The amateur years
Australia · born Melbourne, 1936 · died 2020 · Wimbledon champion 1958 · three of the four majors in one year
All playersBack to the rankings
322
Games played to win Wimbledon 1958, a record
3
Majors won in 1958, all on grass
13-11
Fourth set of the 1958 Wimbledon final
2
Years as amateur world No. 1, 1957 and 1958
Born in Melbourne on 15 September 1936, Cooper came through Harry Hopman's Australian squads and reached the Wimbledon boys' final in 1954. He was ranked the world's No. 1 amateur in 1957 and 1958. In 1958 he won the Australian, Wimbledon and US titles and missed the French only after losing the semi-final to Luis Ayala from two sets up. He helped Australia keep the Davis Cup in 1957. In January 1959 he signed with Jack Kramer for a $100,000 guarantee, finished third on the 1959 world professional tour and won the Slazenger Professional at Eastbourne. Nerve damage in his right arm ended his career at the close of 1962. He then worked for Tennis Queensland for nearly fifty years, sat on the Tennis Australia board, and died in 2020.
| Major singles titles | 4: Wimbledon (1958); Australian (1957, 1958); US (1958) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 2: Wimbledon 1957, US 1957 |
| Other grass singles titles | 9: NSW Championships 2 (1957, 1958); Queensland Championships 2 (1956, 1958); Eastbourne Slazenger Pro (1959); Pennsylvania Grass Court (1957); Queen's (1957); Tasmanian Championships (1957); WA Championships (1957) |
| Major doubles titles | 2 doubles (Australian 1, US 1) |
| Wimbledon doubles | Finalist 1958 with Neale Fraser, lost 4-6, 4-6, 6-8 to Sven Davidson and Ulf Schmidt |
| Grass major doubles | US 1957 and Australian 1958 with Neale Fraser; Australian finalist 1957 with Mal Anderson |
| Finals to remember | Wimbledon 1958: beat Neale Fraser 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11. US 1958: beat Mal Anderson 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 10-8, 8-6 |
| Wimbledon 1958 route | Seven matches, 28 sets and 322 games, including Abe Segal 13-11, 6-3, 3-6, 14-12 and Bobby Wilson 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5 |
| Davis Cup on grass | Won the 1957 Challenge Round against the United States at Kooyong, 3-2; lost the 1958 Challenge Round at Milton Courts, Brisbane, 2-3. Singles record 2-2 |
| Junior Wimbledon | Boys' singles finalist 1954, lost to Ramanathan Krishnan |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Men's singles | |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1957 | Men's singles | |
| 1958 | Men's doubles | with Neale Fraser |
| 1958 | Men's singles | |
| Queensland Championships | ||
| 1956 | Men's singles | |
| 1958 | Men's singles | |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1957 | Men's singles | |
| 1958 | Men's singles | |
| US Championships | ||
| 1957 | Men's doubles | with Neale Fraser |
| 1958 | Men's singles | |
| Pennsylvania Grass Court Championships (Merion) | ||
| 1957 | Men's singles | |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1957 | Men's singles | |
| Tasmanian Championships | ||
| 1957 | Men's singles | |
| Western Australian Championships | ||
| 1957 | Men's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"Ash is one of those that comes from an era of true gentlemen."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1957
He reached his first Wimbledon final without losing a set in the early rounds, then won only five games as Lew Hoad beat him in 57 minutes. Within a week Hoad had signed a professional contract worth $125,000, and Cooper inherited the No. 1 amateur ranking by default.
Source: Tennis AbstractWimbledon 1958
Cooper and Neale Fraser shared a room during the championships and ate breakfast together on the morning of the final. That afternoon Fraser took the first set and pushed the fourth to 11-11 before Cooper won it 13-11 for his only Wimbledon singles title.
Source: WikipediaOn tour, 1950s
Teammates called him "six-pack" for his physique. On exhibition tours he would ask the driver to drop him about ten kilometres short of the venue so he could run the rest. "When a Hopman player walked onto the court, he would be fit and strong and able to outlast anyone he played," he said.
Source: Tennis AbstractForest Hills 1958
At 6-5 in the fifth set of the US final against Mal Anderson, he hurt his ankle and could not stand for several minutes. He recovered, won the set 8-6 and the match 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 10-8, 8-6, for his third major of the year. He later called the lost French semi-final the one that got away.
Source: Tennis AbstractBrisbane 1959
On 2 January 1959 he married Helen Wood, Miss Australia 1957, in Brisbane. The crowd outside was so large that the Courier Mail ran the headline "Near riot as crowd mobs couple". She was the bigger name of the two, and he joked that he would be Mr Wood for years.
Source: Tennis QueenslandTennyson 2009
His lobbying over a decade shaped the Queensland Tennis Centre at Tennyson, from choosing the site to building it. When it opened on 2 January 2009, Pat Rafter served to Cooper on the centre court. His knowledge of surfaces also helped Tennis Australia move the Australian Open from Rebound Ace to Plexicushion in 2008.
Source: Tennis QueenslandFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
Join freePage updated 3 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.
