Wally Masur (/məˈsʊər/;[citation needed] born 13 May 1963) is a tennis coach, television commentator, and former professional tennis player from Sydney, Australia. He reached the semifinals of the 1987 Australian Open and the 1993 US Open, achieving a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 in October 1993.

Wally Masur
Country (sports) Australia
ResidenceSydney, Australia
Born (1963-05-13) 13 May 1963 (age 61)
Southampton, England, United Kingdom
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro1982
Retired1995
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,134,718
Singles
Career record327–285
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 15 (11 October 1993)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenSF (1987)
French Open3R (1991)
Wimbledon4R (1988, 1992, 1993)
US OpenSF (1993)
Other tournaments
Grand Slam Cup1R (1992, 1993)
Olympic Games2R (1988)
Doubles
Career record285–211
Career titles16
Highest rankingNo. 8 (12 April 1993)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1993)
French OpenSF (1988, 1992)
WimbledonQF (1988, 1992)
US Open2R (1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993)
Last updated on: 7 May 2022.

Tennis career

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Juniors

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Masur began playing tennis at the age of eight. In 1980, he reached the final of the Australian Open boys' singles tournament and won the boys' doubles title.

Pro tour

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Masur turned professional in 1982. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[1]

In 1983, Masur won his first top-level singles title at Hong Kong, and his first tour doubles title at Taipei. He also reached quarterfinals of that year's Australian Open, before being knocked out by John McEnroe.

In 1987, Masur won his second career singles title at Adelaide and reached the Australian Open semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Stefan Edberg.

Masur won his third singles title in 1988 at Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1990, Masur helped Australia reach the final of the Davis Cup, compiling a 6–0 record in singles rubbers in the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals. However he was left out of the team that played the United States in the final by captain Neale Fraser. The decision to leave Masur out of the final was fairly controversial at the time given the very significant role that he had played in getting Australia there, but was principally because the final was to be played on clay courts, which was not Masur's best surface. The US team beat Australia 3–2 in the final.

1993 was the best year of Masur's career. He reached the semifinals of that year's US Open, where he lost to Cédric Pioline. He also reached his career-high rankings in both singles (world No. 15) and doubles (No. 8) that year. He captured doubles titles in Milan and Stuttgart that year, which proved to be the final top-level titles of his career.

Masur retired from the professional tour in 1995, having won three singles titles and 16 doubles titles.

Post playing

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In January 2015, Masur was appointed captain of Australia's Davis Cup team, succeeding Pat Rafter. He was succeeded by Lleyton Hewitt in 2016.[2]

ATP career finals

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Singles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0)
ATP 500 Series (0–0)
ATP 250 Series (3–8)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–4)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (1–2)
Carpet (0–2)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (3–5)
Indoors (0–3)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Nov 1983 Hong Kong, Hong Kong Grand Prix Hard   Sammy Giammalva Jr. 6–1, 6–1
Loss 1–1 Nov 1984 Taipei, Taiwan Grand Prix Carpet   Brad Gilbert 3–6, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Jan 1985 Auckland, New Zealand Grand Prix Hard   Chris Lewis 7–5, 6–0, 2–6, 6–4
Win 2–2 Jan 1987 Adelaide, Australia Grand Prix Hard   Bill Scanlon 6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Loss 2–3 Mar 1987 Nancy, France Grand Prix Carpet   Pat Cash 2–6, 3–6
Loss 2–4 Jan 1988 Adelaide, Australia Grand Prix Hard   Mark Woodforde 2–6, 4–6
Win 3–4 Jul 1988 Newport, United States Grand Prix Grass   Brad Drewett 6–2, 6–1
Loss 3–5 Mar 1990 Memphis, United States World Series Hard   Michael Stich 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 6–7(1–7)
Loss 3–6 Apr 1991 Hong Kong, Hong Kong World Series Hard   Richard Krajicek 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 3–7 Jun 1993 Rosmalen, Netherlands World Series Grass   Arnaud Boetsch 6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3–8 Jun 1993 Manchester, United Kingdom World Series Grass   Jason Stoltenberg 1–6, 3–6

