Ray Ruffels

Raymond Owen "Ray" Ruffels (born 23 March 1946)^[1] is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach.

Ray Ruffels

AIS Head Tennis Coach Ray Ruffels in 1981
Full name	Raymond Owen Ruffels
Country (sports)	Australia
Born	(1946-03-23) 23 March 1946 (age 79) Sydney, Australia
Turned pro	1968 (amateur from 1964)
Retired	1980
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	452-316
Career titles	13
Highest ranking	No. 27 (12 December 1976)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (1968, 1969, 1976)
French Open	4R (1968)
Wimbledon	QF (1967)
US Open	4R (1966)
Doubles
Career record	219–137
Career titles	16
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1977)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon	F (1978)
US Open	F (1978)

Playing career

Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1968, 1969 and 1976, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978, partnering with Billie Jean King in mixed doubles competition, Ruffels reached the final at Wimbledon and the US Open. Ruffels beat newly crowned US Open champion Stan Smith at the Wembley tournament in 1971.^[2] He had two wins over Ken Rosewall and one over John Newcombe in ATP events.^[3] He won five open era ATP singles titles at Hobart in 1968, Brisbane in 1969, Haverford in 1970, Auckland in 1972 and Perth indoors in 1976.^[4]

He was a member of the Australian Davis Cup team in 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1977.^[1]

Career finals

Doubles (16 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	1970	Merion, US	Hard	Bill Bowrey	Jim McManus Jim Osborne	3–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win	2–0	1970	Phoenix, US	Hard	Dick Crealy	Jan Kodeš Charlie Pasarell	7–6, 6–3
Win	3–0	1970	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Bob Carmichael	Željko Franulović Jan Kodeš	7–5, 6–2, 5–7, 6–7, 6–3
Win	4–0	1971	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Bob Carmichael	Brian Fairlie Raymond Moore	6–3, 6–7, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss	4–1	1971	Tehran WCT, Iran	Clay	Bob Carmichael	John Newcombe Tony Roche	4–6, 7–6, 1–6
Loss	4–2	1971	Washington WCT, US	Clay	Bob Carmichael	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	6–7, 2–6
Win	5–2	1972	Toronto WCT, Canada	Carpet	Bob Carmichael	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Win	6–2	1972	Quebec WCT, Canada	Indoor	Bob Carmichael	John Alexander Terry Addison	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
Loss	6–3	1974	Christchurch, New Zealand		Syd Ball	Ismail El Shafei Roscoe Tanner	W/O
Win	7–3	1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Bob Carmichael	Brian Fairlie Onny Parun	7–6, RET.
Win	8–3	1975	Baltimore WCT, US	Carpet	Dick Crealy	Ismail El Shafei Frew McMillan	6–4, 6–3
Win	9–3	1975	Dayton Indoor, US	Carpet	Allan Stone	Paul Gerken Brian Gottfried	7–6, 7–5
Loss	9–4	1975	Orlando WCT, US	Hard	Colin Dibley	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	4–6, 4–6
Win	10–4	1975	St. Louis, US	Clay	Colin Dibley	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–4, 6–4
Win	11–4	1976	Dayton, US	Carpet	Sherwood Stewart	Jaime Fillol Charlie Pasarell	6–2, 3–6, 7–5
Win	12–4	1976	Little Rock, US	Carpet	Syd Ball	Giuliano Pecci Haroon Rahim	6–3, 6–7, 6–3
Win	13–4	1976	Boston, US	Clay	Allan Stone	Mike Cahill John Whitlinger	3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	13–5	1976	Bermuda	Clay	Dick Crealy	Mike Cahill John Whitlinger	4–6, 6–4, 6–7
Win	14–5	1976	Bangalore, India	Clay	Bob Carmichael	Chiradip Mukerjea Bhanu Nunna	6–2, 7–6
Loss	14–6	1977	La Costa WCT, US	Hard	Allan Stone	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 2–6
Win	15–6	1977	Perth, Australia	Hard	Allan Stone	Nick Saviano John Whitlinger	6–2, 6–1
Loss	15–7	1977	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Allan Stone	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–7, 6–2, 3–6
Win	16–7	1977	Australian Open-2, Melbourne	Grass	Allan Stone	John Alexander Phil Dent	7–6, 7–6

Coaching career

Ruffels was appointed head national tennis coach of Tennis Australia in 1980.^[5] He was appointed the inaugural Head Coach of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) tennis program in 1981. He held this position until his retirement in January 1990.^[5][6] Whilst at the AIS, Ruffels coached many young players that would have successful professional careers including: Pat Cash, Wally Masur, Darren Cahill, Todd Woodbridge, Richard Fromberg, Simon Youl and Johan Anderson.^[7] After leaving the AIS, he coached Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, who as a doubles team won many major titles including the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.^[8]

In 2009, he returned to Australia to work at the AIS after being a national coach for the United States Tennis Association player development program in California.^[9]

In November 2016, he was awarded The President's Spirit of Tennis by Tennis Australia.

Personal

Ruffels married professional tennis player Anna-Maria Fernandez and they have two children, Ryan and Gabriela; both have taken up golf as a career.^[10][11]