Paul McNamee

Paul McNamee (born 12 November 1954) is an Australian retired tennis player and prominent sports administrator.

Paul McNamee
McNamee playing tennis in 2011
Country (sports)Australia
Born (1954-11-12) 12 November 1954
Melbourne, Australia
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro1973
Retired1988
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand) *single-handed until 1979[1]
CollegeMonash University
Prize money$1,233,615
Singles
Career record246–225
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 24 (12 May 1986)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenSF (1982)
French Open4R (1980)
Wimbledon4R (1982)
US Open2R (1979, 1983, 1984, 1986)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals1R (1983)
Doubles
Career record306–163
Career titles23
Highest rankingNo. 1 (8 June 1981)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenW (1979, 1983)
French OpenSF (1986)
WimbledonW (1980, 1982)
US OpenSF (1980)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour FinalsF (1980)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
WimbledonW (1985)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (1983, 1986)

Tennis career

Juniors

In his hometown, McNamee won the boys' singles tournament at the 1973 Australian Open.

Pro tour

McNamee is the only player to switch a grip as a professional, changing from a one-handed backhand to two-handed in 1979.[2] He won two singles and twenty-three doubles titles during his professional career. A right-hander, he reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 12 May 1986 when he became the world No. 24. McNamee reached his highest doubles ATP-ranking on 8 June 1981 when he became the world No. 1. McNamee won 24 men's doubles titles including four Grand Slam doubles titles in his career. He won the 1979 Australian Open and the 1980 and 1982 Wimbledon Championships with Peter McNamara and the 1983 Australian Open with Mark Edmondson. He won the mixed-doubles title in Wimbledon with Martina Navratilova in 1985.

When John McEnroe won Wimbledon in 1984, McNamee was the only player to take a set off McEnroe throughout the entire championship when he won the third set of their first-round match.

McNamee was also a member of the Australian Davis Cup Team which won the Davis Cup in 1983 and 1986.

In 1987, McNamee became Melbourne's last officially crowned King of Moomba, subsequently a Moomba Monarch was selected (male Monarchs were popularly, but unofficially, still called King of Moomba).[3]

Sports administrator

McNamee played a key role in the founding of the Hopman Cup international tennis tournament in 1988. He served as tournament director of the Hopman Cup and CEO of the Australian Open until 2006.

From 2006 to 2008 he was the tournament director for Golf Australia of the Australian Golf Open.[4] He also served as the CEO of the Melbourne Football Club from March to July 2008.[5]

In late 2008, it was revealed that McNamee has joined the push for Australia to field a cycling team at the Tour de France – with support from Cadel Evans as a consultant for Australian Road Cycling, a Melbourne-based consortium.[6]

Career finals

Singles (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 1980 Palm Harbor, U.S. Hard Stan Smith 6–4, 6–3
Loss 1. 1980 Palermo, Italy Clay Guillermo Vilas 4–6, 0–6, 0–6
Win 2. 1982 Baltimore WCT, U.S. Carpet Guillermo Vilas 4–6, 7–5, 7–5, 2–6, 6–3
Loss 2. 1983 Houston, U.S. Clay Ivan Lendl 2–6, 0–6, 3–6
Loss 3. 1983 Brisbane, Australia Carpet Pat Cash 6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Loss 4. 1986 Nice, France Clay Emilio Sánchez 1–6, 3–6
Loss 5. 1986 St. Vincent, Italy Clay Simone Colombo 6–2, 3–6, 6–7

