Biography
He won seven Grand Slam singles titles, A natural athlete, Newcombe played several sports as a boy until devoting himself to tennis. He was the Australian junior champion in 1961, 1962, and 1963 and was a member of Australia's Davis Cup winning team in 1964. 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, more than any other men's team in tennis history.
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 top ranked amateur in the world in 1967 according to Lance Tingay, although Rex Bellamy ranked him second behind Roy Emerson. As a professional, Newcombe was the joint world number one player in 1970 and 1971. In singles play, he was a two-time winner of the Australian Open, a three-time winner of Wimbledon, and a two-time winner of the US Open.
As a member of Lamar Hunt's World Championship Tennis professional tour group and the players' union, he was banned by the International Tennis Federation from competing in the 1972 Wimbledon Championships and he boycotted the event in 1973.
Newcombe was the last of the Australians who dominated tennis in the 1950s and 1960s. 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,[1] and also considered Newcombe to have the best second serve in tennis history.
Newcombe hosted the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games (Australian broadcast) for Channel 10.
Newcombe lives in a north shore suburb of Sydney, Australia. He is a republican.[2]
[edit] Distinctions
He served as President of the Association of Tennis Professionals in 1977 and 1978.
Overall, he won 26 Grand Slam major titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
Newcombe and Rod Laver are the only players to ever win both the US Open and Wimbledon men's singles titles as an amateur and as a professional. The grass surfaces favored his game and the French Open's clay surface was the only major singles championship he never won. However, he did take the French doubles title on three occasions.
In 1986, his achievements were recognized with his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Still active in tennis, he was made captain of Australia's Davis Cup team in 1995.
He is an Australian Living Treasure.
He runs the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch & Tennis Academy in New Braunfels, Texas.
Notoriously, he was revealed to be President George W. Bush's drinking companion on the night of September 4, 1976, when he was charged with driving under the influence.[3] This controversy surfaced during the 2000 US Presidential Election.
He partners with Cliff Drysdale to develop the John Newcombe Estate & Country Club in New Braunfels, Texas
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