ITF

12 Spring 2020 ITF World Fred Stolle's Davis Cup experiences remain his fondest tennis memories, and the former French and US Championship winner rates one match high above all others. It was the 1964 Challenge Round, in Cleveland, and Harry Hopman's Australians were trailing the Americans 2-1 heading into a cold and wet final day. Stolle, who for some time had struggled to impress the uncompromising Hopman, had lost his opening singles to Chuck McKinley, before he and great mate Roy Emerson dropped the doubles rubber. A self-confessed choker, who found himself down a break in the fifth after leading Dennis Ralston by two-sets-to-love, Stolle recovered to prevail 7-5 6-3 3-6 9-11 6-4. "The highlight by far was winning the Davis Cup in '64 when Mr Hopman played me for the first time and realised that actually I could play and I didn't really get that nervous and I proved that to him by beating Denis Ralston,'' Stolle, now 81, said. "Mr Hopman was saying 'can you handle this?', and I said 'well, I don't know!'. He replied 'well, Dennis is pretty nervous, just go out there and relax', and it turned out right. Davis Cup surpasses anything that you might do individually. I always felt that.'' Emerson would go on to clinch the trophy against McKinley when the rain cleared the following day; by then, Stolle's work was already done. "I think I can have a couple of grogs now,'' he told Sports Illustrated post-match, although that task was also a little more difficult than it might have been due to a ban on Sunday alcohol purchases. "People had to go home to get some cold beer for us to drink that night," said Stolle. Just as well, considering that most Aussies of that era shared a deep love of a post-match ale. Yet also in common was a travelling support network and sense of brotherhood that Stolle believes remains unique. "You were away for seven months and if things went bad you couldn't get on a plane like the Americans and fly home; it was seven stops, the old kangaroo hops, to get back to Australia in those days," he added. "You relied on your mates to take you out on the practice court and go 'bing bing bing, no, you're hitting the ball toss too far in front of you'. You'd fix one another's games up in 15 minutes, because you played and practised together every day. The camaraderie of the Aussies in those years I don't think will ever be surpassed and, even to this day, I think is still pretty damn special.'' Stolle is the latest from that golden era to earn the ITF's highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier Award – along with Spanish contemporary Manolo Santana. The pair contested a Wimbledon semi-final and an epic encounter in the 1965 Davis Cup decider in Sydney – both won, on grass, by Stolle, who likes and respects Santana as one of the first Europeans to excel on a surface other than clay. For the first time, the ITF has named two individual winners of the Philippe Chatrier Award in the same year. The 2020 recipients of the prestigious accolade are Fred Stolle and Manolo Santana. ITFWorld has exclusive interviews with both winners. In the first, Linda Pearce catches up with 'Fiery' Fred Stolle as he reflects upon his life in tennis Right Stolle receives congratula ons from Novak Djokovic as his 1965 triumph at Roland Garros is commemorated in Paris PAST MASTERS PHILIPPE CHATRIER AWARD FRED STOLLE

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