Roy Emerson
Roy Stanley Emerson AC (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. All of his singles Grand Slam victories and 14 of his Grand Slam doubles victories were achieved before the open era began in 1968. He is the only male player to have completed a career Grand Slam (winning titles at all four Grand Slam events) in both singles and doubles, and the first of four male players to complete a double career Grand Slam in singles (later followed by Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal). His 28 major titles are the all-time record for a male player. He was ranked world No. 1 amateur in 1961 by Ned Potter, 1964 by Potter, Lance Tingay and an Ulrich Kaiser panel of 14 experts and 1965 by Tingay, Joseph McCauley, Sport za Rubezhom and an Ulrich Kaiser panel of 16 experts.
| Full name | Roy Stanley Emerson |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) | Australia |
| Residence | Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Born | 3 November 1936 Blackbutt, Queensland, Australia |
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| Turned pro | 1968 (amateur tour from 1953) |
| Retired | 1983 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1982 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 1397-416 (77.0%) |
| Career titles | 110 (6 open era titles listed by ATP) |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1961, Ned Potter) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967) |
| French Open | W (1963, 1967) |
| Wimbledon | W (1964, 1965) |
| US Open | W (1961, 1964) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 204–64 |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1962, 1966, 1969) |
| French Open | W (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) |
| Wimbledon | W (1959, 1961, 1971) |
| US Open | W (1959, 1960, 1965, 1966) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | W (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967) |
Emerson was the first male player to win 12 singles majors. He held that record for 30 years until it was passed by Pete Sampras in 2000. He also held the record of six Australian Open men's singles titles until 2019 when Novak Djokovic won his seventh title. Emerson won five of those titles consecutively (1963–67), a still-standing record. Emerson is one of only five tennis players ever to win multiple slam sets in two disciplines. Emerson was a member of a record eight Davis Cup–winning teams between 1959 and 1967. Unlike several of his contemporaries, he chose to remain an amateur player and did not turn pro during the pre-Open Era.