig in the final in three straight sets. His other career singles highlights include winning the Deauville Tennis Cup three times 1955, 1957,[6] and 1958.[7]
Rose became a professional in 1959 and played in tournaments with Kramer's group of contract players. He was officially ranked No. 9 in Kramer's point ranking system for 1959.[8][9]
He coached numerous female and male players, including Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Ernie Ewart, Michael Fancutt, Brett Prentice, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Eleni Daniilidou, Nadia Petrova, Magdalena Grzybowska and Caroline Schnieder.
Rose was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2006 Australia Day Honours for service to tennis, particularly as a competitor at national and international levels and as a coach and mentor to both amateur and professional players.[10][11] Rose died on 23 July 2017 at the age of 87.[4][5]
Grand Slam finals
[edit]Singles (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
[edit]Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1953 | Australian Championships | Grass | Ken Rosewall | 0–6, 3–6, 4–6 |
Win | 1954 | Australian Championships | Grass | Rex Hartwig | 6–2, 0–6, 6–4, 6–2 |
Win | 1958 | French Championships | Clay | Luis Ayala | 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 |
Doubles (4 titles, 7 runners-up)
[edit]Mixed doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)
[edit]Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1951 | French Championships | Clay | Thelma Coyne Long | Doris Hart Frank Sedgman |
5–7, 2–6 |
Loss | 1951 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Nancye Wynne Bolton | Doris Hart Frank Sedgman |
5–7, 2–6 |
Loss | 1951 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Shirley Fry | Doris Hart Frank Sedgman |
3–6, 2–6 |
Loss | 1953 | French Championships | Clay | Maureen Connolly | Doris Hart Vic Seixas |
6–4, 4–6, 0–6 |
Win | 1957 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Darlene Hard | Althea Gibson Neale Fraser |
6–4, 7–5 |
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
[edit]W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
[edit]Tournament | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Open | 3R | QF | QF | SF | F | W | QF | QF | A | SF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1 / 11 |
French Open | A | 3R | QF | 4R | 4R | QF | QF | A | SF | W | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1 / 8 |
Wimbledon | A | 3R | 1R | SF | SF | QF | 2R | A | QF | SF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 8 |
US Open | A | 2R | 4R | SF | 4R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 |
Strike rate | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 2 / 31 |
Other tournament records
[edit]- Italian Championships
- Singles champion: 1958
- Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1953, 1955
- German Championships
- Singles champion: 1957
- Men's Doubles champion: 1957
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1957
- Canadian Championships
- Singles champion: 1953
- Men's Doubles champion: 1953
References
[edit]- ^ a b United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
- ^ "Rose beats Hartwig for Aust. singles". Daily Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 2 February 1954. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Rose wins Australian title". The News. Vol. 62, no. 9, 509. Adelaide. 1 February 1954. p. 2 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b James Buddell. "Mervyn Rose: 1930–2017". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
- ^ a b "Australian tennis great Mervyn Rose dies aged 87". Sky Sports. 25 July 2017.
- ^ "Mervyn Rose Wins Deauville Tournament". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia: newspapers.com. 29 July 1957. p. 10. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ "Rose Wins Tourney". Miami News-Record. Miami, Florida: newspapers.com. 28 July 1958. p. 4. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ McCauley, Joe (2000). The History of Professional Tennis. Windsor: The Short Run Book Company Limited. pp. 97, 99.
- ^ Kramer Fall Tour Brochure, 1959
- ^ "Australia Day 2006 Honours List" (PDF). gg.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours". Retrieved 29 January 2014.
External links
[edit]- Mervyn Rose at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Mervyn Rose at the International Tennis Federation
- Mervyn Rose at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- Mervyn Rose at the Davis Cup
- Mervyn Rose at Tennis Australia
- Wimbledon Website. All England Lawn Tennis Club
- Australian Open. Tennis Australia
- 1930 births
- 2017 deaths
- Australian Championships (tennis) champions
- Australian male tennis players
- French Championships (tennis) champions
- People from Coffs Harbour
- Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
- International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
- Tennis players from New South Wales
- United States National champions (tennis)
- Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
- Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
- Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
- Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
- Professional tennis players before the Open Era
- Members of the Order of Australia
- Sportsmen from New South Wales
- 20th-century Australian sportsmen