Roche, Anthony

Anthony Dalton Roche “Tony”
Born: May 17, 1945
Hometown: Tarcutta, N.S.W., Australia
Citizenship: Australia
Handed: Left
Inducted: 1986

Grand Slam Record
French     Singles     1966
Singles finalist     1965, 67
Doubles     1967, 69
Doubles finalist     1964

Wimbledon     Singles finalist     1968
Doubles     1965, 68-70, 74
Mixed     1976
Mixed finalist     1965, 69

U.S.     Singles finalist     1969, 70
Doubles     1967

Australian     Doubles     1965, 67, 71, 76 (Jan)
Doubles finalist     1966
Mixed     1966
Mixed finalist     1967

Tournament Record
Davis Cup     Team Member     1964-67, 1974-78

Italian     Singles     1966
Singles finalist     1967, 69
Doubles     1964-65, 69, 71

With most of a glorious career behind him, it was extremely satisfying for the rugged, self-efacing Anthony Dalton Roche to make his biggest hit for Australia at 31 as a Davis Cup retread in 1977. In 1965 and 1967, alongside John Newcombe he’d won the Cup-clinching doubles, against Spain. Ten years later he was recalled for singles duty before his friends and neighbors in Sydney, and came through.

In a stunning opening-day victory, he turned back Adriano Panatta (6-3, 6-4, 6-4), who had led Italy to the 1976 Cup. That set the tone for a 3-1 Australian victory. His yoking with Newcombe (Roche the left court) was one of the all-time teams. They won Wimbledon five times (1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974), the best showing of any 20th century male pair. Roche, with his wicked left-handed serve and magnificent volleying, took 12 major doubles, all in the company of Newcombe, setting a team record. They were among only four male teams to win all four majors.

But Tony, broad-shouldered and barrel-chested, had the groundstrokes to succeed on clay, winning the difficult Continental double in 1966, the Italian and French singles. Paradoxically he lost three major finals on his best surface, grass, and to older countrymen whom he’d idolized: Wimbledon 1968, and the U.S., 1969, to Rod Laver; U.S. 1970, to Ken Rosewall.

Shoulder and elbow trouble curtailed a career that spanned the amateur and open eras, but he was in the World Top Ten in both, six straight years from 1965. No. 2 in 1969, and won 12 pro titles in singles, 27 in doubles. In 1968 he turned pro, signing with World Championship Tennis as one of the so-called “Handsome Eight” along with rookies Newcombe, Cliff Drysdale, Nikki Pilic and Roger Taylor. His prize money amounted to $529,199. He was a player-coach for Phoenix and Boston in World Team Tennis, and has tutored several pros including Ivan Lendl. Roche was a country boy, born in the New South Wales hamlet of Tarcutta on May 17, 1945, a son of the local butcher. He entered the Hall of Fame, along with Newcombe, appropriately, in 1986.

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