Aussie tennis great Fred Stolle passes away at 86
Stolle won the French Open in 1965 and the US Open in 1966, reaching six other Grand Slam finals, including three at Wimbledon. He also secured 10 Grand Slam men's doubles titles and seven mixed doubles crowns.
Tennis Australia described Stolle as "one of its great players and characters." CEO Craig Tiley said Stolle's name was synonymous with the transition from amateur to professional tennis.
"His legacy is one of excellence, dedication, and a profound love for tennis," Tiley said. "His impact on the sport will be remembered and cherished by all who had the privilege to witness his contributions."
Stolle was part of an Australian generation that dominated men's tennis, competing alongside Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, and John Newcombe. He helped Australia win the Davis Cup in 1964, 1965, and 1966, later transitioning to coaching and commentary.
Laver, the only man to win all four Grand Slam titles in a single year during the Open era, paid tribute to Stolle on X.
"It took the best to beat the best," Laver wrote. "We never tired of reliving the past as we travelled the world looking into the future with an enduring love of the sport."
Former Australian doubles player Paul McNamee also honoured Stolle's contributions.
"What a player, what a commentator, what a bloke," McNamee said. "One of that great group of Aussie tennis players who made history, and whose legacy is perhaps unrivalled."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
19 hours ago
- Express Tribune
McLaren's Norris leads Hungarian practice
Lando Norris lapped 0.019 of a second quicker than Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri as the McLaren pair finished one-two in first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday. Norris, 16 points behind his Australian teammate going into the last race before the August break, lapped the Hungaroring with a best time of one minute 16.052 seconds with the soft tyres on a sunny afternoon. The Briton was on pole at the circuit last year in a race won by Piastri, his first victory in F1. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third fastest, 0.217 off the pace, with Racing Bulls' French rookie Isack Hadjar in fourth. Lewis Hamilton, winner a record eight times in Hungary, was fifth for Ferrari and suffered a big lock-up as he wrestled with the car. Oliver Bearman was sixth for Haas, ahead of Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell with Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen ninth and Lance Stroll completing the top 10 for Aston Martin. Russell complained about his car's balance and said it was hard to turn. Verstappen's Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda was only 17th. Brazilian Felipe Drugovich stood in for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, with the Spaniard suffering from back pain, and was 16th fastest. Estonian Paul Aron also took Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber for the session and was last after having to stop before the midpoint of the session due to a technical problem. McLaren's progress faster than Ferrari in Schumacher era: Stella McLaren's rate of progress may be faster than Ferrari during their golden era with German Formula One great Michael Schumacher, team boss Andrea Stella said on Friday. The Italian worked at Maranello with seven-times champion Schumacher as an engineer during that period but told reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix that he had been surprised by McLaren's growth. The Woking-based team won the constructors's title last season and are running away with both championships this year with Piastri and Norris fighting for the drivers crown. McLaren have won 10 of 13 races so far and are a mighty 268 points clear of second second-placed Ferrari in the team standings. In 2023 they were fourth overall and in 2022 fifth. "It's always difficult to compare across seasons," said Stella, who joined McLaren from Ferrari in 2015. "In this case, we are comparing across teams, and even myself, I was in a very different role, so my field of view, my perspective was very different. "But if I had to pick a couple of features of the journey that is happening here at McLaren, I would say the rate of progress that we have had in a couple of years is in itself pretty unique. "And possibly the rate of progress itself was even faster than what we experienced at Ferrari in the very competitive times." Schumacher won five titles in a row between 2000-2004, with the last one a particularly dominant season and Ferrari winning 15 of 18 races. Stella said McLaren had set out an ambitious programme when deciding how much effort to put into developing their car this season, with a new engine era coming in 2026 that could shake up the pecking order.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
Swiatek cruises, Osaka battles through
