Tony Roche, a left-hander with a fine backhand volley who was twice ranked No 2 in the world, was born the son of a Tarcutta butcher in 1945. In the 1960s he teamed up with Newcombe to form a doubles team that would win them five Wimbledon titles between 1965 and 1974, as well as four Australian and two French championships plus the American and Italian titles once each. In 1993, Roche was appointed coach and his partner, Newcombe, captain of the Davis Cup team. A bad shoulder injury plagued Roche most of his career though it didn't stop him winning tennis championships.
Harry Hopman (1906-1985), tennis professional, won seven major Australian titles in the 1930s, notably four mixed doubles with his first wife, Nell Hall. He reached the quarter-finals of the US Championships in 1938 before turning to coaching. Between 1939 and 1967 he drove Australia to 16 Davis Cup wins, emphasising super fitness and pride in Australia as a motivation to win. After his last loss as Davis Cup Captain in 1969 he emigrated to the US, where he coached many champions, including Vitas Gerulaitis and John McEnroe, at the Port Washington Tennis Academy. He subsequently opened his own Hopman Tennis Academy in Florida. The Hopman Cup, a mixed teams event, is held every January in Perth. A fact of incidental interest is that Hopman was four times Australian squash champion - but he was defeated in the final of the South Australian Squash Championships of 1934 by Don Bradman.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003
© Michael McQuillan's Classic Photographs
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Robin Sellick's portraits of Australian sportspeople include Harry Kewell, Adam Scott, Shane Warne, Mark Webber and John Newcombe.
Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.
