The Golden Era by Rod Laver & Larry Writer

Author:Rod Laver & Larry Writer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2019-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

THE REDEMPTION OF FRED STOLLE

Fred Stolle is too nice a guy to hold a grudge. Today he and Roy Emerson have been good friends for more than 60 years. A lesser man than Fiery might struggle to rise above the fact that, were it not for Emmo beating him in a succession of finals, he would have had many more grand slam trophies to add to his two singles, ten doubles and seven mixed doubles titles.

For Fred, it may have been a case of ‘wrong time, wrong place, wrong opponent’, yet although he lost those big ones to Roy, he takes legitimate heart knowing that Emmo needed to be at the top of his game to beat him. And that in simply making the final of a grand slam event, he had to beat the best to qualify, among his victims, John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Manuel Santana, Antonio Palafox, Nicola Pietrangeli, Ken Fletcher, Chuck McKinley, Cliff Drysdale, Rafael Osuna and Bob Hewitt. ‘The record shows I lost more singles finals than I won, but just to be there on the last day of a tournament you can’t afford to lose a single match in two weeks.’

Fred qualified for seven grand slam singles finals, in 1963, ’64, ’65 and ’66, and he lost five. ‘The difference between a top player and a great player is the killer instinct,’ says Fred. ‘A great player hates to lose as much as he or she loves to win. I loved winning and gave every match everything I had, but I didn’t really hate losing. Just playing the game was more important to me.’

Perhaps, but although he lost some big matches, usually to Roy, the gallant way in which he lost those encounters, and the sheer number of matches—and titles—that he did win made Fiery Fred Stolle a bona fide contributor, as a player and a man, to Australian tennis’s golden era. He was ranked among the world’s top ten players from 1964 to 1966, reaching No. 2 in 1966. Between 1961 and 1969, the hefty-serving 191-centimetre right-hander played in 27 grand slam finals in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, and won nineteen of them. He was a member of the victorious Australian Davis Cup team in 1964, ’65 and ’66, winning thirteen matches and losing three.

It was Fred’s destiny to be involved in some unforgettable tennis matches: his come-from-behind victory in the 1964 Davis Cup Challenge Round; downing Tony Roche in the French singles final in 1965; winning the United States singles title in 1966; and the 1965 Challenge Round rubber against Manuel Santana of Spain at White City that turned his father into a believer.

Fred never tires of recounting the high drama of the epic fifth set of that 1964 Davis Cup match against Dennis Ralston, played in front of a hostile crowd on a wet and windy day which featured seesawing tennis and grand courage on the part of both combatants.

Fred recalls: ‘Dennis was on top, chipping my serve and taking the advantage at the net.

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