page_title: Tony Roche
section_title: Playing career
hierarchical_section_title: Tony Roche / Playing career
caption_attribution_description: English: Tony Roche at Wimbledon circa 1983 in Mixed Doubles
context_page_description: Anthony Dalton Roche, AO, MBE is an Australian former professional tennis player, a native of Tarcutta. He played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga Wagga. 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 and Lleyton Hewitt, and former World No. 4 Jelena Dokic.
context_section_description: Roche started to play tennis at school when he was nine. His father, who worked as a butcher, and his mother were both recreational tennis players, and encouraged his interest. Roche grew up playing in Australia under the tutelage of Harry Hopman, who also coached other Australian tennis players such as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.
  A left-hander, Roche had a successful singles and double career. He won one singles Grand Slam tournament, the 1966 French Open at Roland Garros, defeating István Gulyás 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 compatriot John Newcombe, he won 12 Grand Slam men's doubles tournaments.
  In January 1968, Roche turned professional, signing with World Championship Tennis, joining other pros like Cliff Drysdale, Nikola Pilić, and Roger Taylor to form the "Handsome Eight".
  Perhaps 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, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4, 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.
caption: Tony Roche at Wimbledon circa 1983 in Mixed Doubles
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