Iga Swiatek was in action against China's Guo Hanyu at the WTA Canadian Open. Photo: AFP Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek cruised into the third round of the WTA Canadian Open on Wednesday as Naomi Osaka fought off two match points to advance with a three-set win over Liudmila Samsonova. Swiatek, seeded second in her first tournament since her crushing victory over Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final, breezed past Chinese qualifier Guo Hanyu 6-3, 6-1, breaking Guo's serve six times. Her untroubled tournament opener followed Osaka's battling victory over Samsonova. The four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan saved back-to-back match points in the 10th game of the second set, and trailed 5-2 in the second-set tiebreaker on the way to a 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 triumph. Osaka, now working with Tomasz Wiktorowski after announcing on Monday she had split with coach Patrick Mouratoglou, notched her first win over a top-20 player since she beat Karolina Muchova at the Australian Open. But she had to dig deep for the win after surrendering early breaks in each of the first two sets. Wimbledon quarter-finalist Samsonova served for the match at 5-4 in the second and led 40-15. The Russian fired a forehand long on her first match point and on her second a lackluster drop shot effort gave Osaka an opening and the Japanese star pounced. Samsonova's double fault on break point allowed Osaka to level the set, and after storming back in the tiebreaker to force a third set Osaka took control early, breaking Samsonova twice on the way to a 4-1 lead. "She definitely came out really hard and, for me, I was definitely overwhelmed and I didn't know if I should also be hitting winners," Osaka said. "But after a while I just tried to keep the ball in court," added Osaka, who snapped a four-match losing streak in three-setters. Osaka next faces Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Mexico's Renata Zarazua 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the sixth seed, opened her Canadian campaign with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Laura Siegemund, avenging a third-round loss to the German at Wimbledon. Raducanu reaches third round British number one Emma Raducanu continued her impressive build-up to the US Open with a commanding straight-sets victory over American Peyton Stearns, winning 6-2, 6-4 to book her place in the third round of the Canadian Open at Court Rogers on Wednesday. The 22-year-old, currently ranked World number 33, produced a strong all-round performance to extend her perfect record against Stearns, securing her third win in as many meetings between the pair. Raducanu now sets up a mouth-watering clash with Wimbledon runner up Amanda Anisimova, who overcame New Zealand's Lulu Sun 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) earlier in the day. Raducanu started the match in commanding fashion, taking charge of the opening set by breaking Stearns twice before sealing the set on her sixth set point. The Briton displayed precise shot-making and composure from the baseline, frustrating her opponent with deep returns and clever variation. The second set offered more drama as Raducanu found herself trailing 4-2 after conceding a break. However, she responded brilliantly, reeling off four consecutive games with aggressive returns and confident service games to close out the contest in one hour and 35 minutes. Reflecting on her performance, Raducanu admitted she briefly lost focus but was pleased to regain control. "I'm really happy with how I came through in that match. I kind of lost my focus at some moments in the second set and she took advantage, but I'm very happy that I came through against a top opponent and happy to extend my stay in Montreal," Raducanu said. Acknowledging the home support, Raducanu added, "I saw the Union Jack in clutch moments and I was actually born in Canada, so to me, it means so much to do well here."
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
Popovici builds a wall and his rivals pay for it
David Popovici said he builds mental walls around his lane to block out the competition and keep him focused on gold at the world championships after the Romanian added the 100 metres freestyle title to his 200 crown in Singapore on Thursday. Popovici, who also won the 100 and 200 titles in Budapest in 2022, touched the wall in 46.51 seconds at the World Aquatics Championships Arena ahead of American Jack Alexy and Australian Kyle Chalmers. "I think the one who wins is the one who can detach themselves from their competitors," the 20-year-old said. "So I managed to build walls between each of my lanes and imagined I was swimming alone. "Don't look at the others. Try not to think of what Kyle is doing. Try and not look to the left for what Jack is doing. "I managed to focus on what I had to do. And I delivered." Popovici said it was surreal to be competing beside Chalmers after watching the Australian on television at the Rio Olympics in 2016 when he won gold in the 100. "I was telling Kyle just before in the call room how crazy I think it is that when I was a 12-year-old, I was looking to him at the Olympics," he told Australian broadcaster Nine Network in Singapore. "I was 12, he was 18, winning gold at the Olympics. And so now being able to race with him for the same medals, it's just bonkers. And I'm really happy of how far I've come and we've come." Chalmers, whose bronze was his 14th medal at the worlds, said he was gutted not to break the 47-second mark after finishing in 47.17 seconds. "It's incredible how much this event has improved over the years, you knew it was going to be really tight and really fast," the 27-year-old said. "I've been training hard for that moment, I desperately wanted to get a 46 out tonight but wasn't quite there. To get on the podium is so special and I'm just really excited to go home now and become a dad. That's my biggest priority this year." Frustrated McIntosh Only Summer McIntosh could yell an expletive in disappointment after swimming the second-fastest 200 metres butterfly in history. The Canadian took her gold medal tally to three at the world championships in Singapore on Thursday but it was clear from her reaction that her target had been Liu Zige's record of 2:01.81, a mark set in 2009 during the "supersuit" era. McIntosh powered home 0.18 seconds behind Liu's mark in 2:01.99. A personal best (PB), a championship record -- but not good enough for the 18-year-old.
