Tony Roche

Australian Born 1945 178 cm Left handed
Head to heads vs John Newcombe (24)vs Tom Okker (21)vs Rod Laver (20)vs Cliff Drysdale (19)vs Dennis Ralston (18)vs Marty Riessen (17)

Match log

1980

Sydney IndoorHard, October
R16LGene Mayer3-6 0-6
R32WJohn Newcombe6-4 7-6
BrisbaneGrass, October
QFLPhil Dent7-5 3-6 2-6
R16WPeter Feigl6-3 6-1
R32WJunie Chatman7-5 6-4

1979

Australian OpenGrass, December
R16LColin Dibley4-6 7-6 6-3 3-6 4-6
R32WGeoff Masters7-5 6-2 7-6
R64WPhil Davies7-5 6-3 6-3
Sydney OutdoorGrass, December
R32LRoss Case3-6 6-3 3-6
R64WGene Malin7-6 6-4
AdelaideGrass, December
SFLBernie Mitton6-4 2-6 1-6
QFWGeoff Masters6-4 7-5
R16WWarren Maher6-4 6-2
R32WBrad Drewett7-5 6-4
HoustonClay, April
R32LFrancisco Gonzalez6-4 6-7 5-7

1978

Australian OpenGrass, December
QFLGuillermo Vilas6-3 1-6 6-3 3-6 2-6
R16WDale Collings6-1 6-2 6-3
R32WGeorge Hardie6-3 6-4 6-4
R64WIon Tiriac6-3 6-0 6-3
Sydney OutdoorGrass, December
R32LPaul Kronk6-7 4-6
R64WColin Dibley7-6 6-2
Tokyo IndoorCarpet, October
R32LJimmy Connors4-6 2-6
OsakaClay, October
R16LPat Dupre5-7 3-6
R32WTsuyoshi Fukui5-7 6-4 6-1
R64WKiyoshi Tanabe6-0 6-1
Sydney IndoorHard, October
R32LNick Saviano6-7 6-7
BrisbaneGrass, October
R16LRoss Case1-6 4-6
R32WFred Mcnair6-3 6-2
Davis Cup WG SF: GBR vs AUSCarpet, October
RRLBuster C Mottram6-8 6-3 5-7 4-6
RRWJohn Lloyd6-3 6-3 6-2
San FranciscoCarpet, September
R32LJohan Kriek2-6 5-7
R64WRoss Case6-4 4-6 6-3
WimbledonGrass, June
R128LPhil Dent4-6 5-7 6-4 6-4 5-7
Queen's ClubWon the titleGrass, June
FWJohn McEnroe8-6 9-7Won the title
SFWSandy Mayer2-6 6-3 8-6
QFWNick Saviano6-3 6-4
R16WBilly Martin7-5 6-1
R32WHank Pfister9-7 9-7
R64WBernie Mitton7-5 8-6
DaytonCarpet, April
R32LBilly Martin6-7 4-6
Las VegasCarpet, March
QFLBjorn Borg4-6 2-6
R16WDick Stockton5-6 6-4 6-5
Washington IndoorCarpet, March
R16LTim Gullikson4-6 4-6
R32WNick Saviano6-3 5-7 6-4
HartfordCarpet, March
RRLRoscoe Tanner4-6 2-6

1977

Australian Open-2Grass, December
R64LRichard Lewis6-4 6-4 3-6 3-6 3-6
AdelaideGrass, December
R32LSteve Docherty6-6 RET
R64WDale Collings7-6 6-4
Davis Cup WG F: AUS vs ITAGrass, December
RRWAdriano Panatta6-3 6-4 6-4
PerthHard, October
SFLVitas Gerulaitis2-6 1-6
QFWHarold Solomon6-4 6-1
R16WNick Saviano6-2 6-2
R32WRod Frawley7-5 6-2

Tony Roche

Good judges rate Tony Roche's backhand volley among the finest the game has seen, and the left arm from Tarcutta won a major with it: the 1966 French title, beating Istvan Gulyas in the final. That came two years before tennis went open, so the records on this page, which begin in 1968, show no majors. He reached three more finals in the open era and won none, Wimbledon in 1968 and the 1969 US Open both to Rod Laver, the 1970 US Open to Ken Rosewall, with eight semi-finals besides.

Doubles was kinder. Twelve of his thirteen major doubles titles came alongside John Newcombe, five of them at Wimbledon between 1965 and 1974, one of the great partnerships. A ruined arm cut the singles peak short; he missed most of 1972 and 1973, tried surgery and a faith healer in Manila. The second career outdid many first ones: Roche coached Ivan Lendl, Patrick Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer, all of whom came for the volley.