Allan Stone (born 14 October 1945) is a former tennis player from Australia. He played amateur and professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s. He was ranked as high as world No. 36 in singles and world No. 12 in doubles on the ATP rankings.

After his playing career, Stone became a sports commentator.

Singles In singles, he was finalist at the 1969 Cincinnati Masters, losing the final to Cliff Richey.

In 1970, he won the Western Australian Championships in Perth defeating Tom Gorman, Richard Russell, and Phil Dent in the final.

In 1971, he won the Washington Open defeating Eddie Dibbs in the final.

In 1972, he made the semifinal of the Australian Open singles, where he was defeated by that year's champion, Ken Rosewall.

Stone was selected to play Davis Cup for Australia and participated in five Davis Cup ties. His Davis Cup win-loss record is 6–0.

Doubles Stone found the majority of his success on the doubles court. He won 15 doubles titles during his career, including the Australian Open in 1977 and the Australian Championships (the predecessor to the Australian Open) in 1968.

He reached the semifinals of the 1974 Australian Open alongside partner American Steve Turner. He made the doubles final at Wimbledon in 1975 alongside Colin Dowdeswell, and won the US National Doubles Championship in 1969 with Dick Crealy.

1969 US Open There is some confusion over the 1969 US Open Championship title, which is held by Stone and Dick Crealy 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 U.S. 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 readily agreed, especially as the latter were two of the great Australian players and because "tennis was played with much goodwill in those days."

Personal Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Stone moved to Victoria at a young age and played amateur tennis for the Warburton Tennis Club where he was coached by Mary Morton.

He attended Caulfield Grammar School and completed a Commerce Degree at the University of Melbourne.

Grand Slam Performance timeline

Singles Tournament19681969197019711972197319741975197619771978W–LWin %Australian Open3R3R3R1RSF3R3R3R2R0–0French Open3R3R3R3RA0–0Wimbledon0–0US Open4R0–0Win–loss0–0

Doubles Tournament19681969197019711972197319741975197619771978W–LWin %Australian OpenWQF0–0French Open3RSF0–0Wimbledon0–0US Open0–0Win–loss0–0

Career finals Singles: 9 (3 titles / 6 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–01967Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaLoss 1–1 1968 Adelaide, Australia Grass Bill Bowrey 4–6, 3–6, 6–4, 4–6Win 2–1 1968 Nairobi, Kenya Clay Juan Manuel Couder 6–3, 7–5Loss 2–2 1969 Cincinnati Open, U.S. Clay Cliff Richey 1–6, 2–6Win 3–2 1969 Connaught, London Clay John Cooper 6–4, 6–2Loss 3–3 1969 Brisbane, Australia Grass Ray Ruffels 6-8, 6–4, 3–6, 3-6Loss 3–4 1971 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Bob Carmichael 6–7, 6–7, 3–6Loss 3–5 1975 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet Brian Gottfried 6–3, 2–6, 3–6Loss 3–6 1975 La Costa WCT, U.S. Hard Rod Laver 2–6, 2–6

