The amateur years
Australia · born Blackbutt, Queensland, 1936 · twice Wimbledon champion · 12 major singles titles
All playersBack to the rankings
2
Wimbledon singles titles, 1964 and 1965
12
Major singles titles, all as an amateur
28
Major titles in singles and doubles
8
Davis Cup winning teams, 1959 to 1967
55
Consecutive match wins in 1964
Born on a farm at Blackbutt, Queensland, on 3 November 1936, Emerson moved with his family to Brisbane and went to school there and in Ipswich. Between 1961 and 1967 he won 12 major singles titles, six at the Australian Championships and two each at the French, Wimbledon and the US Championships, all as an amateur. Pete Sampras equalled the men's record in 1999 and passed it in 2000. Emerson also won 16 major doubles titles and played on eight Davis Cup winning teams. In 1964 he won 55 matches in a row and 109 of 115 in all. He turned professional in April 1968, took his last major title in the 1971 Wimbledon doubles with Rod Laver, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1982.
| Major singles titles | 10: Wimbledon (1964, 1965); Australian (1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967); US (1961, 1964) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 2: Australian 1962, US 1962 |
| Other grass singles titles | 17: Queensland Championships 6 (1957, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1967); Queen's 4 (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966); SA Championships 3 (1958, 1960, 1962); Victorian Championships 2 (1964, 1966); Newport (1965); Welsh Championships (1965) |
| Major doubles titles | 10 doubles (Wimbledon 3, Australian 3, US 4) |
| Wimbledon finals | 1964: beat Fred Stolle 6-4, 12-10, 4-6, 6-3. 1965: beat Stolle 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon 1966 | Top seed; dislocated his shoulder in the quarter-final against Owen Davidson, played on and lost 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 4-6 |
| Wimbledon doubles | Won 1959 and 1961 with Neale Fraser, 1971 with Rod Laver. Finals lost 1964 and 1967 with Ken Fletcher |
| Australian and US doubles | Australian 1962 with Fraser, 1966 with Stolle, 1969 with Laver. US 1959 and 1960 with Fraser, 1965 and 1966 with Stolle |
| Rod Laver in 1961 | Beat Laver in both grass major finals: Australian 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 and US 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 |
| Davis Cup | Eight winning Australian teams, 1959 to 1962 and 1964 to 1967; 21-2 in singles and 13-2 in doubles |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Men's doubles | with Neale Fraser |
| 1961 | Men's doubles | with Neale Fraser |
| 1964 | Men's singles | |
| 1965 | Men's singles | |
| 1971 | Men's doubles | with Rod Laver |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1961 | Men's singles | |
| 1962 | Men's doubles | with Neale Fraser |
| 1963 | Men's singles | |
| 1964 | Men's singles | |
| 1965 | Men's singles | |
| 1966 | Men's doubles | with Fred Stolle |
| 1966 | Men's singles | |
| 1967 | Men's singles | |
| 1969 | Men's doubles Australian Open | with Rod Laver |
| Queensland Championships | ||
| 1957 | Men's singles | |
| 1959 | Men's singles | |
| 1960 | Men's singles | |
| 1963 | Men's singles | |
| 1966 | Men's singles | |
| 1967 | Men's singles | |
| US Championships | ||
| 1959 | Men's doubles | with Neale Fraser |
| 1960 | Men's doubles | with Neale Fraser |
| 1961 | Men's singles | |
| 1964 | Men's singles | |
| 1965 | Men's doubles | with Fred Stolle |
| 1966 | Men's doubles | with Fred Stolle |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1963 | Men's singles | |
| 1964 | Men's singles | |
| 1965 | Men's singles | |
| 1966 | Men's singles | |
| South Australian Championships | ||
| 1958 | Men's singles | |
| 1960 | Men's singles | |
| 1962 | Men's singles | |
| Western Australian Championships | ||
| 1961 | Men's singles | |
| 1965 | Men's singles | |
| Victorian Championships | ||
| 1964 | Men's singles | |
| 1966 | Men's singles | |
| Southampton (Meadow Club) | ||
| 1956 | Men's singles Southampton Invitational | |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 1965 | Men's singles Newport Casino Invitational | |
| Welsh Championships | ||
| 1965 | 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
"The best doubles player of all the moderns."
The person behind the player.
Queen's Club · June
Once he dropped the Beckenham tournament from his schedule, his Wimbledon build-up was fixed. He trained indoors on the wooden courts at Queen's Club with Ronnie Barnes, played six sets of singles each afternoon, ran, had a massage and went to bed, ten days in a row. "I was always in pretty good shape," he said.
Source: Steve FlinkWimbledon 1964 · Final
He counted his first Wimbledon title, over Fred Stolle in four sets, as the highlight of his career, and admitted it nearly got away from him at the end. "I had the shakes when I had to serve for the match, wanting to win Wimbledon so badly," he recalled in 2013.
Source: Tennis AustraliaLondon, 1960s
Emerson and Fred Stolle shared rooms in London during Wimbledon and met in two finals. Afterwards they went for a beer. Emerson cooked breakfast so that Stolle would not, and once served him scrambled eggs with a dead fly in them.
Source: Steve FlinkWimbledon 1966 · Quarter-final
A set up against Owen Davidson, the top seed chased a drop volley on wet grass, skidded into the umpire's chair and dislocated his shoulder. He played on and lost in four sets. "I should have forfeited in the first place," he said later. Davidson's view: "There was no way I could have beaten him."
Source: Steve Flink1966
Offered a two-year guarantee of $100,000 to join the professionals, Emerson said no, explaining that he "couldn't afford to take a pay cut." He stayed amateur until April 1968, when he signed with the National Tennis League, and the open era began that year.
Source: WikipediaFrinton-on-Sea, 1999
Aged 62, playing veterans' mixed doubles in Essex with Gigi Fernandez, he had just watched Pete Sampras equal his 12 major titles at Wimbledon. He called Sampras probably the best grass court player of all time and showed no envy over the prize money: "You can't have everything in life. Ours was a pretty nice era."
Source: Gazette (Colchester)Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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