Doubles (23 titles, 15 runner-ups)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 1977 Santiago, Chile Clay Henry Bunis Patricio Cornejo
Jaime Fillol		 7–5, 1–6, 1–6
Win 1. 1979 Nice, France Clay Peter McNamara Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd		 6–1, 3–6, 6–2
Win 2. 1979 Cairo, Egypt Clay Peter McNamara Anand Amritraj
Vijay Amritraj		 7–5, 6–4
Win 3. 1979 Palermo, Italy Clay Peter McNamara Ismail El Shafei
John Feaver		 7–5, 7–6
Win 4. 1979 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Peter McNamara Steve Docherty
Christopher Lewis		 7–6, 6–3
Win 5. 1979 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Peter McNamara Cliff Letcher
Paul Kronk		 7–6, 6–2
Win 6. 1980 Palm Harbor, U.S. Hard Paul Kronk Steve Docherty
John James		 6–4, 7–5
Win 7. 1980 Houston, U.S. Clay Peter McNamara Marty Riessen
Sherwood Stewart		 6–4, 6–4
Loss 2. 1980 Forest Hills WCT, U.S. Clay Peter McNamara Peter Fleming
John McEnroe		 2–6, 7–5, 2–6
Loss 3. 1980 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Sherwood Stewart Rod Frawley
Geoff Masters		 2–6, 6–4, 9–11
Win 8. 1980 Wimbledon, London Grass Peter McNamara Robert Lutz
Stan Smith		 7–6, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4
Win 9. 1980 Stockholm, Sweden Carpet Heinz Günthardt Robert Lutz
Stan Smith		 6–7, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 4. 1980 Bologna, Italy Carpet Steve Denton Balázs Taróczy
Butch Walts		 6–2, 3–6, 0–6
Loss 5. 1980 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Heinz Günthardt Robert Lutz
Stan Smith		 7–6, 3–6, 4–6
Win 10. 1980 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Peter McNamara Vitas Gerulaitis
Brian Gottfried		 6–2, 6–4
Loss 6. 1980 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Peter McNamara Mark Edmondson
Kim Warwick		 5–7, 4–6
Win 11. 1981 Masters Doubles WCT, London Carpet Peter McNamara Victor Amaya
Hank Pfister		 6–3, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 7. 1981 Hamburg, Germany Clay Peter McNamara Hans Gildemeister
Andrés Gómez		 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win 12. 1981 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Peter McNamara Mark Edmondson
Mike Estep		 2–6, 6–4, 7–6
Win 13. 1981 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Peter McNamara Hank Pfister
John Sadri		 6–7, 7–6, 7–6
Loss 8. 1982 Nice, France Clay Balázs Taróczy Henri Leconte
Yannick Noah		 7–5, 4–6, 3–6
Win 14. 1982 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Peter McNamara Mark Edmondson
Sherwood Stewart		 6–7, 7–6, 6–3
Win 15. 1982 Bournemouth, England Clay Buster Mottram Henri Leconte
Ilie Năstase		 3–6, 7–6, 6–3
Win 16. 1982 Wimbledon, London Grass Peter McNamara Peter Fleming
John McEnroe		 6–3, 6–2
Win 17. 1983 Memphis, U.S. Carpet Peter McNamara Tim Gullikson
Tom Gullikson		 6–3, 5–7, 6–4
Win 18. 1983 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Brian Gottfried Kevin Curren
Steve Denton		 6–4, 6–3
Loss 9. 1983 Washington D.C., U.S. Clay Ferdi Taygan Mark Dickson
Cássio Motta		 2–6, 6–1, 4–6
Win 19. 1983 Brisbane, Australia Carpet Pat Cash Mark Edmondson
Kim Warwick		 7–6, 7–6
Win 20. 1983 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Mark Edmondson Steve Denton
Sherwood Stewart		 6–3, 7–6
Win 21. 1984 Houston, U.S. Clay Pat Cash David Dowlen
Nduka Odizor		 7–5, 4–6, 6–3
Win 22. 1984 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay Pat Cash Chris Lewis
Wally Masur		 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 23. 1984 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Pat Cash Bernard Mitton
Butch Walts		 6–4, 6–3
Loss 10. 1984 Wimbledon, London Grass Pat Cash Peter Fleming
John McEnroe		 2–6, 7–5, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 11. 1984 Hong Kong Hard Mark Edmondson Ken Flach
Robert Seguso		 7–6, 3–6, 5–7
Loss 12. 1985 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet Vitas Gerulaitis Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd		 4–6, 4–6
Loss 13. 1985 Boston, U.S. Clay Peter McNamara Libor Pimek
Slobodan Živojinović		 6–2, 4–6, 6–7
Loss 14. 1986 Fort Myers, U.S. Hard Peter Doohan Andrés Gómez
Ivan Lendl		 5–7, 4–6
Loss 15. 1986 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) Peter McNamara Boris Becker
John Fitzgerald		 4–6, 6–7

References
  1. Chang, Michael and Yorkey, Mike. "Holding Serve: Persevering on and Off the Court", Thomas Nelson Inc, 1 May 2002.
  2. Steinberger, Michael (24 August 2014). "The Death of the One-Handed Backhand". The New York Times Magazine. p. MM40. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  3. Craig Bellamy, Gordon Chisholm, Hilary Eriksen (17 Feb 2006) Moomba: A festival for the people.: "History of Moomba" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2008. PDF pp 17–22
  4. "Sydney to keep Open until 2009", Martin Blake, The Age, 11 February 2007
  5. AAP (2008). McNamee dumped as Demons CEO. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  6. Cadel, McNamee support push for Australian Tour de France team Article.
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