Mervyn Rose


Mervyn Gordon Rose AM was an Australian male tennis player who won 7 Grand Slam titles.
Rose was born in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, and turned professional in 1959. He was ranked inside the world's Top 10 throughout much of his tennis career and represented Australia in the Davis Cup from 1951 to 1957. He was ranked World No. 3 in 1958 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.
Rose won the singles title at the 1954 Australian Championships in Sydney, defeating compatriot Rex Hartwig in the final in four sets. Four years later, in 1958, he became the French singles champion after a straight-sets victory in the final against Luis Ayala.
He coached numerous female and male players, including Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Ernie Ewart, Michael Fancutt, Brett Prentice, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Eleni Daniilidou, Nadia Petrova, Magdalena Grzybowska and Caroline Schnieder.
Rose was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006 for service to tennis, particularly as a competitor at national and international levels and as a coach and mentor to both amateur and professional players. Rose died on 23 July 2017 at the age of 87.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Runner-up1953Australian ChampionshipsGrass Ken Rosewall0–6, 3–6, 4–6
Winner1954Australian ChampionshipsGrass Rex Hartwig6–2, 0–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner1958French ChampionshipsClay Luis Ayala6–3, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles (4 titles, 7 runners-up)

Mixed doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

Other tournament records