Lew Hoad

Lewis Alan "Lew" Hoad (Glebe, New South Wales, Australia, November 23, 1934-Fuengirola, Spain, July 3, 1994) was an Australian tennis player.

In his career he won the Davis Cup four times playing with the Australian team. He won four Grand Slams in the period 1956-1957, reaching all the finals in 1956, triumphing at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, he only lost at the United States Open, being the only Grand Slam he failed to win. gain. He was a member of the four-time Davis Cup-winning Australian team between 1952 and 1956. Hoad turned professional in July 1957 and won the Forest Hill Tournament of Champions event in 1959. He also won the Ampol Tournament of Champions at Kooyong in 1958, the richest tournament at that time. He won the Ampol World Tournament Championship Tour in 1959-1960. During his career his main competitors were his teammate and stuntmen Ken Rosewall and Pancho González.

He was ranked in the world Top 10 for amateur from 1952 to 1957, reaching No. 1 in 1956. He was ranked No. 1 at the professional level on the official Kramer list in the 1959-1960 Ampol ranking of all professional contracts. He was No. 1 in the world as both an amateur and professional tennis player for 1962 in a poll of 85 sports editors in the United States. He was the first professional tennis player to earn over GBP 350,000 or over a million.

Serious back problems that plagued him throughout his career, possibly originating from the weight-lifting exercise he devised in 1954, mainly after turning professional, effectively led to his retirement from tennis in 1967 but with sporadic returns, until that before the start of the 1968 season was definitive.

In his autobiography, Jack Kramer, a professional tennis promoter and former player, confirmed that Hoad is one of the 21 greatest players of all time. Rod Laver in 2012 commented that Hoad was the greatest player of the 'champions past' era. and he had a power, volley and explosiveness as the strength of him.

Following his retirement in 1972 Hoad and his wife Jenny operated a tennis complex, Lew Hoad's Campo de Tenis in Mijas, Spain, near Malaga. Hoad died of leukemia on July 3, 1994.

Personal life

Lew Hoad proposed to his girlfriend Australian tennis player Jenny Staley at her 21st birthday party in March 1955 to announce their engagement in June in London while they were both on tour. After arriving in London, Jenny discovered that she was pregnant and the couple decided to get married there. The marriage took place the following day on June 18, 1955 at St Mary's Church, Wimbledon, London. on the eve of the Wimbledon tournament. They had two daughters and a son.

After announcing his retirement in 1967 due to persistent back problems, Hoad moved to Fuengirola, Spain, near Malaga, where he and his wife operated a tennis complex, Lew Hoad's Campo de Tenis, for more Thirty years old, he personally trained friends such as actors Stewart Granger, Sean Connery, James Hunt, Deborah Kerr and her husband, Kirk Douglas, and saxophonist Setan Getz.

Death

In 1978, Hoad presented a pain syndrome in his back for which he underwent spinal surgery where a fusion was performed, which controlled the pain. She had ruptured two herniated displaced vertebral discs. The doctor who was one of Hoad's friends commented, "How the hell did this man walk, let alone play tennis."

Hoad was diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of leukemia on January 13, 1994, which caused his death on July 3, 1994. Press reports incorrectly reported a heart attack. Hoad's personal medical specialists were led by his son-in-law, Dr. Manuel Benavides, who explained his cause of death. A book co-written with Jack Pollard entitled My Game (My Game, The Lew Hoad story in the United States) was published in 1958. In 2002 Pollard teamed up with his widow, Jenny, and wrote My life With Lew.

Grand Slam tournaments (11; 4+7)

Individuals (4)

Titles

Year	Tournament	Oponente en la final	Outcome
1956	Australian Championship	Ken Rosewall	6-4 3-6 6-4 7-5
1956	French Championship	Sven Davidson	6-4 8-6 6-3
1956	Wimbledon	Ken Rosewall	6-2 4-6 7-5 6-4
1957	Wimbledon	Ashley Cooper	6-2 6-1 6-2

Finalist (2)

Year	Tournament	Oponente en la final	Outcome
1955	Australian Championship	Ken Rosewall	9-7 6-4 6-4
1956	US National Singles Championships	Ken Rosewall	6-4 2-6 3-6 3-6

Doubles (7)

Titles

Year	Tournament	Couple	Opponents in the final	Outcome
1953	Australian Championship	Ken Rosewall	Don Candy Mervyn Rose	9-11 6-4 10-8 6-4
1953	French Championship	Ken Rosewall	Mervyn Rose Clive Wilderspin	6-2 6-1 6-1
1953	Wimbledon	Ken Rosewall	Rex Hartwig Mervyn Rose	6-4 7-5 4-6 7-5
1956	Australian Championship	Ken Rosewall	Don Candy Mervyn Rose	10-8 13-11 6-4
1956	Wimbledon	Ken Rosewall	Orlando Sirola Nicola Pietrangeli	7-5 6-2 6-1
1956	US National Doubles Championships	Ken Rosewall	Hamilton Richardson Vic Seixas	6-2 6-2 3-6 6-4
1957	Australian Championship	Neale Fraser	Mal Anderson Ashley Cooper	6-3 8-6 6-4

Finalist (5)

Year	Tournament	Couple	Opponents in the final	Outcome
1954	French Championship	Ken Rosewall	Vic Seixas Tony Trabert	4-6 2-6 1-6
1954	US National Doubles Championships	Ken Rosewall	Vic Seixas Tony Trabert	6-3 4-6 6-8 3-6
1955	Australian Championship	Ken Rosewall	Vic Seixas Tony Trabert	3-6 2-6 6-2 6-3 1-6
1956	French Championship	Ashley Cooper	Don Candy Robert Perry	5-7 3-6 3-6
1957	Wimbledon	Neale Fraser	Budge Patty Gardnar Mulloy	10-8 4-6 4-6 4-6