Doubles: 24 (16 titles, 8 runner-ups)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. Nov 1983 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet (i)   Kim Warwick   Ken Flach
  Robert Seguso
7–6, 6–4
Loss 1. Apr 1984 Aix-en-Provence, France Clay   Chris Lewis   Pat Cash
  Paul McNamee
4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 2. Oct 1984 Brisbane, Australia Carpet (i)   Broderick Dyke   Francisco González
  Matt Mitchell
6–7, 6–2, 7–5
Win 2. Oct 1984 Melbourne Indoor, Australia Carpet (i)   Broderick Dyke   Peter Johnston
  John McCurdy
6–3, 6–2
Win 3. Dec 1984 Adelaide, Australia Hard   Broderick Dyke   Peter Doohan
  Brian Levine
4–6, 7–5, 6–1
Win 4. Dec 1984 Melbourne Outdoor, Australia Grass   Broderick Dyke   Mike Bauer
  Scott McCain
6–7, 6–3, 7–6
Loss 3. Jan 1985 Auckland, New Zealand Hard   Broderick Dyke   Chris Lewis
  John Fitzgerald
7–6, 6–2
Loss 4. Mar 1985 Milan Indoor, Italy Carpet (i)   Broderick Dyke   Heinz Günthardt
  Anders Järryd
6–2, 6–1
Loss 5. Oct 1985 Sydney, Australia Grass   Broderick Dyke   David Dowlen
  Nduka Odizor
6–4, 7–6
Win 5. Jan 1986 Auckland, New Zealand Hard   Broderick Dyke   Karl Richter
  Rick Rudeen
6–3, 6–4
Loss 6. May 1986 Munich, West Germany Clay   Broderick Dyke   Sergio Casal
  Emilio Sánchez
6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Loss 7. Jun 1986 Bristol, Australia Grass   Mark Edmondson   Christo Steyn
  Danie Visser
6–7, 7–6, 12–10
Win 6. Jul 1986 Livingston, USA Hard   Bob Green   Sammy Giammalva Jr.
  Greg Holmes
5–7, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 8. Oct 1987 Brisbane, Australia Hard (i)   Broderick Dyke   Matt Anger
  Kelly Evernden
7–6, 6–2
Win 7. Nov 1988 Brussels Indoor, Belgium Carpet (i)   Tom Nijssen   John Fitzgerald
  Tomáš Šmíd
7–5, 7–6
Win 8. Jan 1989 Sydney, Australia Hard   Darren Cahill   Pieter Aldrich
  Danie Visser
6–4, 6–3
Win 9. Aug 1989 Stratton Mountain, USA Hard   Mark Kratzmann   Pieter Aldrich
  Danie Visser
6–3, 4–6, 7–6
Win 10. Apr 1990 Tokyo, Japan Hard   Mark Kratzmann   Kent Kinnear
  Brad Pearce
6–4, 6–3
Win 11. Apr 1990 Hong Kong, UK Hard   Pat Cash   Kevin Curren
  Joey Rive
6–3, 6–3
Win 12. Feb 1991 San Francisco, USA Hard (i)   Jason Stoltenberg   Ronnie Båthman
  Rikard Bergh
4–6, 7–6, 6–4
Win 13. Jul 1991 Stuttgart, Germany Clay   Emilio Sánchez   Omar Camporese
  Goran Ivanišević
2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 14. Aug 1991 New Haven, USA Hard   Petr Korda   Jeff Brown
  Scott Melville
7–5, 6–3
Win 15. Feb 1993 Milan Indoor, Italy Carpet (i)   Mark Kratzmann   Tom Nijssen
  Cyril Suk
4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 16. Feb 1993 Stuttgart Indoor, Germany Hard (i)   Mark Kratzmann   Steve DeVries
  David Macpherson
6–3, 7–6

Performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

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Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open Q2 1R 4R QF 2R 4R NH SF 4R 3R 3R 2R 4R 1R 1R 2R 0 / 14 28–14 67%
French Open A A A 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R A A 3R 2R 1R 1R A 0 / 10 4–10 29%
Wimbledon Q1 Q2 A 2R 3R 2R 3R 2R 4R 3R 2R 2R 4R 4R 2R 1R 0 / 13 21–13 62%
US Open A A A A 1R 1R 2R A 2R 2R 1R 3R 3R SF 1R A 0 / 10 12–10 55%
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 3–1 6–3 3–4 4–4 3–3 6–3 7–4 5–3 3–3 6–4 9–4 8–4 1–4 1–2 0 / 47 65–47 58%
National Representation
Summer Olympics A Not Held A Not Held 2R Not Held A Not Held 0 / 1 1–1 50%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A A A A A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R Q1 0 / 6 0–6 0%
Miami A A A A A A A 3R 1R A A A 4R A A A 0 / 3 5–3 63%
Monte Carlo A A A A A 1R A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Hamburg A A A A 2R 1R A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Rome A A A 1R A 1R A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Canada A A 1R A A 2R A 3R 2R A A 3R SF 1R 2R A 0 / 8 11–8 58%
Cincinnati A A A A 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R 1R A 2R 1R 2R 1R Q1 0 / 10 5–10 33%
Paris A A A A A A A 1R A QF 1R 2R 3R 2R A A 0 / 6 5–6 45%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–5 0–1 6–4 2–3 2–3 0–2 4–4 9–5 1–4 1–3 0–0 0 / 38 27–38 42%

Doubles

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Tournament 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 2R 2R QF A A QF 1R QF 3R QF 2R SF 2R 1R 0 / 12 19–12 61%
French Open A A A 2R 1R 3R 2R SF A A 1R SF QF QF A 0 / 9 18–9 67%
Wimbledon Q2 A A 3R 1R 3R 1R QF 2R 3R 1R QF 2R 2R A 0 / 11 15–11 58%
US Open A A A 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R A A 0 / 10 7–10 41%
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 1–1 6–4 0–3 4–3 4–4 8–4 5–3 5–3 3–4 9–4 9–4 5–3 0–1 0 / 42 59–42 58%
Year-End Championships
ATP Finals Did not qualify SF RR DNQ 0 / 2 3–4 43%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A A A A 2R 2R 1R 1R SF 2R A 0 / 6 5–6 45%
Miami A A A A A A 1R 1R A A A QF A A A 0 / 3 3–3 50%
Monte Carlo A A A A SF 1R A SF A A A A A A A 0 / 3 5–3 63%
Hamburg A A A 2R 1R A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Rome A A A A 2R 1R A SF A A A A A A A 0 / 3 4–3 57%
Canada A A A A 2R 1R 2R SF A A SF SF A 1R A 0 / 7 10–7 59%
Cincinnati A A A QF QF 2R 2R 2R 2R A 2R 1R 2R A A 0 / 9 9–9 50%
Paris A A A A A A A A A QF 1R QF 2R A A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–2 6–5 1–4 2–3 10–5 2–2 3–2 4–4 6–5 2–3 1–2 0–0 0 / 37 40–37 52%

Junior Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1980 Australian Open Hard   Craig A. Miller 6–7, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1980 Australian Open Hard   Craig A. Miller  
 

References

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  1. ^ AIS at the Olympics Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Schlink, Leo. "Pat Rafter steps down as Davis Cup captain with Wally Masur to fill role in interim role". Herald Sun. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
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