Fred Stolle

Frederick Sydney Stolle, AO^[4] (8 October 1938 – 5 March 2025) was an Australian amateur world No. 1 tennis player and commentator. He was born in Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. He was the father of former Australian Davis Cup player Sandon Stolle.

Fred Stolle
AO

Full name	Frederick Sydney Stolle
Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Aventura, Florida, US
Born	(1938-10-08)8 October 1938 Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia
Died	5 March 2025(2025-03-05) (aged 86) Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1]
Turned pro	1966 (amateur from 1958)
Retired	1978
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1985 (member page)
Singles
Career record	860–442 (66.0%)[2]
Career titles	39[2]
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1966, World Tennis)[3]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1964, 1965)
French Open	W (1965)
Wimbledon	F (1963, 1964, 1965)
US Open	W (1966)
Professional majors
US Pro	SF (1967)
Wembley Pro	1R (1967)
French Pro	SF (1967)
Doubles
Career record	189–101
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1964)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1963, 1964, 1966)
French Open	W (1965, 1968)
Wimbledon	W (1962, 1964)
US Open	W (1965, 1966, 1969)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	W (1962, 1969)
French Open	F (1962, 1963, 1964)
Wimbledon	W (1961, 1964, 1969)
US Open	W (1962, 1965)

Career

Stolle is notable for being the only male player in history to have lost his first five Grand Slam singles finals, all but one were to Roy Emerson, the fifth of which he led by two sets to love. However, Stolle went on to win two Grand Slam tournament singles titles, the 1965 French Championships and the 1966 US Championships.^[5] At Wimbledon and the Australian Championships he finished as runner-up in these tournaments and losing to compatriot Roy Emerson on no fewer than five occasions. World Tennis magazine ranked Stolle world No. 1 amateur in 1966.^[6]

Stolle won ten Grand Slam doubles titles, partnering with compatriots Bob Hewitt (4 titles), Roy Emerson (4 titles), and Ken Rosewall (2 titles). In addition Stolle won 7 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

As a member of the Australian Davis Cup team Stolle won the Davis Cup title in 1964,^[7] 1965 and 1966.^[8] In 1964 Stolle and Emerson were briefly suspended from the Australian Davis Cup team for going on an overseas tour in defiance of a Lawn Tennis Association of Australia order to remain in Australia until April.^[9]

Stolle turned professional in 1966,^[1] and as a professional, won two singles and 13 doubles titles. He earned about US$500,000 in career prize money.^[10]

Stolle coached Vitas Gerulaitis from 1977 until 1983.

Later life and death

For many years, Stolle did television commentary for ESPN and other tennis broadcasts. He provided commentary on Grand Slam tennis tournaments for Australia's Fox Sports and the Nine Network.

Stolle died from cancer in Palm Desert, California, on 5 March 2025, at the age of 86.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Honours

For his contribution to the tennis sport Stolle was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.^[16] In 1988 he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.^[17] He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2005.^[4][18] In 2020, Stolle was awarded the ITF Philippe Chatrier Award, for his contribution to tennis both during his career and post-retirement.^[19]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1963	Wimbledon	Grass	Chuck McKinley	7–9, 1–6, 4–6
Loss	1964	Australian Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	3–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	1964	Wimbledon	Grass	Roy Emerson	1–6, 10–12, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	1964	U.S. Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	4–6, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	1965	Australian Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	9–7, 6–2, 4–6, 5–7, 1–6
Win	1965	French Championships	Clay	Tony Roche	3–6, 6–0, 6–2, 6–3
Loss	1965	Wimbledon	Grass	Roy Emerson	2–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win	1966	U.S. Championships	Grass	John Newcombe	4–6, 12–10, 6–3, 6–4

