Patrick Hart Cash (born 27 May 1965) is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 4 in May 1988 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 6 in August 1988. Upon winning the 1987 singles title at Wimbledon, Cash climbed into the stands to celebrate, starting a tradition that has continued ever since.

Pat Cash
Pat Cash at the 2015 Australian Open
Country (sports) Australia
ResidenceLondon, England
Born (1965-05-27) 27 May 1965 (age 59)
Melbourne, Australia
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Turned pro1982
Retired1997 (singles)
2006 (doubles)
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$1,950,345
Singles
Career record238–148 (61.7%)
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 4 (9 May 1988)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenF (1987, 1988)
French Open4R (1988)
WimbledonW (1987)
US OpenSF (1984)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsRR (1987)
WCT FinalsQF (1988)
Olympic Games1R (1984, demonstration event)
Doubles
Career record174–110
Career titles12
Highest rankingNo. 6 (13 August 1984)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1984)
French Open3R (1982)
WimbledonF (1984, 1985)
US OpenSF (1983)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (1983, 1986)
Hopman CupF (1989)

Early life

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Cash is the son of Pat Cash Sr., who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the 1950s.[2][3] He grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Marcellin College and Whitefriars College.

Career

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Junior years

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Cash came to the tennis world's attention as a prominent and promising junior player in the early 1980s. He was awarded a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport. He was ranked the No. 1 junior player in the world in 1981.

In June 1982, Cash won the junior doubles title at the French Open partnering John Frawley. In July he won the junior singles title at Wimbledon, and while partnering Frawley, he also won the junior doubles title at the same tournament. In September, he won the junior singles title at the US Open, and while partnering Frawley, he was also the runner-up of the junior doubles at the same tournament.

Professional years

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Cash turned professional in late 1982 and won his first top-level singles title that year in Melbourne.

In 1983, Cash became the youngest player to play in a Davis Cup final. He won the decisive singles rubber against Joakim Nyström as Australia defeated Sweden 3–2 to claim the cup.[4]

In 1984, Cash reached the singles semifinals at both Wimbledon and the US Open. He lost in three sets in the Wimbledon semifinals to John McEnroe and was defeated in the semifinals at the US Open by Ivan Lendl, who won their match in a fifth-set tiebreaker. This day is regarded as one of the greatest days in US Open history because it featured the three set thriller women's final Chris Evert vs Martina Navratilova and a John McEnroe vs Jimmy Connors five set marathon semifinal – creating the day now known as 'Super Saturday'. Cash finished the year in top 10 for the first time.

Cash was the runner-up in the doubles competition at Wimbledon in both 1984 with Paul McNamee and 1985 with John Fitzgerald.

In 1986, he helped Australia regain the Davis Cup with a 3–2 victory over Sweden. Cash again won the decisive singles rubber, recovering from two sets down against Mikael Pernfors. Just prior to Wimbledon in 1986, Cash had an emergency appendix operation. He reached the quarterfinals of the competition, and during the championship he started the now common tradition of throwing wristbands and headbands into the crowd.

1987 was a particularly strong year for Cash. He reached five singles finals, of which two were Grand Slam finals. Cash reached his first Grand Slam singles final at the Australian Open, where he lost in five sets to Stefan Edberg. This was the last Australian Open played at Kooyong on a grass court. The crowning moment of Cash's career came in 1987 at Wimbledon. Having already beaten Marcel Freeman, Paul McNamee, Michiel Schapers, Guy Forget, Mats Wilander in the quarterfinals and Jimmy Connors in the semifinals, Cash defeated the world No. 1, Ivan Lendl, in the final in straight sets. Cash sealed the victory by climbing into the stands and up to the player's box at Centre Court, where he celebrated with his family, girlfriend, and coach, Ian Barclay. He thus started a Wimbledon tradition that has been followed by many other champions at Wimbledon and other Grand Slam tournaments since. He only dropped one set during the entire tournament.[5][6] He finished the year ranked at No. 7.

In 1988, Cash reached the Australian Open final for the second consecutive year and faced another Swede, Mats Wilander. It was the first men's singles final played at the new Melbourne Park venue on hard court, and Wilander won in a four-and-a-half-hour encounter, taking the fifth set 8–6. It was the first Grand Slam final in history to be played indoors after rain delays forced the closing of the roof midway through the match.[7][8] Cash also reached his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in May.

