Harry Hopman

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Harry Hopman
CBE
Harry Hopman c 1930.jpg
Full nameHenry Christian Hopman
Country (sports)Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Born(1906-08-12)12 August 1906
Glebe, New South Wales, Australia
Died27 December 1985(1985-12-27) (aged 79)
Seminole, Florida, USA
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF 1978 (member page)
Singles
Career record463-201 (69.7%) [1]
Career titles34 [1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open F (1930, 1931, 1932)
French Open QF (1930)
Wimbledon 4R (1934, 1935)
US Open QF (1938, 1939)
Doubles
Career record0–0
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open W (1929, 1930)
French Open F (1930, 1948)
US Open F (1939)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open W (1930, 1936, 1937, 1939)
Wimbledon F (1945)
US Open W (1939)

Henry Christian Hopman CBE (12 August 1906 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian tennis player and coach.

Contents

Early life

Harry Hopman was born on 12 August 1906 in Glebe, Sydney as the third child of John Henry Hopman, a schoolteacher, and Jennie Siberteen, née Glad. His family then moved to Parramatta.

Hopman started playing tennis at the age of 13 and, playing barefoot, won an open singles tournament on a court in the playground of Rosehill Public School where his father was headmaster. [2] He was later a student at Parramatta High School where he played tennis and cricket.

Davis Cup

Hopman in Brisbane in 1931 Harry Hopman 1931 (cropped).jpeg
Hopman in Brisbane in 1931

Hopman was the successful captain-coach of 22 Australian Davis Cup teams from 1939 to 1967. With players such as Frank Sedgman, Ken McGregor, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, Neale Fraser, John Newcombe, Fred Stolle, Tony Roche, Roy Emerson, Ashley Cooper, Rex Hartwig, Mervyn Rose and Mal Anderson, he won the cup an unmatched 16 times.

In late 1951, when it appeared that Davis Cup player Frank Sedgman was about to turn professional, Hopman used his column in the Melbourne Herald to lead a fundraising campaign designed to keep Sedgman in the amateur ranks. Enough money was raised to purchase a petrol station in the name of Sedgman's wife-to-be and Sedgman remained an amateur for one more year. As Joe McCauley writes in The History of Professional Tennis, "For some reason, the pious Hopman, a strong opponent of the paid game, did not regard this as an infringement of Sedgman's amateur status." [3]

Journalism

Hopman hitting an overhead in the 1930s Harry Hopman 1930s.jpg
Hopman hitting an overhead in the 1930s

Hopman was also a journalist, joining the Melbourne Herald in 1933 as a sportswriter. He provided sporting commentary. After World War II, this became his focus until he was once again coaxed into tennis coaching. As an example of Hopman's journalism, Kramer writes that Sedgman, by then a successful touring professional, once "volunteered to help train the Aussie Davis Cup team. Hopman accepted the offer, and then he took Sedg aside and told him that what Hoad and Rosewall needed was confidence. So he told Sedg to go easy on them, which he gladly did. After a few days, Hopman wrote an exclusive in his newspaper column revealing how his kids could whip Sedgman and how this proved once again that amateurs were better than the pros." [4]

Legacy

The Hopman Cup was named in his honour. Until her death in mid-2018, his widow Lucy Hopman travelled to Perth, Western Australia each year for the tournament.

Hopman was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1978.

Tennis great Jack Kramer, who was also a successful promoter of the professional tour, writes in his 1979 autobiography that Hopman "always knew exactly what was going on with all his amateurs. He had no children, no hobbies, and tennis was everything to him. Hopman always said he hated the pros, and he battled open tennis to the bitter end, but as early as the time when Sedgman and McGregor signed, Hopman was trying to get himself included in the deal so he could get a job with pro tennis in America." [4]

Kramer, who admits that Hopman "has never been my favorite guy", goes on to say: "The minute one of his stars would turn pro, Hopman would turn on him. No matter how close he'd been to a player, as soon as he was out of Hopman's control, the guy was an outcast. 'It was as if we'd never existed' Rosewall said once." [4]

Personal life

Hopman was first married to Nell Hall, with whom he won four mixed doubles finals. The marriage took place on 19 March 1934 at St Philip's Anglican Church in Sydney. She died of an intracranial tumour on 10 January 1968. [5] Hopman emigrated to the United States in 1969 and became a successful professional coach, at Port Washington Tennis Academy, of future champions such as Vitas Gerulaitis and later John McEnroe. Hopman later opened the Harry Hopman's International Tennis camp in Treasure Island then Largo, Florida, with his second wife, Lucy Pope Fox, whom he married on 2 February 1971. [6]

