Roy Emerson

Roy Stanley Emerson, born November 3, 1936 in
Blackbutt, Queensland, Australia, was a champion
tennis player.

Born on a farm in Australia, his family moved to
the city of Brisbane where he was able to receive
better tennis instruction. In 1961, Roy Emerson
won his first Australian Open singles championship
and then five more in consecutive order from 1963
to 1967. In 1964 he won 55 consecutive matches and
finished the year with 109 victories out of 115
matches. He won three of the four Grand Slam
events that year, losing only at the French Open.
He was the No. 1 ranked player in the world in
1964 and 1965.

Known as Emmo, he was the Wimbledon
championships|Wimbledon singles champion twice and
the doubles champion on three occasions. In
addition to winning the French Open singles title
in 1963 and again in 1967, he teamed up with five
different partners and won the French doubles
championship six consecutive times from 1960 to
1965. In the United States, he captured two
singles titles and four doubles titles at the US Open.

Emerson is the only male tennis player in history
to win singles and doubles titles at all four Grand Slam events. He held
the record for most Grand Slam men's singles
titles at 12 until surpassed by Pete Sampras in
2000. Added to his singles victories, his 16
doubles titles gives him the record total of 28
Grand Slam championships. As well, he holds the
record for Davis Cup team championships with eight
and the individual record of 11 singles victories
in the international competition.

Emerson was, of course, a very fine player. But
what many of today's generation of sports fans
ignore is the fact that all of his Grand Slam
titles were won against an amateur field in which
the world's best players had already turned
professional and were therefore unable to compete
against Emerson in these tournaments. If Sedgman,
Gonzales, Rosewall, Hoad, Trabert, Fraser, Gimeno,
Anderson, and Laver had remained in the amateur
ranks it is doubtful that Emerson would have won a
single Grand Slam title.

Emerson eventually turned pro, in 1968, just as Open Tennis was beginning. He was the
defending French championship titleholder from
1967. In the 1968 French quarterfinals he was
beaten by Pancho Gonzales, who was then 40 years
old. In the next few years Emerson played
Gonzales, a man nearly 9 years his senior, another
12 times. Roy Emerson, winner of 12 Grand Slam
titles, never beat Pancho Gonzales, not even once.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall
of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1982.

Roy Emerson resides in Newport Beach, California
and has a home in Gstaad, Switzerland where he
holds a tennis clinic each summer. In 1978, he
teamed up with his son Anthony to win the United
states Hard Court Father-and-Son championship.

Grand Slam Tournament wins:
*Australian Open:
**singles champion - 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966,
1967
**doubles champion - 3 times
*French Open:
**singles champion - 1963, 1967
**doubles - 6 consecutive championships from 1960
to 1965
*Wimbledon Championships:
**singles champion - 1964, 1965
**doubles champion - 3 times
*US Open:
**singles champion - 1961, 1964
**doubles champion - 4 times

Adapted from the article
http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.phtml?title=Roy_Emerso
n Roy Emerson, from Wikinfo, licensed under the
GNU Free Documentation License.

==Grand Slam titles (12)==
1961 Australian Open Rod Laver
1-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
1961 U.S. Open Rod Laver
7-5, 6-3, 6-2
1963 Australian Open Ken Fletcher
6-3, 6-3, 6-1
1963 Roland Garros Pierre Darmon
3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
1964 Australian Open Fred Stolle
6-3, 6-4, 6-2
1964 Wimbledon Fred Stolle
6-4, 12-10, 4-6, 6-3
1964 U.S. Open Fred Stolle
6-2, 6-2, 6-4
1965 Australian Open Fred Stolle
7-9, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1
1965 Wimbledon Fred Stolle
6-2, 6-4, 6-4
1966 Australian Open Arthur Ashe
6-4, 6-8, 6-2, 6-3
1967 Australian Open Arthur Ashe
6-4, 6-1, 6-1
1967 Roland Garros Tony Roche
6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2