The Australian tennis player Fred Stolle, who has died aged 86, won the French Championship in 1965 and the US Championship in 1966, along with a hatful of doubles titles around the world. But he could never quite get over the line at Wimbledon, where he lost in three consecutive finals between 1963 and 1965.
Typically, however, Stolle did not allow his frustrating failure to win Wimbledon to deter him from making the most of his ability as a world-class player, or to douse the huge enjoyment he derived from being one of the game’s most popular personalities. He played in an era when, outside Wimbledon and a couple of other grand slams, the nocturnal hours were to be enjoyed as much as sunlit days on the courts of the world’s most glamorous locations.
This did not mean the players of his era were unfit. Far from it. Unlike today, practically every tournament insisted on matches that were best of five sets, and all the top singles stars automatically played doubles as well. The beer from the night before was simply removed from the system by punishing early morning runs and tough work on the practice court. Stolle’s great Aussie friend Roy Emerson, who beat him at Wimbledon in the 1964 and 1965 finals, led the way in that department, with Stolle following closely behind.
In retrospect, Stolle’s success was largely forged out of two incidents that he rightly considered to be unfair and publicly embarrassing slights from the powers that governed the game before it professionalised in 1968.
The first came when he was trying to make his mark as a Davis Cup player for Australia under the stern and demanding captaincy of Harry Hopman. He was the junior member of the team that beat Italy in the challenge round in 1961 and, as such, was ordered to go to the umpire’s dinner after the victory. It was at the dinner that Hopman stood up and praised the other members of the squad, but offered the opinion that Stolle would never be good enough to make the grade.
Stolle was crushed and humiliated, but Emerson, who had experienced his own problems with Hopman, tried to console his friend by telling him it was just the captain’s way of seeing if he could take it. Intellectually, Stolle understood what Emerson was saying but, as he wrote in his autobiography, “emotionally it was very difficult to listen to Harry Hopman tell the world I was not good enough”.
Stolle had to live with that assessment until 1964, when Hopman pulled off a surprise by selecting him for the singles and doubles matches in a tough tie against Mexico in Mexico City. Although he lost to the brilliant Rafael Osuna on the first day, Stolle proved his worth by teaming up with Emerson to win a marathon doubles game then complete Australia’s victory with a reverse singles win against Antonio Palafox. Proving he was, indeed, good enough, Stolle finished with a career Davis Cup record of 13 wins out of 16 singles and doubles matches.
The second public slight came in 1966 when the seeding committee for the US Championships at Forest Hills in New York omitted him from the list of eight seeds. There were no computerised ranking lists in those days and a player’s career was in the hands of faceless officials. Stolle, who had been playing well, was furious. Determined to prove the committee wrong, the lanky serve-and-volley expert cut a swathe through the draw on the slick grass, playing what he described as the best match of his life to beat Emerson 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-finals, and John Newcombe 4-6, 12-10, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
Although that triumph probably gave Stolle the greatest personal satisfaction, his surprise victory at the French Championship the previous year was undoubtedly his finest achievement. European clay was never the easiest surface for Australians, but Stolle stayed true to his attacking instincts to battle his way past a gaggle of Europeans before beating his fellow Australian Tony Roche 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
In addition to his two grand slam singles titles, Stolle was one of the leading doubles experts of the 60s, winning three US men’s doubles titles, two with Emerson and one with Ken Rosewall; three Australian, two with his original partner, Bob Hewitt, and one with Emerson; two French (Emerson and Rosewall) and two at Wimbledon with Hewitt. He also won seven mixed doubles titles, including Wimbledon with the British player Ann Jones in 1969, the year she won the singles title.
Born in Hornsby, Sydney, Stolle benefited from the fact that in Australia – unlike many other countries in the world – tennis was a pastime for all classes. His father, Bill, was a labourer on the railways, but that did not stop him playing competitive doubles at the local club on Sunday mornings, and young Fred was soon joining in.
Although Stolle quickly began winning local junior titles, his early progress did not quite warrant the corporate sponsorship offer that would have enabled him to play tennis almost full time. Instead he took a job at a bank and was lucky enough to choose one that had Cliff Sproule, a leading International Tennis Federation official, among its directors. Sproule eased Stolle’s way on to the travelling tennis circuit, and as a bright and charming young man with a special Aussie line in sardonic humour, he never looked back.
With his wife, Pat, and young family in tow, Stolle quickly took to life in the US and, once he turned pro, accepted a series of jobs as a tennis director at country clubs, beginning in Tucson, Arizona, and eventually settling at Turnberry Isle near Miami.
For several years Stolle was also chief summariser on ESPN’s tennis broadcasts, which were headed by one of his old rival players, Cliff Drysdale. It was with Drysdale that he set up Grand Slam Sports, a company offering corporate hospitality outings all over the US. The business’s partners included such well-known names as Emerson, Rosewall, Marty Riessen, John Lloyd and Owen Davidson, who would offer their services. Most of them were capable speakers, none more so than Stolle himself, whose personality enabled him to “roast” his guests and still retain their friendship and respect. He was made an officer of the Order of Australia in 2005.
Stolle is survived by Pat and their children, Sandon (also a professional tennis player), Monique and Nadine.
• Frederick Sydney Stolle, tennis player, born 8 October 1938; died 5 March 2025
