Dick Crealy

Richard Crealy (born 18 September 1944) is an Australian former tennis player most notable for reaching the final of the Australian Open in 1970, being a member of the 1970 Australian Davis Cup Team, and winning four Grand Slam titles in doubles.

Tennis career

Crealy was born in Sydney in 1944. In 1968 he achieved his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with his fellow countryman and team mate Allan Stone in doubles. He also won the mixed doubles with Billie Jean King.

Crealy won the Men's Doubles at the 1974 French Open with Onny Parun over Stan Smith and Bob Lutz. In 1970, Crealy had his most successful season, reaching No. 5 on the Grand Prix rankings. In this year, he reached the singles final at the Australian Open, where he lost to American player Arthur Ashe, as well as the quarter-finals of the French Open. He also won the Swedish Open in Båstad and represented Australia in the Davis Cup with a 4–2 singles record and 2–0 doubles record. In 1974, he won another Grand Slam Title in doubles, combining with New Zealander Onny Parun in the French Open.

Crealy retired from the ATP Tour in 1978, but continued having success for many years on the Veteran's Tour, playing in many of the "Legends" tournaments at the Australian Open. He also still plays Pro-Ams, often supporting The Starlight Foundation in its annual tournament in Sydney.

Dick Crealy is a Life Member of the Australian Davis Cup Foundation.

1969 US Open

There is some confusion over the 1969 US Open Championship title, which is held by Crealy and Allan Stone conjointly with Ken Rosewall and Fred Stolle.

The era of Open Tennis commenced in 1968, and at that time Boston was the home of the US National Doubles championship. However, the agents of some contract professionals demanded guaranteed prize money which could not be covered by the tournament. Accordingly, contract professionals boycotted the tournament, with many playing instead at Forest Hills, which was won by Rosewall and Stolle. Crealy and Stone won the Doubles in Boston in 1969 as professionals, defeating Charlie Pasarell and Bill Bowrey.

In 1971, the USTA and Association of Tennis Professionals decided to combine the winners of both tournaments to make the Grand Slam tournament. This was not an issue for the winners of 1968 as both tournaments were won by Smith and Lutz. Crealy and Stone were asked if they would agree to share the 1969 title with Rosewall and Stolle - they readily agreed, especially as the latter were two of the great Australian players and because "tennis was played with much goodwill in those days."

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1970	Australian Open	Grass	Template:Flagicon Arthur Ashe	4–6, 7–9, 2–6

Doubles (2 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1968	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	Template:Flagicon Terry Addison Template:Flagicon Ray Keldie	10–8, 6–4, 6–3
Win	1974	French Open	Grass	Template:Flagicon Onny Parun	Template:Flagicon Robert Lutz Template:Flagicon Stan Smith	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1

Mixed Doubles (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1968	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Billie Jean King	Template:Flagicon Margaret Court Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	walkover

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

Tournament	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	SR
Australian Open	2R	2R	A	1R	2R	QF	2R	F	2R	QF	1R	3R	SF	QF	3R	2R	2R	A	Q3	0 / 16
French Open	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	2R	4R	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R		1R	1R	A	0 / 13
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	3R	2R	3R	2R	1R	2R	A	3R	2R	1R	1R		1R	A	A	0 / 12
US Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	2R	1R	A	1R	A		2R	A	A	0 / 6
Strike rate	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4		0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 47

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Open era finals

Singles (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Grand Slam (0–1)

Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)

ATP Tour (2–1)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1970	Australian Open	Grass	Template:Flagicon Arthur Ashe	4–6, 7–9, 2–6
Win	1–1	Jul 1970	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Template:Flagicon Georges Goven	6–3, 6–1, 6–1
Loss	1–2	Jul 1972	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Colin Dibley	1–6, 3–6, 4–6
Win	2–2	Mar 1975	Nice, France	Clay	Template:Flagicon Iván Molina	7–6, 6–4, 6–3

Doubles (8 titles, 12 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 1968	Australian Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	Template:Flagicon Terry Addison Template:Flagicon Ray Keldie	10–8, 6–4, 6–3
Win	2–0	1969	US Amateur Championships	Grass	Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	Template:Flagicon Bill Bowrey Template:Flagicon Charlie Pasarell	9–11, 6–3, 7–5
Win	3–0	Jan 1969	Victorian Open, Australia	Grass	Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	Template:Flagicon Ray Ruffels Template:Flagicon Bill Bowrey	9–7, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	3–1	Jul 1969	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	Template:Flagicon Bill Bowrey Template:Flagicon Clark Graebner	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win	4–1	Jul 1970	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Template:Flagicon Allan Stone	Template:Flagicon Željko Franulović Template:Flagicon Jan Kodeš	6–2, 2–6, 12–12, ret.
Win	5–1	Oct 1970	Phoenix, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ray Ruffels	Template:Flagicon Jan Kodeš Template:Flagicon Charlie Pasarell	7–6, 6–3
Loss	5–2	Jul 1973	Washington, D.C., US	Clay	Template:Flagicon Andrew Pattison	Template:Flagicon Ross Case Template:Flagicon Geoff Masters	6–2, 1–6, 4–6
Win	6–2	Feb 1974	Hempstead WCT, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jeff Borowiak	Template:Flagicon Ross Case Template:Flagicon Geoff Masters	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
Win	7–2	Jun 1974	French Open	Grass	Template:Flagicon Onny Parun	Template:Flagicon Robert Lutz Template:Flagicon Stan Smith	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1
Loss	7–3	Sep 1974	Cedar Grove, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Bob Tanis	Template:Flagicon Steve Siegel Template:Flagicon Kim Warwick	6–4, 2–6, 1–6
Loss	7–4	Nov 1974	Bombay, India	Clay	Template:Flagicon Onny Parun	Template:Flagicon Anand Amritraj Template:Flagicon Vijay Amritraj	4–6, 6–7
Win	8–4	Jan 1975	Baltimore, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Ray Ruffels	Template:Flagicon Ismail El Shafei Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan	6–4, 6–3
Loss	8–5	May 1975	Bournemouth, UK	Clay	Template:Flagicon Syd Ball	Template:Flagicon Juan Gisbert Template:Flagicon Manuel Orantes	6–8, 3–6
Loss	8–6	Aug 1975	South Orange, U.S.	Clay	Template:Flagicon John Lloyd	Template:Flagicon Jimmy Connors Template:Flagicon Ilie Năstase	6–7, 5–7
Loss	8–7	Feb 1976	Rome WCT, Italy	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Frew McMillan	Template:Flagicon Bob Lutz Template:Flagicon Stan Smith	7–6, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	8–8	May 1976	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Kim Warwick	Template:Flagicon Fred McNair Template:Flagicon Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 6–7, 6–7
Loss	8–9	Aug 1977	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Template:Flagicon Cliff Letcher	Template:Flagicon Patricio Cornejo Template:Flagicon Jaime Fillol	7–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	8–10	Sep 1976	Hamilton, Bermuda	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ray Ruffels	Template:Flagicon Mike Cahill Template:Flagicon John Whitlinger	4–6, 6–4, 6–7(6–8)
Loss	8–11	Jul 1979	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tonino Zugarelli	Template:Flagicon Željko Franulović Template:Flagicon Heinz Günthardt	2–6, 4–6
Loss	8–12	Jan 1980	Perth, Australia	Grass	Template:Flagicon Dale Collings	Template:Flagicon Syd Ball Template:Flagicon Cliff Letcher	3–6, 4–6

External links

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