The amateur years
United States · born Bakersfield, California, 1942 · died 2020 · right-handed · Wimbledon doubles champion at 17 in 1960 · Wimbledon singles finalist 1966
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17
Age when he won the 1960 Wimbledon doubles with Rafael Osuna; at 17 years 341 days he is the youngest gentlemen's doubles champion
1966
Wimbledon singles final, lost to Manolo Santana 6-4, 11-9, 6-4
86
Games in his 1960 semi-final against Rod Laver and Bob Mark, the most in a Wimbledon men's doubles semi-final
4
Grand Slam doubles titles on grass: Wimbledon 1960 and the US Championships 1961, 1963 and 1964
135
Championship matches played at Wimbledon in singles, doubles and mixed, between 1960 and 1987
Ralston was born in Bakersfield, California, on 27 July 1942 and learned the game on public courts, with early coaching from Pancho Gonzales. At 17 he skipped his high school graduation to play Wimbledon for the first time and won the 1960 doubles there with Rafael Osuna of Mexico, an unseeded pair. At the University of Southern California he won the NCAA singles and doubles in 1963 and 1964 and helped the Trojans to three national titles.
With Chuck McKinley he won the US doubles in 1961, 1963 and 1964, and in 1966 he took the French doubles with Clark Graebner. He was the top-ranked American in three years of the 1960s, was in the world top ten five times between 1963 and 1968 and helped the United States win the Davis Cup in 1963. In 1966 he reached the Wimbledon singles final and lost to Manolo Santana in three close sets. He turned professional at the end of that year and was one of the Handsome Eight, the first players signed by World Championship Tennis.
When the Open Era came he returned to the big events and reached the 1971 Wimbledon doubles final with Arthur Ashe. He was US Davis Cup coach from 1968 to 1971 and captain from 1972 to 1975, winning the Cup in 1972 in Romania. He coached Chris Evert for six years, as well as Yannick Noah, Gabriela Sabatini and Roscoe Tanner, and led the men's team at Southern Methodist University, where he was NCAA Coach of the Year in 1983. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1987 and died of cancer in Austin, Texas, on 6 December 2020.
| Wimbledon 1960 doubles | Unseeded with Rafael Osuna, beat Rod Laver and Bob Mark 4-6, 10-8, 15-13, 4-6, 11-9 in the semi-finals and Mike Davies and Bobby Wilson 7-5, 6-3, 10-8 in the final; their first-round win over Geoff Oakley and Humphrey Truman ended 16-14 in the fifth set |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1966 singles | Seeded sixth, beat Cliff Drysdale 6-8, 8-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals and lost to Manolo Santana 6-4, 11-9, 6-4 in the final, a match the Associated Press called easily one of the best finals for many years |
| Other Wimbledon finals | Mixed: 1962 with Ann Haydon, lost to Neale Fraser and Margaret duPont 2-6, 6-3, 13-11; 1966 with Billie Jean King, lost to Ken Fletcher and Margaret Smith 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Doubles: 1971 with Arthur Ashe, lost to Roy Emerson and Rod Laver 4-6, 9-7, 6-8, 6-4, 6-4 |
| US doubles 1963 | With Chuck McKinley beat Rafael Osuna and Antonio Palafox 9-7, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 11-9, a year after losing the final to the same pair |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Men's doubles | with Rafael Osuna |
| US Championships | ||
| 1961 | Men's doubles | with Chuck McKinley |
| 1963 | Men's doubles | with Chuck McKinley |
| 1964 | Men's doubles | with Chuck McKinley |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1963 | Men's singles | |
| Victorian Championships | ||
| 1963 | Men's singles | |
| Pennsylvania Grass Court Championships (Merion) | ||
| 1964 | Men's singles | |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 1966 | Men's singles Newport Casino Invitational | |
| US Pro Championships | ||
| 1967 | Men's doubles†| with Ken Rosewall |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1969 | Men's doubles | with Owen Davidson |
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
"The legacy I'd like to leave is that to get good, you got to work hard."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1960
Ralston missed his high school graduation ceremony to take his chance at Wimbledon. He and Osuna, both young and unseeded, then beat a string of seeded pairs to win the title.
Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame tribute, 20201960s
In his early years Ralston was labelled Dennis the Menace, a bad sport and a malcontent. Donald Dell, his predecessor as Davis Cup captain, explained the perfectionism behind it: "If Denny made five great shots and the sixth nicked the tape, that would infuriate him."
Source: Sports Illustrated, 1973Davis Cup
At his first Davis Cup workout in charge Ralston ordered wind sprints. Clark Graebner dropped out after the first, telling Donald Dell they were bad for his back; Dell told him to tell Ralston, and Ralston had him run double.
Source: Sports Illustrated, 1973Wimbledon 2017
In 2017 the All England Club honoured the players of the first professional event held on Centre Court, in 1967. Ralston was one of five of the eight who attended, with Butch Buchholz, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Fred Stolle.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Austin, Texas
In his last decade Ralston taught at the Grey Rock Tennis Club in Austin. Its director of tennis remembered that "Dennis had a very polished way of telling his stories in a very comedic way." After two knee replacements he played the seniors' event at Wimbledon.
Source: Associated Press, 2020Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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