Paul McNamee
Australian tennis player
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The basics
Quick Facts
| Intro | Australian tennis player | |
| Places | Australia | |
| is | Athlete Tennis player | |
| Work field | Sports | |
| Gender |
| |
| Birth | 12 November 1954, Melbourne | |
| Age | 70 years |
The details
Biography
Paul McNamee (born 12 November 1954, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian retired tennis player and prominent sports administrator.
Tennis career
Juniors
In his hometown, McNamee won the Boys' Singles tournament at the 1973 Australian Open.
Pro tour
McNamee won two singles and twenty-three doubles titles during his professional career. A right-hander, he reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 12 May 1986 when he became the World No. 24. McNamee reached his highest doubles ATP-ranking on 8 June 1981 when he became the World No. 1. McNamee won 24 men's doubles titles including four Grand Slam doubles titles in his career. He won the 1979 Australian Open and the 1980 and 1982 Wimbledon Championships with Peter McNamara and the 1983 Australian Open with Mark Edmondson.
When John McEnroe won Wimbledon in 1984, McNamee was the only player to take a set off McEnroe throughout the entire championship when he won the third set of their first round match.
McNamee was also a member of the Australian Davis Cup Team which won the Davis Cup in 1983 and 1986.
In 1987, McNamee became Melbourne's last officially crowned King of Moomba, subsequently a Moomba Monarch was selected (male Monarchs were popularly, but unofficially, still called King of Moomba).
Sports administrator
McNamee played a key role in the founding of the Hopman Cup international tennis tournament in 1988. He served as Tournament Director of the Hopman Cup and CEO of the Australian Open until 2006.
From 2006 to 2008 he was the Tournament Director for Golf Australia of the Australian Golf Open. He also served as the CEO of the Melbourne Football Club from March to July 2008.
In late 2008, it was revealed that McNamee has joined the push for Australia to field a cycling team at the Tour de France – with support from Cadel Evans as a consultant for Australian Road Cycling, a Melbourne-based consortium.
Career finals
Singles (2 titles, 5 runners-up)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 1980 | Palm Harbor, U.S. | Hard | Stan Smith | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 1980 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Guillermo Vilas | 4–6, 0–6, 0–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 1982 | Baltimore WCT, U.S. | Carpet | Guillermo Vilas | 4–6, 7–5, 7–5, 2–6, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1983 | Houston WCT, U.S. | Clay | Ivan Lendl | 2–6, 0–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 1983 | Brisbane, Australia | Carpet | Pat Cash | 6–4, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 1986 | Nice, France | Clay | Emilio Sánchez | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 1986 | St. Vincent, Italy | Clay | Simone Colombo | 6–2, 3–6, 6–7 |
Doubles (23 titles, 15 runners-up)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 1977 | Santiago, Chile | Clay | Henry Bunis | Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol | 7–5, 1–6, 1–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 1979 | Nice, France | Clay | Peter McNamara | Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd | 6–1, 3–6, 6–2 |
| Winner | 2. | 1979 | Cairo, Egypt | Clay | Peter McNamara | Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Winner | 3. | 1979 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Peter McNamara | Ismail El Shafei John Feaver | 7–5, 7–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 1979 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Grass | Peter McNamara | Steve Docherty John Chris Lewis | 7–6, 6–3 |
| Winner | 5. | 1979 | Australian Open, Melbourne | Grass | Peter McNamara | Cliff Letcher Paul Kronk | 7–6, 6–2 |
| Winner | 6. | 1980 | Palm Harbor, U.S. | Hard | Paul Kronk | Steve Docherty John James | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Winner | 7. | 1980 | Houston, U.S. | Clay | Peter McNamara | Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 1980 | Forest Hills WCT, U.S. | Clay | Peter McNamara | Peter Fleming John McEnroe | 2–6, 7–5, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 1980 | London/Queen's Club, England | Grass | Sherwood Stewart | Rod Frawley Geoff Masters | 2–6, 6–4, 9–11 |
| Winner | 8. | 1980 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Peter McNamara | Robert Lutz Stan Smith | 7–6, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4 |
| Winner | 9. | 1980 | Stockholm, Sweden | Carpet | Heinz Günthardt | Robert Lutz Stan Smith | 6–7, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 1980 | Bologna, Italy | Carpet | Steve Denton | Balázs Taróczy Butch Walts | 6–2, 3–6, 0–6 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 1980 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Hard | Heinz Günthardt | Robert Lutz Stan Smith | 7–6, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 10. | 1980 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Grass | Peter McNamara | Vitas Gerulaitis Brian Gottfried | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 1980 | Australian Open, Melbourne | Grass | Peter McNamara | Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Winner | 11. | 1981 | Masters Doubles WCT, London | Carpet | Peter McNamara | Victor Amaya Hank Pfister | 6–3, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 1981 | Hamburg, Germany | Clay | Peter McNamara | Hans Gildemeister Andrés Gómez | 4–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Winner | 12. | 1981 | Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany | Clay | Peter McNamara | Mark Edmondson Mike Estep | 2–6, 6–4, 7–6 |
| Winner | 13. | 1981 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Grass | Peter McNamara | Hank Pfister John Sadri | 6–7, 7–6, 7–6 |
| Runner-up | 8. | 1982 | Nice, France | Clay | Balázs Taróczy | Henri Leconte Yannick Noah | 7–5, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 14. | 1982 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Peter McNamara | Mark Edmondson Sherwood Stewart | 6–7, 7–6, 6–3 |
| Winner | 15. | 1982 | Bournemouth, England | Clay | Buster Mottram | Henri Leconte Ilie Năstase | 3–6, 7–6, 6–3 |
| Winner | 16. | 1982 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Peter McNamara | Peter Fleming John McEnroe | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Winner | 17. | 1983 | Memphis, U.S. | Carpet | Peter McNamara | Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson | 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 |
| Winner | 18. | 1983 | London/Queen's Club, England | Grass | Brian Gottfried | Kevin Curren Steve Denton | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 9. | 1983 | Washington, D.C., U.S. | Clay | Ferdi Taygan | Mark Dickson Cássio Motta | 2–6, 6–1, 4–6 |
| Winner | 19. | 1983 | Brisbane, Australia | Carpet | Pat Cash | Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Winner | 20. | 1983 | Australian Open, Melbourne | Grass | Mark Edmondson | Steve Denton Sherwood Stewart | 6–3, 7–6 |
| Winner | 21. | 1984 | Houston, U.S. | Clay | Pat Cash | David Dowlen Nduka Odizor | 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 |
| Winner | 22. | 1984 | Aix-en-Provence, France | Clay | Pat Cash | Chris Lewis Wally Masur | 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Winner | 23. | 1984 | London/Queen's Club, England | Grass | Pat Cash | Bernard Mitton Butch Walts | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 1984 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | Pat Cash | Peter Fleming John McEnroe | 2–6, 7–5, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 11. | 1984 | Hong Kong | Hard | Mark Edmondson | Ken Flach Robert Seguso | 7–6, 3–6, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 12. | 1985 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Carpet | Vitas Gerulaitis | Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 13. | 1985 | Boston, U.S. | Clay | Peter McNamara | Libor Pimek Slobodan Živojinović | 6–2, 4–6, 6–7 |
| Runner-up | 14. | 1986 | Fort Myers, U.S. | Hard | Peter Doohan | Andrés Gómez Ivan Lendl | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 15. | 1986 | Sydney Indoor, Australia | Hard (i) | Peter McNamara | Boris Becker John Fitzgerald | 4–6, 6–7 |