Doubles (10 titles, 6 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1961	Wimbledon	Grass	Bob Hewitt	Roy Emerson Neale Fraser	4–6, 8–6, 4–6, 8–6, 6–8
Loss	1962	Australian Championships	Grass	Bob Hewitt	Roy Emerson Neale Fraser	6–4, 6–4, 1–6, 4–6, 9–11
Win	1962	Wimbledon	Grass	Bob Hewitt	Boro Jovanović Nikola Pilić	6–2, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Win	1963	Australian Championships	Grass	Bob Hewitt	Ken Fletcher John Newcombe	6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Win	1964	Australian Championships	Grass	Bob Hewitt	Roy Emerson Ken Fletcher	6–4, 7–5, 3–6, 4–6, 14–12
Win	1964	Wimbledon	Grass	Bob Hewitt	Roy Emerson Ken Fletcher	7–5, 11–9, 6–4
Loss	1965	Australian Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	John Newcombe Tony Roche	6–3, 6–4, 11–13, 3–6, 4–6
Win	1965	French Championships	Clay	Roy Emerson	Ken Fletcher Bob Hewitt	6–8, 6–3, 8–6, 6–2
Win	1965	U.S. Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	Frank Froehling Charles Pasarell	6–4, 10–12, 7–5, 6–3
Win	1966	Australian Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	John Newcombe Tony Roche	7–9, 6–3, 6–8, 14–12, 12–10
Win	1966	US Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	Clark Graebner Dennis Ralston	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Win	1968	French Open	Clay	Ken Rosewall	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
Loss	1968	Wimbledon	Grass	Ken Rosewall	John Newcombe Tony Roche	6–3, 6–8, 7–5, 12–14, 3–6
Loss	1969	Australian Open	Grass	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver Roy Emerson	4–6, 4–6
Win	1969	US Open	Grass	Ken Rosewall	Charles Pasarell Dennis Ralston	2–6, 7–5, 13–11, 6–3
Loss	1970	Wimbledon	Grass	Ken Rosewall	John Newcombe Tony Roche	8–10, 3–6, 1–6

Open-era doubles titles (10)

No	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
1.	1968	French Open, Paris	Clay	Ken Rosewall	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
2.	1968	Los Angeles, US	Hard	Ken Rosewall	Cliff Drysdale Roger Taylor	7–5, 6–1
3.	1969	US Open, New York	Grass	Ken Rosewall	Charlie Pasarell Dennis Ralston	2–6, 7–5, 13–11, 6–3
4.	1971	Bologna WCT, Italy	Carpet	Ken Rosewall	Robert Maud Frew McMillan	6–7, 6–2, 6–3, 6–3
5.	1972	Bretton Woods, US	Hard	John Alexander	Nikola Pilić Cliff Richey	7–6, 7–6
6.	1972	Vancouver WCT, Canada	Outdoor	John Newcombe	Cliff Drysdale Allan Stone	7–6, 6–0
7.	1972	Johannesburg-2, South Africa	Hard	John Newcombe	Terry Addison Bob Carmichael	6–3, 6–4
8.	1973	Chicago WCT, US	Carpet	Ken Rosewall	Ismail El Shafei Brian Fairlie	6–7, 6–4, 6–2
9.	1973	Cleveland WCT, US	Carpet	Ken Rosewall	Ismail El Shafei Brian Fairlie	6–2, 6–3
10.	1973	Bretton Woods, US	Clay	Rod Laver	Bob Carmichael Frew McMillan	7–6, 4–6, 7–5

Performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments																							2 / 41	102–39	72.3
Australian Open	1R	A	1R	SF	QF	SF	F	F	SF	A	A	QF	A	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 10	23–10	69.7
French Open	A	A	2R	3R	4R	2R	4R	W	QF	A	2R	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		A	1 / 9	23–8	74.2
Wimbledon	A	A	1R	2R	3R	F	F	F	2R	A	4R	4R	1R	4R	A	A	A	A	A	A		1R	0 / 12	31–12	72.1
US Open	A	A	A	A	2R	A	F	2R	W	A	2R	QF	3R	A	QF	A	A	1R	A	2R		A	1 / 10	25–9	73.5
Pro Slam tournaments																							0 / 3	4–3	57.1
U.S. Pro	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	Not a Major												0 / 1	2–1	66.7
French Pro	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	Not a Major												0 / 1	2–1	66.7
Wembley Pro	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	Not a Major												0 / 1	0–1	0.0
Win–loss	0–1		0–3	6–3	8–4	9–3	19–4	18–3	15–3	4–3	4–3	13–4	1–2	4–2	4–1			0–1		1–1		0–1	2 / 41	106–42	71.6

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.