Coming in as the defending champion in 1988 at Wimbledon, Cash was seeded fourth and only dropped two sets (both during the second round) en route to the quarterfinals, but his run came to an end when he lost to sixth seed and eventual runner-up Boris Becker. It was the last time he reached the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament in singles. 1988 was the last time Cash ended the year in the top 20, finishing the year ranked 20th, after having been ranked inside the top 10 from the start of the year until 21 November.

In April 1989, Cash ruptured his Achilles tendon at the Japan Open and was out of action until March 1990.[9]

Cash played in his third Davis Cup final in 1990. This time, Australia lost 2–3 to the United States.

Cash continued to play on the circuit on-and-off through the mid-1990s. A series of consecutive injuries to his Achilles tendon, knees, and back prevented him from recapturing his best form after winning Wimbledon in 1987. He won his last top-level singles title in April 1990 at the Hong Kong Open.[9] His last doubles title came in 1996 at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships with Pat Rafter.

Cash established a reputation on the tour as a hard-fighting serve-and-volleyer and for wearing his trademark black-and-white checked headband and his cross earring.[10] For most of his career, Cash was coached by Melbourne-born tennis coach Ian Barclay.

Post-retirement

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Cash in 2010

Since his retirement from the tour in 1997, Cash has resided mainly in London. He is the host of CNN's tennis-focused magazine show Open Court,[11] and has also worked as a TV co-commentator, primarily for the BBC. Cash continues to be a draw card on both the ATP and Champions Cup legends tours.[citation needed] He won the Hall of Fame event in Newport Rhode Island in 2008 and 2009. He has coached top players including Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis.

Cash opened a tennis academy on the Gold Coast of Australia and is also opening academies in Ko Samui, Thailand and in the Caribbean St Vincent, St Lucia and Dominican Republic.[when?][citation needed]

Cash was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2005.[12]

Cash won the over-45s Wimbledon doubles title with fellow Australian Mark Woodforde in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In November 2014, he played in the inaugural Champions Tennis League in India.

In 2022, Cash appeared on the third British series of The Masked Singer masked as "Bagpipes". He was fourth to be unmasked.[13]

Personal life

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In his early twenties, Cash had two children with his then-girlfriend, Norwegian model Anne-Britt Kristiansen. They have a son and a daughter. From 1990 through 2002 Cash was married to Brazilian Emily Bendit. They have twin boys. In 2010, Cash became a grandfather at age 45 when his daughter gave birth to a daughter.[14]

Cash was criticised for stating in an August 2021 interview with The Conservative Woman, broadcast online, that he had been taking Ivermectin for more than 15 months, claiming that "I'm living proof that I have been in the worst areas everywhere around the world and I haven't come close to getting COVID", despite the lack of evidence for the safety or efficacy of the drug for such measures.[15][16][17] Cash and former American surfer Kelly Slater were labelled "cookers" (conspiracy theorists) after they exchanged views on Twitter about the concept of the 15-minute city in February 2023.[18]

Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1987 Australian Open Grass   Stefan Edberg 3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 3–6
Win 1987 Wimbledon Grass   Ivan Lendl 7–6(7–5), 6–2, 7–5
Loss 1988 Australian Open Hard   Mats Wilander 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3, 1–6, 6–8

Doubles (2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1984 Wimbledon Grass   Paul McNamee   Peter Fleming
  John McEnroe
2–6, 7–5, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 1985 Wimbledon Grass   John Fitzgerald   Heinz Günthardt
  Balázs Taróczy
4–6, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6

ATP career finals

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Singles: 11 (6 titles, 5 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam (1–2)
Year-end championship (0–0)
Grand Prix Super series (0–0)
Grand Prix Championship series (0–0)
Grand Prix Tour (5–3)
Result W-L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Dec 1982 Melbourne Outdoor, Australia Grass   Rod Frawley 6–4, 7–6
Win 2–0 Oct 1983 Brisbane, Australia Carpet (i)   Paul McNamee 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 2–1 Oct 1984 Melbourne Indoor, Australia Carpet (i)   Matt Mitchell 4–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss 2–2 Jan 1987 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass   Stefan Edberg 3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 3–6
Win 3–2 Mar 1987 Lorraine Open, France Carpet (i)   Wally Masur 6–2, 6–3
Win 4–2 Jun 1987 Wimbledon Grass   Ivan Lendl 7–6(7–5), 6–2, 7–5
Loss 4–3 Oct 1987 Australian Indoor Championships Hard (i)   Ivan Lendl 4–6, 2–6, 4–6
Win 5–3 Nov 1987 South African Open Hard (i)   Brad Gilbert 7–6(9–7), 4–6, 2–6, 6–0, 6–1
Loss 5–4 Jan 1988 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard   Mats Wilander 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3, 1–6, 6–8
Loss 5–5 Apr 1990 Seoul Open, South Korea Hard   Alex Antonitsch 6–7(2–7), 3–6
Win 6–5 Apr 1990 Hong Kong Hard   Alex Antonitsch 6–3, 6–4

