By Scoop Malinowski
Status: Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986. Won Wimbledon in 1970 and 1971.
Ht: 6-0 Wt: 170
DOB: May 23, 1944 in Sydney, Australia.
Tennis Inspirations: “Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Frank Sedgman.”
Favorite Movies: “I loved Ben Hur and The Magnificent Seven, going way back. Geez, I can’t think at the moment of some of the more current ones.”
Favorite TV Shows: “Don’t watch much TV, mainly just sport on TV. I like watching the Rugby Union on television.”
Musical Tastes: “I like classical music and sometimes rock ‘n roll. I like Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, all the big tenors when they’re singing their songs too. Some of the old rock ‘n roll stuff is pretty interesting with Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.”
Early Tennis Memory: “You mean at age seven or what? (Anything.) First competition I played was the C grade Sunday morning men’s competition in Sydney. I was eight years of age. The next youngest was probably 16. And then it was a lot of older guys playing after that. And I won that competition – the first one that I played in. I was playing for a club called Jubilee Park in Laine Cove, Sydney.”
First Job: “Working for Slazenger Sporting Goods Company in Sydney, Australia, as a 17-year-old when I came back from my first overseas tour. They gave me a job working in there. So I’d have time off whenever I wanted to practice. I got a $1,000 pounds a year [smiles]. (Your duties?) Practice my tennis. And learn about promotion.”
Pre-Match Feeling/Mindset: “Well, that developed over the years. So you can’t say how it was in the early years compared to later. But what I developed was a way to – 45 minutes before a match – to just be able to go inside myself. Have a look forward as to what was actually going to happen when we walked out on the court. And having to think about my opponents and how he looked and how he played. So that when I walked on the court it was like I had already been through the rehearsal. And so I’d be ready to go.”
Favorite Meal: “Probably roast lamb in sauce and nice potatoes and a couple of good vegetables.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Vanilla.”
Greatest Sports Moment: “That’s a hard one. Because I was lucky to have a lot. But probably the second singles win that I had at Wimbledon, beating Rosewall in the final (5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1). Ken had been a boyhood idol of mine. When I was nine years of age, listening to him as a 19-year-old playing Davis Cup for Australia. It was something I dreamed that I’d be doing sometime. And here I was, playing him in a Wimbledon final. The first I’d won was 1967 (d. Wilhelm Bungert in three sets) and this was now 1970. Tennis had gone Open. Beating him in that really put me up there in the top three or four, at that time, in the world.”
Most Painful Moment: “Probably losing first round at the U.S. Open in 1971. I’d won Wimbledon in ’70 and ’71. And I went to Forest Hills as the number one seed and lost in the first round to Jan Kodes.”
Funny Tennis Memory: “Oh, there’s lots of things but nothing comes to mind [smiles].”
Closest Friends from Tennis: “Tony Roche, Owen Davidson, Fred Stolle and a bunch of the other Aussies. And Charlie Pasarell, an American.”
Funniest Players Encountered: “Well, most of us Aussies had a pretty good sense of humor. So I think all the other Aussie tennis players. But no one in particular stands out.”
Toughest Competitors: “Obviously Laver and Rosewall were great competitors in their own way. Pancho Gonzalez - a different type of competitor to them. He was probably the most ferocious that I’ve seen and played against. Then you’ve got Connors and McEnroe. And Borg in another way, totally different from the others.”
Favorite Players To Watch: “Well, I liked watching Agassi. Because of the way he takes the ball early and attacks. He plays from the baseline mainly but he’s always looking to create something. He’s creative out there. I really enjoyed watching Federer play at Wimbledon the last few years. I thought that was the complete tennis player.”
Favorite Vacation Spot: “Probably head home to Sydney, Australia.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “Good character, honesty, integrity, somebody that’s willing to stand behind their friends.”
Career Accomplishments: Won 25 Major titles in singles, doubles and mixed including three Wimbledon, two U.S. and two Australian singles titles; won five Wimbledon doubles titles with Tony Roche (also together they won four Australian, two French and one U.S. doubles title); Member of four Davis Cup championship teams – 1965, ’66, ’67, ’73; Won 73 pro titles – 32 in singles, 41 in doubles; Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1986.
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vinko · June 22, 2010 at 12:16 am
I saw Newk once at the US Open walking around at the outer courts. He was very friendly like the Aussies of his era. He stopped and chatted a bit even though he had somewhere to go and of course didn’t know any of us from Adam. The whole Aussie group-Laver, Stolle, Roche, Rosewall etc are always friendly to the fans when you see them at the Open. From what I hear, Pat Rafter is like that too.
Scoop Malinowski · June 22, 2010 at 1:18 am
They all are a pleasure to talk tennis with. You can add doubles champ Sandon Stolle and Darren Cahill to that list. And surely some others too. But not Hewitt who is cut from a different cloth. But he will probably mellow when his competitive days are over.
fsilber · June 22, 2010 at 12:06 pm
People Qualities Most Admired: “Good character, honesty, integrity, somebody that’s willing to stand behind their _friends_.†Newk sure has changed over the years. Back when he was playing, he would have said, “… somebody that’s willing to stand behind their _mates_.” Maybe he’s been spending too much time outside Australia….
Sid Bachrach · June 22, 2010 at 2:47 pm
I met Fred Stolle back around 1992 walking around the grounds of the Open where he was watching Sandon Stolle play and Fred was just as nice as a man can be. No pretension, no shaking of the head to indicate disdain for the fans, just good natured humor. I asked him about his famous doubles match when he and Newk played McEnroe and Fleming. That is the match when McEnroe behaved in a totally deplorable manner. Fred Stolle laughed and said “There weren’t that many people actually watching the match but as the years go by, there are now 10,000 people who tell me they were at the match”.
It would be interesting to hear Newk or McEnroe talk about their remembrances of the match. I wish there was a video of it but I am guessing that the US Open didn’t tape all the dubs back in the 1980s and if they did tape, they probably did not preserve the video tape but reused the tape instead. As I recall, Newk came pretty close to kicking McEnroe’s butt after McEnroe deliberately aimed at Fred from close range and Fred was in his late 40s at the time.
It is the type of thing that McEnroe did in his younger days that a Bjorn Borg or Mats Wilander would never do. Lendl would do it in an ATP event if needed to win the point but it would be inconceivable that Ivan would do that in a doubles match to a legend in his late 40s.
Scoop Malinowski · June 22, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Only got the chance to speak with Newk once but have several times with Fred Stolle and he is one of my favorite people in the sport. Nice regular down to earth guy, pleasant sense of humor, super commentator for ESPN, and fantastic as the on court interviewer for Hopman Cup. As good an ambassador as the sport has ever had.