Henry “Harry” Christian Hopman was a world-acclaimed tennis player and coach. He played cricket and tennis at Parramatta High School and went on to become the highly successful captain/coach of 22 Australian Davis Cup teams between 1939 and 1967.
Background
His first wife was Nell Hall, with whom he won four mixed doubles finals then in 1969 he emigrated to the United States and became a very successful professional coach at he Port Wachington Tennis Academy for future champions including John McEnroe.
He died of a heart attack.
Education
He played tennis and cricket there.
Career
He won the Davis Cup an unmatched 16 times with players such as Frank Sedgman, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe and Tony Roche, to name a few. When it looked like Frank Sedgman was going to turn professional in late 1951, Harry used his column in the Herald-Sun to run a fundraising campaign to try to keep Sedgman in the amateur ranks. Enough money was raised to buy a patrol station in the name of Sedgman’s fiance which allowed him to remain an amateur for another year. After World War II, Harry’s focus became journalism, mainly sporting commentary.
In 1978, Hopman was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.