Ken Fletcher
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Ken Fletcher at tournament in Santpoort, Netherlands (1965)
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Full name | Kenneth Norman Fletcher |
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Country (sports) | Australia |
Born | Brisbane, QLD, Australia |
15 June 1940
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Brisbane, QLD, Australia |
Turned pro | 1968(amateur tour from 1958) |
Retired | 1973 |
Plays | Right-handed (1-handed backhand) |
Singles | |
Career record | {{#property:P564}} |
Highest ranking | No. 10 (1966, Lance Tingay)[1] |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | F (1963) |
French Open | QF (1963, 1966) |
Wimbledon | QF (1962, 1966, 1967) |
US Open | 3R (1963) |
Doubles | |
Career record | {{#property:P555}} |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (1964) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (1963, 1964) |
French Open | W (1964) |
Wimbledon | W (1966) |
Mixed doubles | |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | W (1963, 1964) |
French Open | W (1963, 1964, 1965) |
Wimbledon | W (1963, 1966, 1968) |
US Open | W (1963) |
Last updated on: 14 September 2012. |
Kenneth Norman Fletcher (15 June 1940 – 11 February 2006) was an Australian tennis player who won numerous doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.
Contents
Biography
He was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to parents Norm and Ethel Fletcher. He was educated at St Laurence's College and showed early promise as a championship tennis player there. His greatest success as a tennis player came in 1963, when he became the only man to win a calendar year Grand Slam in mixed doubles, partnering fellow Australian Margaret Court.[2] He reached the final of the Australian Open in 1963, losing to Roy Emerson.[3]
After this achievement, he went on to record mixed doubles championships in the Australian Open in 1964, French Open in 1964 and 1965, and Wimbledon in 1965, 1966, and 1968. All of his mixed doubles Grand Slam titles were in partnership with Smith Court.
He also achieved a Grand Slam title in men's doubles in the 1964 French Open, playing with Roy Emerson. At the Wimbledon men's doubles championship, he was a finalist with Robert Hewitt in 1965, the champion in 1966 partnering John Newcombe, and a finalist again in 1967 with Roy Emerson. In total Fletcher won 27 international tennis titles. He was ranked World No. 10 in 1966 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.[1]
Ken was a larrikin by nature, and many of his exploits feature in Hugh Lunn's books, especially Over the Top with Jim and Head Over Heels. In later years he was instrumental in gaining significant funding for medical research in Australia, through his association with Chuck Feeney. In 2008 Hugh Lunn published a book on Ken's remarkable life around the globe, The Great Fletch with ABC Books.[4][5]
Fletcher died of cancer at the age of 65 and was buried at the Mount Gravatt Lawn Cemetery, Brisbane.
In January 2012 Ken Fletcher was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.[6]
In 2013 the Ken Fletcher memorial was erected in the park, outside the Queensland Tennis Centre, named in his honour[1].
Grands Slam finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1963 | Australian Championships | Grass | Roy Emerson | 3–6, 3–6, 1–6 |
Doubles: 9 (2 titles, 7 runners-up)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1963 | Australian Championships | Grass | John Newcombe | Bob Hewitt Fred Stolle |
2–6, 6–3, 3–6 6–3, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 1964 | Australian Championships | Grass | Roy Emerson | Bob Hewitt Fred Stolle |
4–6, 5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 12–14 |
Winner | 1964 | French Championships | Clay | Roy Emerson | John Newcombe Tony Roche |
6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 1964 | Wimbledon | Grass | Roy Emerson | Bob Hewitt Fred Stolle |
5–7, 9–11, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 1965 | French Championships | Clay | Bob Hewitt | Roy Emerson Fred Stolle |
8–6, 3–6, 6–8, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 1965 | Wimbledon | Grass | Bob Hewitt | John Newcombe Tony Roche |
5–7, 3–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 1966 | Wimbledon | Grass | John Newcombe | William Bowrey Owen Davidson |
6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 1967 | French Championships | Clay | Roy Emerson | John Newcombe Tony Roche |
3–6, 7–9, 10–12 |
Runner-up | 1967 | Wimbledon | Grass | Roy Emerson | Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan |
2–6, 3–6, 4–6 |
Mixed doubles: 11 (10 titles, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1963 | Australian Championships | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 1963 | French Championships | Clay | Margaret Smith Court | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–1, 6–2 |
Winner | 1963 | Wimbledon | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Bob Hewitt Darlene Hard |
11–9, 6–4 |
Winner | 1963 | US Championships (3) | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Ed Rubinoff Judy Tegart Dalton |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 1964 | Australian Championships (2) | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Mike Sangster Jan Lehane O'Neill |
6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 1964 | French Championships (2) | Clay | Margaret Smith Court | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–3, 4–6, 8–6 |
Runner-up | 1964 | Wimbledon | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 1965 | French Championships (3) | Clay | Margaret Smith Court | John Newcombe Maria Bueno |
6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 1965 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Tony Roche Judy Tegart Dalton |
12–10, 6–3 |
Winner | 1966 | Wimbledon (3) | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Dennis Ralston Billie Jean King |
4–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
↓ Open Era ↓ | ||||||
Winner | 1968 | Wimbledon (4) | Grass | Margaret Smith Court | Alex Metreveli Olga Morozova |
6–1, 14–12 |
External links
Further reading
Lunn, Hugh (2008). The Great Fletch: The Dazzling Life of Wimbledon Aussie Larrikin Ken Fletcher ISBN 0-7333-2209-3
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 428.
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- EngvarB from August 2013
- Use dmy dates from August 2013
- 1940 births
- 2006 deaths
- Australian Championships (tennis) champions
- Australian male tennis players
- Cancer deaths in Queensland
- French Championships (tennis) champions
- Sportspeople from Brisbane
- Tennis people from Queensland
- United States National champions (tennis)
- Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
- Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
- Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles