Fred Stolle, Australian tennis legend and beloved friend, dies at 86
“Competition and camaraderie, that’s what it’s all about,” he liked to say about his years in the game.
He was not on the list.
When it comes to demonstrating such fundamental principles
as hard work, grace under pressure, first-rate sportsmanship and loyalty to
one’s mates, no tennis nation stands taller than Australia. Sadly, one of this
tennis powerhouse’s greatest legends, Fred Stolle, died Wednesday at the age of
86.
A 1985 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, the man
nicknamed “Fiery” was a beloved member of the international tennis community
for more than 60 years.
Stolle left his mark on the game in many ways: champion
player, top-tier coach, prominent broadcaster. Those who knew him well
cherished Stolle’s razor-sharp wit, first-rate mind, and deep capacity for
friendship and fun. As Stolle liked to say, “For us Aussies, it was simple:
‘first to the net, first to the pub.’”
Born on October 8, 1938, Stolle grew up in Sydney and came
of age smack in the middle of Australia’s “Golden Era”—that period from
1950-’75 when the Aussies ruled tennis with an iron grip—and spectacular
proficiency at serve-and-volley tennis. During his prime years in the 1960s,
Stolle excelled at both, owning one of the finest serves in the game, all
backed up by crisp, nimble volleys. Those were the skills that helped him win
19 Grand Slam titles: two in singles, ten in men’s doubles, seven in mixed.
Stolle’s singles majors came at Roland Garros in 1965 and at
the U.S. Nationals (now the US Open) a year later. In New York, Stolle was
unseeded—a surprising move made by the tournament organizers that deeply
motivated him, for this was a man who thrived on being underestimated.
Making his way through the draw with poise and precision,
Stolle in the last two rounds beat dear mates Roy Emerson and John Newcombe.
Upon earning the title, wrote Rod Laver in his book, The Golden Era, Stolle
said, “When I missed out on a seeding, I reckoned they must have just
considered me a bloody old hacker. Well, it seems the old hacker can still play
a bit.”
For Australians, though, Grand Slam victories took a back
seat to national pride—that is, the chance to represent their homeland in Davis
Cup. Here too, Stolle had to earn his keep. Australian Davis Cup captain Harry
Hopman initially was not particularly high on young Stolle’s prospects.
“But I was determined to show ‘Hop’ I had what it took to
play a role on the team,” he told me years later.
The big chance came in 1964, when Stolle won many crucial
singles and doubles matches, joining forces with Emerson to bring the Cup Down
Under once again.
“That was the Holy Grail,” said Stolle, “working together to
win it with your mates and for your country.” He also was a mainstay of
Australia’s 1965 and ’66 championship teams.
While his singles career wound down by the early ‘70s,
Stolle played excellent doubles deep into his 40s. Most memorably, at the 1981
US Open, the 42-year-old Stolle partnered with the 37-year-old Newcombe to
reach the semis, a requiem run only ended by what was then the best team in the
world, John McEnroe and Peter Fleming, in a fifth-set tiebreaker.
Stolle’s late-stage doubles efforts came while he was
concurrently teaching at venues in Tucson and near Miami, commencing a lengthy
broadcasting career with Australian Channel 9 and ESPN, and coaching a fellow
Hopman-coached netrusher, Vitas Gerulaitis—a relationship so close that Fred
considered Vitas his second son. Stolle’s first son, Sandon, also became a
world-class player, winning 22 ATP doubles titles. Sandon’s victory at the ’98
US Open meant the Stolles had become the only father and son to have each
earned Grand Slam titles.
For a journalist and tennis history aficionado, Stolle was a
delight to cover: accessible, friendly, insightful. It was also fantastic
getting to know him more when, in 1995, I began to annually attend “Tennis
Fantasies with John Newcombe and the Legends,” a once-a-year fantasy camp
located at Newcombe’s Texas ranch.
Stolle was a regular part of the mix, each year reliably
serving as coach, comedian and, most of all, friend.
“Competition and camaraderie, that’s what it’s all about,”
he liked to say about the years he’d devoted to tennis. “For all the matches
you play and win and lose, what matters in the end are the friendships you
build all around the world.”
