Wally Masur
Wally Masur (/məˈsʊər/; born 13 May 1963) is a tennis coach, television commentator, and former professional tennis player from Sydney, Australia. He reached the semifinals of the 1987 Australian Open and the 1993 US Open, achieving a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 in October 1993.
Country (sports) | |
---|---|
Residence | Sydney, Australia |
Born | Southampton, England | 13 May 1963
Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
Turned pro | 1982 |
Retired | 1995 |
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $3,134,718 |
Singles | |
Career record | 328–287 (at ATP Tour-, Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup) |
Career titles | 3 |
Highest ranking | No. 15 (11 October 1993) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | SF (1987) |
French Open | 3R (1991) |
Wimbledon | 4R (1988, 1992, 1993) |
US Open | SF (1993) |
Other tournaments | |
Olympic Games | 2R (1988) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 285–211 (at ATP Tour-, Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup) |
Career titles | 16 |
Highest ranking | No. 8 (12 April 1993) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | SF (1993) |
French Open | SF (1988, 1992) |
Wimbledon | QF (1988, 1992) |
US Open | 2R (1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993) |
Tennis career
Juniors
Masur began playing tennis at the age of eight. In 1980, he reached the final of the Australian Open boys' singles tournament and won the boys' doubles title.
Pro tour
Masur turned professional in 1982. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[1]
In 1983, Masur won his first top-level singles title at Hong Kong, and his first tour doubles title at Taipei. He also reached quarterfinals of that year's Australian Open, before being knocked out by John McEnroe.
In 1987, Masur won his second career singles title at Adelaide and reached the Australian Open semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Stefan Edberg.
Masur won his third singles title in 1988 at Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1990, Masur helped Australia reach the final of the Davis Cup, compiling a 6–0 record in singles rubbers in the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals. However he was left out of the team that played the United States in the final by captain Neale Fraser. The decision to leave Masur out of the final was fairly controversial at the time given the very significant role that he had played in getting Australia there, but was principally because the final was to be played on clay courts, which was not Masur's best surface. The US team beat Australia 3–2 in the final.
1993 was the best year of Masur's career. He reached the semifinals of that year's US Open, where he lost to Cédric Pioline. He also reached his career-high rankings in both singles (world No. 15) and doubles (No. 8) that year. He captured doubles titles in Milan and Stuttgart that year, which proved to be the final top-level titles of his career.
Masur retired from the professional tour in 1995, having won three singles titles and 16 doubles titles.
Post playing
In January 2015, Masur was appointed captain of Australia's Davis Cup team, succeeding Pat Rafter. He will in turn be succeeded by Lleyton Hewitt in 2016.[2]
ATP career finals
Singles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)
Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1–0 | Oct 1983 | Hong Kong, UK | Hard | 6–1, 6–1 | |
Loss | 1–1 | Nov 1984 | Taipei, Taiwan | Carpet (i) | 3–6, 3–6 | |
Loss | 1–2 | Jan 1985 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | 7–5, 6–0, 2–6, 6–4 | |
Win | 2–2 | Jan 1987 | Adelaide, Australia | Hard | 6–4, 7–6 | |
Loss | 2–3 | Mar 1987 | Nancy, France | Carpet (i) | 2–6, 3–6 | |
Loss | 2–4 | Jan 1988 | Adelaide, Australia | Hard | 2–6, 4–6 | |
Win | 3–4 | Jul 1988 | Newport, USA | Grass | 6–2, 6–1 | |
Loss | 3–5 | Mar 1990 | Memphis, USA | Hard (i) | 7–6, 4–6, 6–7 | |
Loss | 3–6 | Apr 1991 | Hong Kong, UK | Hard | 2–6, 6–3, 3–6 | |
Loss | 3–7 | Jun 1993 | Rosmalen, Netherlands | Grass | 6–3, 3–6, 3–6 | |
Loss | 3–8 | Jun 1993 | Manchester, UK | Grass | 1–6, 3–6 |
Doubles: 24 (16 titles, 8 runner-ups)
Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1. | Nov 1983 | Taipei, Taiwan | Carpet (i) | 7–6, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 1. | Apr 1984 | Aix-en-Provence, France | Clay | 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 2. | Oct 1984 | Brisbane, Australia | Carpet (i) | 6–7, 6–2, 7–5 | ||
Win | 2. | Oct 1984 | Melbourne Indoor, Australia | Carpet (i) | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
Win | 3. | Dec 1984 | Adelaide, Australia | Hard | 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 | ||
Win | 4. | Dec 1984 | Melbourne Outdoor, Australia | Grass | 6–7, 6–3, 7–6 | ||
Loss | 3. | Jan 1985 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | 7–6, 6–2 | ||
Loss | 4. | Mar 1985 | Milan Indoor, Italy | Carpet (i) | 6–2, 6–1 | ||
Loss | 5. | Oct 1985 | Sydney, Australia | Grass | 6–4, 7–6 | ||
Win | 5. | Jan 1986 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 6. | May 1986 | Munich, West Germany | Clay | 6–3, 4–6, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 7. | Jun 1986 | Bristol, Australia | Grass | 6–7, 7–6, 12–10 | ||
Win | 6. | Jul 1986 | Livingston, USA | Hard | 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 8. | Oct 1987 | Brisbane, Australia | Hard (i) | 7–6, 6–2 | ||
Win | 7. | Nov 1988 | Brussels Indoor, Belgium | Carpet (i) | 7–5, 7–6 | ||
Win | 8. | Jan 1989 | Sydney, Australia | Hard | 6–4, 6–3 | ||
Win | 9. | Aug 1989 | Stratton Mountain, USA | Hard | 6–3, 4–6, 7–6 | ||
Win | 10. | Apr 1990 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | 6–4, 6–3 | ||
Win | 11. | Apr 1990 | Hong Kong, UK | Hard | 6–3, 6–3 | ||
Win | 12. | Feb 1991 | San Francisco, USA | Hard (i) | 4–6, 7–6, 6–4 | ||
Win | 13. | Jul 1991 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Win | 14. | Aug 1991 | New Haven, USA | Hard | 7–5, 6–3 | ||
Win | 15. | Feb 1993 | Milan Indoor, Italy | Carpet (i) | 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Win | 16. | Feb 1993 | Stuttgart Indoor, Germany | Hard (i) | 6–3, 7–6 |
References
- AIS at the Olympics Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Schlink, Leo. "Pat Rafter steps down as Davis Cup captain with Wally Masur to fill role in interim role". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2015.