Pat Cash

Pat Cash (born May 27 1965, in Melbourne,
Australia) is a former professional tennis player
from Australia. He is best remembered for winning
the men's singles title at Wimbledon
championships in 1987.

Cash first came to the tennis world's attention as
a brilliant junior player in the early 1980s. He
was ranked the top junior player in the world in
1981, and in 1982 he won the junior titles at both
Wimbledon and the U.S. Open .

Cash turned professional in 1982 and won his first
top-level singles title that year in Melbourne.

Cash established a reputation on the tour as a
hard-fighting serve and volleyer, and for wearing
his trademark black-and-white checked headband.

In 1983, Cash became the youngest player to play
in a Davis Cup final.
In 1984, Cash reached the men's singles
semi-finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open. He
lost in three sets in the Wimbledon semi-finals to
John McEnroe, and was defeated thrilling five-set
semi-final at the US Open by Ivan Lendl who
claimed the fifth set in a tie-breaker.

Cash finished runner-up in the men's doubles
competition at Wimbledon in both 1984 and 1985.

In 1986, Cash helped Australia win the Davis Cup
again. Yet again they beat Sweden 3-2 in the
final. And Cash again won the decisive singles
rubber, coming back from two sets down against
Mikael Pernfors to win in five sets.

In 1987, Cash reached his first Grand Slam singles final at the
Australian Open, where he lost a tight five-setter
to Stefan Edberg in the last Australian Open final
to be played on grass courts at Kooyong.

The crowning moment of Cash's career came at
Wimbledon in 1987. Having beaten Mats Wilander in
the quarter-finals and Jimmy Connors in the
semi-finals, Cash moved through to the final where
he faced the World No. 1 Ivan Lendl. Cash seized
his moment and beat Lendl in straight-sets 7-6,
6-2, 7-5. Cash famously sealed a memorable victory
by climbing into the stands and up to the player's
box at Centre Court, where he celebrated with his
family, girlfriend and coach. In doing so, he
started a Wimbledon tradition which has been
copied by many other champions in the years that
followed.

In 1988, Cash reached the Australian Open final
for the second consecutive year and faced another
Swede in the form of Mats Wilander. It was the
first men's singles final to be played at the new
Flinders Park venue, and Wilander won in an epic
five-set, four-and-a-half-hour encounter, taking
the fifth set 8-6.

Cash played in his third Davis Cup final in 1990.
This time Australia lost 3-2 in the final to the
United States.

Cash continued to play on the circuit on-and-off
through to the mid-1990s. But a series of injuries
to his Achilles' tendon, knees and back meant that
he was never really able to recapture his best
form after his triumphant Wimbledon-winning year
in 1987. He won his last top-level singles title
in 1990 in Hong Kong. His last doubles title came
in 1996 at Pinehurst.

Cash won a total of 7 singles and 12 doubles
titles during his career. His career-high world
rankings were World No. 4 in singles and World No.
6 in doubles.

Since his retirement from the tour, Cash has
resided mainly in London. He has coached top
players including Greg Rusedski and Mark
Philippoussis. He has also worked as a TV
commentator. A father of four, Cash's main passion
away from tennis and his family is playing the
guitar. He donned the stage with INXS at the 2003
Australian Open, and has played with his own band
at various events and festivals.

The term "Pat Cash" has also become Cockney
rhyming slang for "slash", which is itself a
British slang term for "urinate".


==Grand Slam finals==

===Wins (1)===

Year Championship Opponent in
Final Score in Final
1987 Wimbledon Ivan Lendl
7-6, 6-2, 7-5

===Runner-ups (2)===

Year Championship Opponent in
Final Score in Final
1987 Australian Open Stefan Edberg
6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3
1988 Australian Open Mats Wilander
6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-1, 8-6