Tony RochePrint Page
The bust commemorates tennis player, Tony Roche, a former professional Australian tennis player, native of Tarcutta. He He won one Grand Slam singles title and thirteen Grand Slam doubles titles, and was ranked as high as World No. 2 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph in 1969. He also coached multi-Grand Slam winning World No. 1s, Ivan Lendl, Patrick Rafter, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and former World No. 4, Jelena Dokic.
Tony won one singles Grand Slam tournament, the 1966 French Open defeating Istvan Gulyas in the final. He was five times the runner-up at Grand Slam tournaments: the French Championships in 1965 and 1967, losing to Fred Stolle and Roy Emerson respectively, Wimbledon in 1968, losing to Rod Laver, and the US Open in 1969 and 1970, losing to Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. With John Newcombe he won 12 Grand Slam men's doubles tournaments.
In January 1968, Roche turned professional, signing with World Championship Tennis.
One of his greatest achievements came in 1977, being called up to play singles in the finals of the Davis Cup tournament versus Italy, nearly 10 years since he had last played for Australia. In the tie, Roche upset top Italian Adriano Panatta to lead Australia to a 3–1 victory, winning the Davis Cup.
Shoulder and elbow injuries cut short his career after having finished in the top 10 for six consecutive years.
Location
Address: | Olympic Boulevard & Batman Avenue, Garden Square, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, 3000 |
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State: | VIC |
Area: | AUS |
GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.820301 Long: 144.978865 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
Monument Type: | Sculpture |
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Monument Theme: | People |
Sub-Theme: | Sport |
Artist: | Barbara McLean |
Dedication
Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | 1998 |
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Tony Roche
Winner of 14 Grand Slam titles
Singles Champion of :
France 1966
Davis Cup :
1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1974
1975, 1976, 1977, 1978
Davis Cup victories :
1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1977