Doubles: 34 (15 titles / 19 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 1968Australian Championships, Melbourne Grass Dick Crealy Terry Addison Ray Keldie 10–8, 6–4, 6–3Loss 1. 1968 Rome, Italy Clay Nicholas Kalogeropoulos Tom Okker Marty Riessen 3–6, 4–6, 2–6Win 2. 1969US Doubles Championships, Boston Grass Dick Crealy Bill Bowrey Charlie Pasarell 9–11, 6–3, 7–5Win 3. 1969 Victorian Open, Australia Grass Dick Crealy Ray Ruffels Bill Bowrey 9–7, 6–4, 6–4Loss 2. 1969 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Dick Crealy Bill Bowrey Clark Graebner 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Win 4. 1970 Båstad, Sweden Clay Dick Crealy Željko Franulović Jan Kodeš 6–2, 2–6, 12–12, ret.Loss 3. 1971 Hamburg, Germany Clay Dick Crealy John Alexander Andrés Gimeno 4–6, 5–7, 9–7, 4–6Loss 4. 1972 Vancouver WCT, Canada Carpet Cliff Drysdale Bill Bowrey Clark Graebner 6–7, 0–6Win5.1973Auckland, New ZealandGrass Brian Fairlie Dick Crealy Bob CarmichelLoss 5. 1973 La Costa WCT, U.S. Hard Nikola Pilić Roy Emerson Rod Laver 7–6, 3–6, 4–6Win 6. 1973 Munich WCT, Germany Carpet Nikola Pilić Cliff Drysdale Cliff Richey 7–5, 5–7, 6–4Loss 6. 1973 Johannesburg WCT, South Africa Hard Frew McMillan Bob Lutz Stan Smith 1–6, 4–6, 4–6Loss 7. 1973 Gothenburg WCT, Sweden Carpet Nikola Pilić Roy Emerson Rod Laver 7–6, 4–6, 1–6Win7.1973Dutch Open, NetherlandsGrass Ivan Molina Antonio Munoz Andres Gimeno4-6, 7–6, 6-4Win 8. 1973 Merion, U.S. Grass Colin Dibley John Austin Fred McNair 7–6, 6–3Loss 8. 1973 Tokyo Outdoor, Japan Hard Colin Dibley Mal Anderson Ken Rosewall 5–7, 5–7Loss 9. 1973 Djakarta, Indonesia Hard John Newcombe Mike Estep Ian Fletcher 5–7, 4–6Win 9. 1974 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet Nikola Pilić John Alexander Phil Dent 6–3, 3–6, 7–6Win 10. 1974 Melbourne, Australia Grass Raz Reid Mike Estep Paul Kronk 7–6, 6–4Loss 10. 1975Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Bob Carmichael John Alexander Phil Dent 3–6, 6–7Win 11. 1975 Dayton Indoor, U.S. Carpet Ray Ruffels Paul Gerken Brian Gottfried 7–6, 7–5Loss 11. 1975 Denver WCT, U.S. Carpet Bob Carmichael Roy Emerson Rod Laver 2–6, 6–3, 5–7Loss 12. 1975Wimbledon, London Grass Colin Dowdeswell Vitas Gerulaitis Sandy Mayer 5–7, 6–8, 4–6Loss 13. 1975 San Francisco, U.S. Carpet Kim Warwick Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart 2–6, 6–7Loss 14. 1976 São Paulo WCT, Brazil Carpet Charlie Pasarell Ross Case Geoff Masters 5–7, 1–6Loss 15. 1976 Houston WCT, U.S. Clay Charlie Pasarell Rod Laver Ken Rosewall 4–6, 2–6Win 12. 1976 US Pro Championships, U.S. Clay Ray Ruffels Mike Cahill John Whitlinger 3–6, 6–3, 7–6Loss 16. 1976 Woodlands Doubles, U.S. Hard Phil Dent Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez 1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–7Win 13. 1976 Maui, U.S. Hard Raymond Moore Dick Stockton Roscoe Tanner 6–7, 6–3, 6–4Loss 17. 1977 La Costa WCT, U.S. Hard Ray Ruffels Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 4–6, 2–6Win 14. 1977 Perth, Australia Hard Ray Ruffels Nick Saviano John Whitlinger 6–2, 6–1Loss 18. 1977 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Ray Ruffels John Alexander Phil Dent 6–7, 6–2, 3–6Win 15. 1977Australian Open-2, Melbourne Grass Ray Ruffels John Alexander Phil Dent 7–6, 7–6Loss 19. 1978 Brisbane, Australia Grass Syd Ball John Alexander Phil Dent 3–6, 6–7

Post-playing career Stone is a sports commentator. He is one of the longest-serving television commentators on the Australian Open, first joining Seven Sport broadcasts in the 1970s and providing analysis alongside fellow legendary commentators Mike Williamson, Garry Wilkinson and Peter Landy.

See also List of Caulfield Grammar School people

References

External links