Australian Davis Cup champion Neale Fraser, who won the Davis Cup four times and is the last man to win a triple crown -- singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at a Grand Slam -- has passed away aged 91.
Fraser is survived by his wife Thea.
The Aussie legend won 19 titles across both the singles and doubles in Grand Slams across his decorated career, but it was the Davis Cup that made him a legend of the game.
He led his country to four consecutive Davis Cup titles (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962) and was its non-playing captain for 24 years.
“I could never think of anything better than representing your country,” Fraser often said.
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame, 10 years later. In 2008, Fraser was awarded the ITF’s Philippe Chatrier Award for outstanding achievement in tennis.
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“He learned to play on the clay courts next door to his childhood home in Melbourne and developed a game built around a thunderous left-handed serve,” Tennis Australia said in a statement.
“As a cricket fan he watched how leg-spin bowlers turned the ball in different directions by cocking their wrists and he adapted this ‘googly’ approach to his serve.”
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