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1951 New Year Honours for services to sport, and promoted to Commander of the Order (CBE) in the 1956 New Year Honours, again for services to sport (particularly tennis). [7] [8]

Hopman died of a heart attack on 27 December 1985. [9]

Tournament record

Australia Davis Cup

Player

  • 1928, 1930, 1932

Captain

  • 1938–1939, 1950–1969
    • Winner: 1939, 1950–1953, 1955–1957, 1959–1962, 1964–1967
    • Runner-up: 1938, 1954, 1958, 1963, 1968

Italian Championship

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Runner-up1930 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Edgar Moon 3–6, 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up1931 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford 4–6, 2–6, 6–2, 1–6
Runner-up1932 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1929 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Cummings
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Edgar Moon
6–1, 6–8, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Winner1930 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tim Fitchett
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Hawkes
8–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–3
Runner-up1930 French Championships Clay Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jim Willard Flag of France.svg Henri Cochet
Flag of France.svg Jacques Brugnon
3–6, 7–8, 3–6
Runner-up1931 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford Flag of Australia (converted).svg James Anderson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Norman Brookes
2–6, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up1932 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gerald Patterson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Edgar Moon
10–12, 3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up1939 US Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford Flag of Australia (converted).svg Adrian Quist
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Bromwich
6–8, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up1948 French Championships Clay Flag of Australia (converted).svg Frank Sedgman Flag of Sweden.svg Lennart Bergelin
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Jaroslav Drobný
6–8, 1–6, 10–12

Mixed doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1930 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nell Hall Hopman Flag of Australia (converted).svg Marjorie Cox Crawford
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Crawford
11–9, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up1932 Wimbledon Championships Grass Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Josane Sigart Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Elizabeth Ryan
Flag of Spain (1931-1939).svg Enrique Maier
5–7, 2–6
Runner-up1935 Wimbledon Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nell Hall Hopman Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dorothy Round Little
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Fred Perry
5–7, 6–4, 2–6
Winner1936 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nell Hall Hopman Flag of Australia (converted).svg May Blick
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Abe Kay
6–2, 6–0
Winner1937 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nell Hall Hopman Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dorothy Stevenson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Don Turnbull
3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner1939 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nell Hall Hopman Flag of Australia (converted).svg Margaret Wilson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Bromwich
6–8, 6–2, 6–3
Winner1939 US Championships Grass Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Alice Marble Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Sarah Palfrey Cooke
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Elwood Cooke
9–7, 6–1
Runner-up1940 Australian Championships Grass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nell Hall Hopman Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nancye Wynne Bolton
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Long
5–7, 6–2, 4–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(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.
Tournament1926192719281929193019311932193319341935193619371938193919401941194219431944194519461947194819491950195119521953SRW–LWin %
Australia 3R 2R QF SF F F F QF QF 3R SF SF 3R QF QF NHNHNHNHNH QF 1R 2R 3R 3R 2R AA0 / 2139–2066.1
France AA 2R A QF AAA 4R 4R AAAANHNHNHNHNHNHAA 2R A 3R A 1R 2R 0 / 810–662.5
Wimbledon AA 2R A 3R A 3R A 4R 4R AAAANHNHNHNHNHNH 2R A 2R A 3R A 1R A0 / 915–962.5
United States AA 1R AAAAAAAAA QF QF AAAAAA 2R A 2R A 2R AAA0 / 69–660.0
Win–loss1–10–13–43–19–34–16–22–17–36–33–13–14–25–22–10–00–00–00–00–04–30–03–41–16–41–10–10–00 / 4473–4164.0

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References

  1. 1 2 Garcia, Gabriel. "Harry Hopman: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Tennismem SL. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  2. Hopman, Henry Christian (Harry) (1906–1985). Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  3. The History of Professional Tennis (2003) Joe McCauley, p. 58.
  4. 1 2 3 Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (1981). The Game : My 40 Years in Tennis. London: Deutsch. pp. 224, 225. ISBN   0233973079.
  5. Hopman, Eleanor Mary (Nell) (1909–1968). Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  6. Marilyn Brown (3 February 1976). "Tennis, Anyone?". The Evening Independent. p. 16A.
  7. Australia : "No. 39105". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1950. p. 37.
  8. Australia list: "No. 40670". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1955. p. 40.
  9. "Harry Hopman, Davis Cup captain, dies". The Evening Independent. 30 December 1985. p. 1C.

Sources

Further reading