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Part of a cohort of champions coached by Harry
Hopman, Cooper won the Australian championship, Wimbledon and
U.S. Nationals in 1958, one of only 11 men to claim three Grand
Slam crowns in a calendar year.
Underlining the strength of Australian tennis in the era, Cooper
won all four of his Grand Slam crowns by beating compatriots in
the final.
Wielding a potent backhand and renowned for his fitness, the
serve-volleying Cooper beat Neale Fraser for his maiden Grand
Slam title at the 1957 Australian Championships and again for
the Wimbledon trophy the following year.
The pair were room mates at Wimbledon that year and shared
breakfast on the morning of the final.
"We were friends off the court. On the court we tried to beat
each others' brains out," Cooper said in a recent interview.
"That was finished and then we were friends again."
Cooper, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of
Fame in 1991, defeated Mal Anderson to defend his Australian
title and felled the Queenslander in the U.S. final that year.
He also claimed four Grand Slam doubles titles, partnering
Fraser in three of them, and helped Australia win the 1957 Davis
Cup before turning professional in 1959.
He later served as a tennis administrator at state and national
level for decades.
"Ashley was a giant of the game both as a brilliant player and
an astute administrator and he will be greatly missed,” Tennis
Australia CEO Craig Tiley said in a statement.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by ....)
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