Doubles (11 titles, 6 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam (0–2)
Year-end championship (0–0)
Grand Prix Super series (1–0)
Grand Prix Championship series (0–0)
Grand Prix Tour (11–4)
Result W-L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Dec 1982 Adelaide, Australia Grass   Chris Johnstone   Broderick Dyke
  Wayne Hampson
6–3, 6–7, 7–6
Loss 1–1 Jun 1985 London/Queen's Club, UK Grass   John Fitzgerald   Ken Flach
  Robert Seguso
6–3, 3–6, 14–16
Loss 1–2 Jul 1985 Wimbledon, London Grass   John Fitzgerald   Heinz Günthardt
  Balázs Taróczy
4–6, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win 2–2 Oct 1983 Brisbane, Australia Carpet   Paul McNamee   Mark Edmondson
  Kim Warwick
7–6, 7–6
Win 3–2 Dec 1983 Sydney, Australia Grass   Mike Bauer   Broderick Dyke
  Rod Frawley
7–6, 6–4
Win 4–2 Apr 1984 Houston, US Clay   Paul McNamee   David Dowlen
  Nduka Odizor
7–5, 4–6, 6–3
Win 5–2 Apr 1984 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay   Paul McNamee   Chris Lewis
  Wally Masur
4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 6–2 Jun 1984 London/Queen's Club, UK Grass   Paul McNamee   Bernard Mitton
  Butch Walts
6–4, 6–3
Loss 6–3 Jul 1984 Wimbledon, London Grass   Paul McNamee   Peter Fleming
  John McEnroe
2–6, 7–5, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win 7–3 May 1985 Las Vegas, US Hard   John Fitzgerald   Paul Annacone
  Christo van Rensburg
7–6, 6–7, 7–6
Loss 7–4 Nov 1986 Hong Kong, Hong Kong Hard   Mark Kratzmann   Mike De Palmer
  Gary Donnelly
6–7, 7–6, 5–7
Loss 7–5 Nov 1986 Stockholm, Sweden Hard   Slobodan Živojinović   Sherwood Stewart
  Kim Warwick
4–6, 4–6
Win 8–5 Aug 1987 Montreal, Canada Hard   Stefan Edberg   Peter Doohan
  Laurie Warder
6–7, 6–3, 6–4
Win 9–5 Jan 1990 Sydney, Australia Hard   Mark Kratzmann   Pieter Aldrich
  Danie Visser
6–4, 7–5
Win 10–5 Apr 1990 Hong Kong, Hong Kong Hard   Wally Masur   Kevin Curren
  Joey Rive
6–3, 6–3
Loss 10–6 Apr 1996 Bermuda Clay   Pat Rafter   Jan Apell
  Brent Haygarth
6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Win 11–6 May 1996 Pinehurst, US Clay   Pat Rafter   Ken Flach
  David Wheaton
6–2, 6–3

Junior Grand Slam finals

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Boys' singles: 3 (2–1)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1981 Wimbledon Jrs. Grass   Matt Anger 6–7(3–7), 5–7
Win 1982 Wimbledon Jrs. Grass   Henrik Sundström 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–3
Win 1982 US Open Jrs. Hard   Guy Forget 6–3, 6–3

Performance timelines

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Singles

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Walkovers are neither official wins nor official losses.

