The Open Era
Australia · born Young, New South Wales, 1962 · died 2021 · Australian junior champion 1980
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1980
Australian Open boys' singles and doubles champion
102
Career-high singles ranking, January 1983
64
Career-high doubles ranking, January 1984
SF
Australian Open doubles, 1985, with Laurie Warder
Craig Miller was born in Young, New South Wales, in October 1962. He lost the Australian Open boys' final to Greg Whitecross in 1979, then won the singles and the doubles, with Wally Masur, a year later. As a professional he reached No. 102 in singles in January 1983 and No. 64 in doubles a year later, won two tour-level doubles titles and reached the second round at Wimbledon in 1983 and 1984. His best major result was the 1985 Australian Open doubles semi-final with Laurie Warder. He retired in 1988 and turned to coaching, at the Australian Institute of Sport, where Todd Woodbridge was among his players, and at Tennis Australia, where he was head development coach for seven years and helped run the performance pathway. He later ran his own coaching programme. He died in August 2021.
| Major singles titles | 1: Australian (1980) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 1: Australian (1979) |
| Major doubles titles | 1: Australian (1980) |
| Australian boys' finals | 1979: lost to Greg Whitecross 6-4, 6-3. 1980: beat Wally Masur 7-6, 6-2 |
| Australian boys' doubles | 1980 with Wally Masur |
| Wimbledon singles | Second round in 1983, beating John Lloyd, and in 1984 |
| Wimbledon doubles | Third round in 1982 and 1983 |
| Australian Open doubles | 1985: semi-final with Laurie Warder |
"He was an extremely talented player and, at times, a freakish shot maker."
The person behind the player.
Australian Open 1979 to 1980
In 1979 he reached the boys' final and lost to Greg Whitecross. A year later he was back, beat Wally Masur in the singles final and then won the doubles title with Masur as his partner. He also reached the second round of the men's event in 1979.
Source: Tennis AustraliaWimbledon 1983
In January 1983 he reached his career-high singles ranking of 102. That summer at Wimbledon he beat the Briton John Lloyd to reach the second round, a stage he reached again in 1984. In doubles he went one round further, to the third round, in 1982 and 1983.
Source: WikipediaOn tour
Pat Cash called him Mills and remembered him as an important person in his early career. "In spite of the fact it was extremely competitive, he always kindly looked out for the younger players like myself," Cash said, describing him as generous but straight talking. Masur called him popular and a bit of a character.
Source: Tennis AustraliaCanberra
Todd Woodbridge looked up to him after his Australian Open junior title. "I remember playing him when I was 15, and was later coached by him at the AIS in Canberra," Woodbridge said. Chris Kachel, a former AIS head coach, called him a very good technical coach and a mentor to many younger coaches.
Source: Tennis AustraliaFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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