Born on November 23rd 1934, Lew Hoad was in many ways the opposite to Pancho Gonzales, his great rival of the 1950s. Suave, handsome and personable, the Australian was dynamic on court and extremely popular.

He contested only five Grand Slam singles finals and won four, three of them in 1956. Sweden's Sven Davidson was his victim in the final of the French Championships and he also added the Australian and Wimbledon, titles to his tally that year, beating compatriot Ken Rosewall in the
final on each occasion.

Rosewall gained revenge, however, later in 1956 when Hoad reached the US Championships showdown for the only time. Lew Hoad's fourth and final Grand Slam came when he retained the Wimbledon crown in 1957 at the expense of another Aussie, Ashley Cooper.

After that Wimbledon triumph he turned professional and played a large number of head-to-heads against Gonzales. Hoad had the better of them in the early days but subsequently found himself trailing in their match-up record.

A fierce hitter with superb volleying and overhead skills, Lew Hoad was positive and attacking in his play, constantly going for winners from even the most audacious positions on court and rarely compromised to play a percentage shot.

Back problems plagued Hoad throughout his career and forced his retirement from the circuit in the mid-1960s. There were also questions raised about his dedication to and motivation for the game and it is thought this contributed to his comparative lack of success relative to his natural ability.

Lew Hoad was battling leukemia and awaiting a bone-marrow donor when he died of a heart attack in 1994.