Tennis has lost one of the best friends it’s ever had.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (2 titles, 6 runners-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1963 Wimbledon Grass United
States Chuck McKinley 7–9, 1–6,
4–6
Loss 1964 Australian Championships Grass Australia Roy Emerson 3–6,
4–6, 2–6
Loss 1964 Wimbledon Grass Australia
Roy Emerson 1–6, 10–12, 6–4,
3–6
Loss 1964 US Championships Grass Australia Roy Emerson 4–6,
2–6, 4–6
Loss 1965 Australian Championships Grass Australia Roy Emerson 9–7,
6–2, 4–6, 5–7, 1–6
Win 1965 French Championships Clay Australia
Tony Roche 3–6, 6–0, 6–2, 6–3
Loss 1965 Wimbledon Grass Australia
Roy Emerson 2–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win 1966 US Championships Grass Australia John Newcombe 4–6,
12–10, 6–3, 6–4
Doubles (10 titles, 6 runners-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1961 Wimbledon Grass Australia
Bob Hewitt Australia Roy
Emerson
Australia Neale Fraser 4–6,
8–6, 4–6, 8–6, 6–8
Loss 1962 Australian Championships Grass Australia Bob Hewitt Australia
Roy Emerson
Australia Neale Fraser 6–4,
6–4, 1–6, 4–6, 9–11
Win 1962 Wimbledon Grass Australia
Bob Hewitt Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia Boro Jovanović
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nikola Pilić 6–2, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Win 1963 Australian Championships Grass Australia Bob Hewitt Australia
Ken Fletcher
Australia John Newcombe 6–2,
3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Win 1964 Australian Championships Grass Australia Bob Hewitt Australia
Roy Emerson
Australia Ken Fletcher 6–4,
7–5, 3–6, 4–6, 14–12
Win 1964 Wimbledon Grass Australia
Bob Hewitt Australia Roy
Emerson
Australia Ken Fletcher 7–5,
11–9, 6–4
Loss 1965 Australian Championships Grass Australia Roy Emerson Australia
John Newcombe
Australia Tony Roche 6–3,
6–4, 11–13, 3–6, 4–6
Win 1965 French Championships Clay Australia
Roy Emerson Australia Ken
Fletcher
Australia Bob Hewitt 6–8,
6–3, 8–6, 6–2
Win 1965 US Championships Grass Australia Roy Emerson United
States Frank Froehling
United States Charles Pasarell 6–4, 10–12, 7–5, 6–3
Win 1966 Australian Championships Grass Australia Roy Emerson Australia
John Newcombe
Australia Tony Roche 7–9,
6–3, 6–8, 14–12, 12–10
Win 1966 US Championships Grass Australia Roy Emerson United
States Clark Graebner
United States Dennis Ralston 6–4,
6–4, 6–4
Win 1968 French Open Clay Australia
Ken Rosewall Australia Roy
Emerson
Australia Rod Laver 6–3,
6–4, 6–3
Loss 1968 Wimbledon Grass Australia
Ken Rosewall Australia John
Newcombe
Australia Tony Roche 6–3,
6–8, 7–5, 12–14, 3–6
Loss 1969 Australian Open Grass Australia Ken Rosewall Australia
Rod Laver
Australia Roy Emerson 4–6,
4–6
Win 1969 US Open Grass Australia
Ken Rosewall United States
Charles Pasarell
United States Dennis Ralston 2–6,
7–5, 13–11, 6–3
Loss 1970 Wimbledon Grass Australia
Ken Rosewall Australia John
Newcombe
Australia Tony Roche 8–10,
3–6, 1–6
Open-era doubles titles (10)
No Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
1. 1968 French Open, Paris Clay Australia
Ken Rosewall Australia Roy
Emerson
Australia Rod Laver 6–3,
6–4, 6–3
2. 1968 Los Angeles, US Hard Australia
Ken Rosewall South Africa Cliff
Drysdale
United Kingdom Roger Taylor 7–5,
6–1
3. 1969 US Open, New York Grass Australia
Ken Rosewall United States
Charlie Pasarell
United States Dennis Ralston 2–6,
7–5, 13–11, 6–3
4. 1971 Bologna WCT, Italy Carpet Australia Ken Rosewall South
Africa Robert Maud
South Africa Frew McMillan 6–7,
6–2, 6–3, 6–3
5. 1972 Bretton Woods, US Hard Australia
John Alexander Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nikola Pilić
United States Cliff Richey 7–6,
7–6
6. 1972 Vancouver WCT, Canada Outdoor Australia John Newcombe South
Africa Cliff Drysdale
Australia Allan Stone 7–6,
6–0
7. 1972 Johannesburg-2, South Africa Hard Australia
John Newcombe Australia Terry
Addison
Australia Bob Carmichael 6–3,
6–4
8. 1973 Chicago WCT, US Carpet Australia Ken Rosewall Egypt
Ismail El Shafei
New Zealand Brian Fairlie 6–7,
6–4, 6–2
9. 1973 Cleveland WCT, US Carpet Australia Ken Rosewall Egypt
Ismail El Shafei
New Zealand Brian Fairlie 6–2,
6–3
10. 1973 Bretton Woods, US Clay Australia
Rod Laver Australia Bob
Carmichael
South Africa Frew McMillan 7–6, 4–6, 7–5
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