The Open Era
Australia · born Melbourne, 1965 · Wimbledon champion 1987 · twice a Davis Cup winner on grass
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1
Set dropped on the way to the 1987 title
2
Wimbledon doubles finals, 1984 and 1985
2
Davis Cup finals won at Kooyong
18
Youngest player in a Davis Cup final, 1983
No. 4
Career-high singles ranking, May 1988
Born in Melbourne on 27 May 1965, Cash was the world's No. 1 junior in 1981 and in 1982 won the Wimbledon boys' singles and the US Open junior title before turning professional. At 18 he played in the 1983 Davis Cup final, the youngest player to do so. He won six singles titles, including Wimbledon in 1987, reached the Australian Open finals of 1987 and 1988, and rose to No. 4 in May 1988. A ruptured Achilles tendon at the Japan Open in April 1989 kept him out until March 1990, and injuries to his Achilles, knees and back limited him after that. He retired in 1997, settled in London and coached Greg Rusedski, Mark Philippoussis and CoCo Vandeweghe.
| Major singles titles | 1: Wimbledon (1982) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 2: Australian (1981); Wimbledon (1981) |
| Major doubles titles | 1: Wimbledon (1982) |
| Wimbledon singles | Champion 1987, beating Mats Wilander, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl 7-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the last three rounds. Semi-final 1984; quarter-finals 1986 and 1988 |
| Wimbledon doubles | Finalist 1984 with Paul McNamee, lost 2-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6 to Peter Fleming and John McEnroe; finalist 1985 with John Fitzgerald, lost 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 to Heinz Günthardt and Balázs Taróczy |
| Australian Open on grass | Finalist 1987 at Kooyong after a four-hour semi-final win over Lendl, lost to Stefan Edberg 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6 |
| Davis Cup on grass | Won the finals against Sweden at Kooyong in 1983, taking the deciding rubber against Joakim Nyström, and 1986, when he beat Edberg and Mikael Pernfors |
| Other grass titles | Singles: Melbourne Outdoor 1982. Doubles: Queen's 1984 with McNamee; Adelaide 1982; Sydney 1983 |
| Junior Wimbledon | Boys' singles and doubles champion 1982, the doubles with John Frawley; singles finalist 1981 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Men's singles | |
| Melbourne Outdoor (Kooyong) | ||
| 1982 | Men's singles | |
| South Australian Championships | ||
| 1982 | Men's doubles | with Chris Johnstone |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1983 | Men's doubles New South Wales Open | with Mike Bauer |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1984 | Men's doubles | with Paul McNamee |
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
"I just wanted to be with the people who meant the most to me, that's all."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1987
After match point against Ivan Lendl he climbed into the stands and up to the players' box to embrace his father, his girlfriend and his coach Ian Barclay. "The officials didn't have an idea what I was doing, but I climbed up because it was a team effort," he said thirty years later. Champions have been copying him since.
Source: ATP TourWimbledon 1987
Posing with the trophy, he admitted, he had just wanted to get off the court. Asked whether his friends were watching back home in the pub, he said: "I bloody hope so." Over champagne he was asked to sum up his feelings in one word and chose "Stuffed." He was 22, in a checked headband and an earring.
Source: Detroit Free PressKooyong 1983
Picked for the Davis Cup final against Sweden on grass at Kooyong, he became the youngest player to appear in a final. With the tie level he won the deciding singles rubber against Joakim Nyström, and Australia took the cup 3-2, its 25th title.
Source: WikipediaKooyong 1986
Three years later Sweden came back to Kooyong. Cash beat Stefan Edberg, then in the deciding rubber fell two sets behind Mikael Pernfors before winning the next three to give Australia the cup again, 3-2. He did not lose a singles match in the competition that year.
Source: WikipediaKooyong and Melbourne Park, 1987 to 1988
He reached the last Australian Open final played on grass at Kooyong, beating Lendl in a four-hour semi-final before losing to Edberg in five sets. A year later he played the first men's final at the new Melbourne Park, on hard courts, and lost to Mats Wilander 8-6 in the fifth after about four and a half hours and two rain delays.
Source: WikipediaFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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