Richard Crealy (born 18 September 1944) is an Australian former tennis player most notable for reaching the final of the Australian Open in 1970, being a member of the 1970 Australian Davis Cup Team, and winning four Grand Slam titles in doubles.
Tennis career Crealy was born in Sydney in 1944. In 1968 he achieved his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with his fellow countryman and teammate Allan Stone in doubles. He also won the mixed doubles with Billie Jean King. At the 1970 Australian Open Crealy beat Stan Smith in straight sets by "matching Smith's serving and volleying power at every turn". He lost the final to Arthur Ashe in straight sets, played in a light drizzle, making the grass surface slippery.
Crealy won the Men's Doubles at the 1974 French Open with Onny Parun over Stan Smith and Bob Lutz. In 1970, Crealy had his most successful season, reaching No. 5 on the Grand Prix rankings. In this year, he reached the singles final at the Australian Open, where he lost to American player Arthur Ashe, as well as the quarter-finals of the French Open. He also won the Swedish Open in Båstad and represented Australia in the Davis Cup with a 4–2 singles record and 2–0 doubles record. In 1974, he won another Grand Slam Title in doubles, combining with New Zealander Onny Parun in the French Open.
Crealy retired from the ATP Tour in 1978, but continued having success for many years on the Veteran's Tour, playing in many of the "Legends" tournaments at the Australian Open. He also still plays Pro-Ams, often supporting The Starlight Foundation in its annual tournament in Sydney.
Dick Crealy is a Life Member of the Australian Davis Cup Foundation.
1969 US Open There is some confusion over the 1969 US Open Championship title, which is held by Crealy and Allan Stone conjointly with Ken Rosewall and Fred Stolle.
The era of Open Tennis commenced in 1968, and at that time Boston was the home of the US National Doubles championship. However, the agents of some contract professionals demanded guaranteed prize money which could not be covered by the tournament. Accordingly, contract professionals boycotted the tournament, with many playing instead at Forest Hills, which was won by Rosewall and Stolle. Crealy and Stone won the Doubles in Boston in 1969 as professionals, defeating Charlie Pasarell and Bill Bowrey.
In 1971, the USTA and Association of Tennis Professionals decided to combine the winners of both tournaments to make the Grand Slam tournament. This was not an issue for the winners of 1968 as both tournaments were won by Smith and Lutz. Crealy and Stone were asked if they would agree to share the 1969 title with Rosewall and Stolle - they agreed, as the latter were two of the great Australian players and because "tennis was played with much goodwill in those days."
Grand Slam finals
Singles (1 runner-up)
ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1970 Australian Open Grass Arthur Ashe 4–6, 7–9, 2–6
Doubles (2 titles)
ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1968 Australian Championships Grass Allan Stone Terry Addison Ray Keldie 10–8, 6–4, 6–3Win 1974 French Open Grass Onny Parun Robert Lutz Stan Smith 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1
Mixed doubles (1 title)
ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1968 Australian Championships Grass Billie Jean King Margaret Court Allan Stone walkover
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
Singles Tournament 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 19791980Australian Open2R2R A1R2RQF2RF2RQF1R3RSFQF3R2R2R AQ3 0 / 16French Open A A A A1R3R2R4R2R1R1R2R1R1R1R1R1RA 0 / 13Wimbledon A A A1R3R2R3R2R1R2R A3R2R1R1R1R AA 0 / 12US Open A A A A A A2R1R A A2R1R A1RA2R AA 0 / 6Strike rate 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 40 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 10 / 0 Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.
Open era finals
Singles (2 titles, 2 runner-ups) Grand Slam (0–1) Tennis Masters Cup (0–0) ATP Tour (2–1)
ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jan 1970 Australian Open Grass Arthur Ashe 4–6, 7–9, 2–6Win 1–1 Jul 1970 Båstad, Sweden Clay Georges Goven 6–3, 6–1, 6–1Loss 1–2 Jul 1972 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Colin Dibley 1–6, 3–6, 4–6Win 2–2 Mar 1975 Nice, France Clay Iván Molina 7–6, 6–4, 6–3
Doubles (8 titles, 12 runner-ups)
ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Jan 1968 Australian Championships Grass Allan Stone Terry Addison Ray Keldie 10–8, 6–4, 6–3Win 2–0 1969 US Amateur Championships Grass Allan Stone Bill Bowrey Charlie Pasarell 9–11, 6–3, 7–5Win 3–0 Jan 1969 Victorian Open, Australia Grass Allan Stone Ray Ruffels Bill Bowrey 9–7, 6–4, 6–4Loss 3–1 Jul 1969 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Allan Stone Bill Bowrey Clark Graebner 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Win 4–1 Jul 1970 Båstad, Sweden Clay Allan Stone Željko Franulović Jan Kodeš 6–2, 2–6, 12–12, ret.Win 5–1 Oct 1970 Phoenix, U.S. Hard Ray Ruffels Jan Kodeš Charlie Pasarell 7–6, 6–3Loss 5–2 Jul 1973 Washington, D.C., US Clay Andrew Pattison Ross Case Geoff Masters 6–2, 1–6, 4–6Win 6–2 Feb 1974 Hempstead WCT, U.S. Hard Jeff Borowiak Ross Case Geoff Masters 6–7, 6–4, 6–4Win 7–2 Jun 1974 French Open Grass Onny Parun Robert Lutz Stan Smith 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1Loss 7–3 Sep 1974 Cedar Grove, U.S. Hard Bob Tanis Steve Siegel Kim Warwick 6–4, 2–6, 1–6Loss 7–4 Nov 1974 Bombay, India Clay Onny Parun Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj 4–6, 6–7Win 8–4 Jan 1975 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet (i) Ray Ruffels Ismail El Shafei Frew McMillan 6–4, 6–3Loss 8–5 May 1975 Bournemouth, UK Clay Syd Ball Juan Gisbert Manuel Orantes 6–8, 3–6Loss 8–6 Aug 1975 South Orange, U.S. Clay John Lloyd Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase 6–7, 5–7 Loss 8–7 Feb 1976 Rome WCT, Italy Carpet (i) Frew McMillan Bob Lutz Stan Smith 7–6, 3–6, 4–6Loss 8–8 May 1976 Hamburg, West Germany Clay Kim Warwick Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart 6–7, 6–7, 6–7Loss 8–9 Aug 1977 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Cliff Letcher Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol 7–6, 4–6, 3–6Loss 8–10 Sep 1976 Hamilton, Bermuda Clay Ray Ruffels Mike Cahill John Whitlinger 4–6, 6–4, 6–7(6–8)Loss 8–11 Jul 1979 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Tonino Zugarelli Željko Franulović Heinz Günthardt 2–6, 4–6Loss 8–12 Jan 1980 Perth, Australia Grass Dale Collings Syd Ball Cliff Letcher 3–6, 4–6
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