Tournament 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R QF 4R QF A NH F F 4R A 3R 2R A A 1R A 1R 0 / 11 26–11
French Open A A 1R 1R A A 1R 4R A A 2R A A A A A A 0 / 5 4–5
Wimbledon A A 4R SF 2R QF W QF A 4R 2R 2R A A 1R A 1R 1 / 11 29–10
US Open A 1R 3R SF A 1R 1R A A 3R A A A A A 1R A 0 / 7 9–7
Win–loss 0–1 3–2 8–4 13–4 1–1 4–2 12–3 13–3 3–1 5–2 4–3 2–2 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–1 0–2 1 / 34 68–33
Year-end ranking 342 34 10 67 24 7 20 368 81 108 203 511 250 765 379
National representation
Davis Cup A A W SF SF W SF QF PO F A A A A A A A 2 / 8 23–7

Top 10 wins

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Season 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Total
Wins 0 0 1 4 0 2 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score Cash
rank
1983
1.   Vitas Gerulaitis 9 Queen's Club, London Grass 2R 5–7, 6–3, 6–3 61
1984
2.   Mats Wilander 4 Wimbledon, London Grass 2R 6–7(2–7), 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 33
3.   Andrés Gómez 6 Wimbledon, London Grass QF 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 7–6(7–5) 33
4.   Mats Wilander 4 US Open, New York Hard QF 7–6(7–3), 6–4, 2–6, 6–3 18
5.   Jimmy Connors 2 Davis Cup, Portland U.S. Carpet (i) RR 6–4, 6–2 10
1986
6.   Mats Wilander 2 Wimbledon, London Grass 4R 4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–3 413
7.   Stefan Edberg 5 Davis Cup, Melbourne Grass RR 13–11, 13–11, 6–4 24
1987
8.   Yannick Noah 4 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass QF 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–0 24
9.   Ivan Lendl 1 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass SF 7–6(7–1), 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 6–4 24
10.   Stefan Edberg 4 Queen's Club, London Grass QF 7–6, 7–6 13
11.   Mats Wilander 3 Wimbledon, London Grass QF 6–3, 7–5, 6–4 11
12.   Jimmy Connors 7 Wimbledon, London Grass SF 6–4, 6–4, 6–1 11
13.   Ivan Lendl 1 Wimbledon, London Grass F 7–6(7–5), 6–2, 7–5 11
14.   Boris Becker 4 Sydney, Australia Hard (i) SF 6–3, 2–6, 7–6 8
15.   Miloslav Mečíř 6 Masters, New York Carpet (i) RR 7–5, 6–4 7
1988
16.   Ivan Lendl 1 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard SF 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–2 7

Senior Tour titles

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  • 2000 – London Masters, UK (Blackrock Tour of Champions)
  • 2001 – Graz, Austria (Blackrock Tour of Champions)

References

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  1. ^ "Players – Pat Cash". Association of Tennis Professionals.
  2. ^ "AFL Grand Final: Hawthorn Hawks claim back to back flags, defeating Sydney Swans by 63 points". NewsComAu. 27 September 2014.
  3. ^ Beveridge, Riley (29 January 2016). "Your AFL club's most famous supporters, from Barack Obama to Cam Newton". Fox Sports. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ^ Alexandre Sokolowski (28 December 2020). "December 28, 1983: The day 18-year-old Pat Cash won the Davis Cup for Australia". Tennis Majors.
  5. ^ "Cashing in at Centre Court – 12.28.87 – SI Vault". Sports Illustrated. 28 December 1987. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  6. ^ "Resurfaced: Pat Cash... Remembering 1987 Wimbledon". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 8 July 2020.
  7. ^ Brian Dewhurst (24 January 1988). "Mats Wilander of Sweden downed Aussie Pat Cash 6-3,..." UPI.
  8. ^ Courtney Walsh (16 January 2023). "Top Australian Open finals: Bitter disappointment for home hero Cash". The Age.
  9. ^ a b Jeff Shain (25 June 1990). "Three years bring changes for Cash". UPI.
  10. ^ Sarah Edworthy (1 July 2020). "Cash lives up to his billing as a crowd-thriller". Wimbledon. AELTC.
  11. ^ "CNN Observations :: Home". Cnnobservations.blogspot.com. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Pat Cash". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  13. ^ "The Masked Singer UK airs fourth celebrity elimination". Digital Spy. 15 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Pat Cash a grandfather at 45". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  15. ^ FitzSimons, Peter (25 August 2021). "Returning serve at Pat Cash's dangerous COVID-19 rant". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Can ivermectin be used to treat or prevent COVID-19?". ABC News. 7 September 2021 – via www.abc.net.au.
  17. ^ "Watch a BBC newscaster explain the U.S. ivermectin boom to a British audience". The Week.
  18. ^ Carey, Alexis (10 February 2023). "'Majorly cooked': Sporting legends Pat Cash and Kelly Slater appear in controversial conspiracy chat". Fox Sports. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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