Australian tennis great Neale Fraser who beat Rod Laver at Wimbledon dies aged 91

Australian tennis legend Neale Fraser has died aged 91.

Fraser claimed 19 Grand Slam crowns in the 1950s and 60s and was the world’s top-ranked player from 1959 to 1960.

The Victorian won Wimbledon in 1960 by beating another Australian great, Rod Laver, as well as winning the precursor to the US Open, the US Championships in 1959 and 1960 - again beating Laver in the latter showdown.

He was part of Australia’s Davis Cup team from 1958 to 1963 which won four titles in a row. He later went on to be the Davis Cup captain from 1970 to 1993.

“I could never think of anything better than representing your country,” Fraser once said.

Fraser had a major influence on a generation of Australian players.

“He was like a father to me,” Pat Cash said. “He just knew how to make you feel important and play your best.”

Fraser was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.

For all his grand slam glory, Fraser’s name will forever be associated with the Davis Cup both as a player and in a record-setting run as Australian captain.

Fraser amassed 16 grand slam doubles titles, completing the career slam in the men’s format, and claiming five mixed trophies though penned perhaps his greatest legacy as Davis Cup captain.

He held the captaincy for a record 24 years, piloting Australia to four finals triumphs - in 1973, 1977, 1983 and 1986 - and recording 55 wins from 75 ties played, all the while sitting courtside in his famous chair and terry towelling hat.

He learned to play on the clay courts next door to his childhood home in Melbourne and developed a game built around a thunderous left-handed serve.

As a cricket fan, Fraser watched how leg-spin bowlers turned the ball in different directions by cocking their wrists and he adapted this ‘googly’ approach to his serve.

Emerging during the golden era of Australian men’s tennis, Fraser was initially unable to break into the Davis Cup team and lost three times in major singles finals, including twice to close friend Ashley Cooper - first at the 1957 Australian championships and at Wimbledon in 1958.

Then he broke through the following year, also completing the sweep of singles, doubles and mixed titles at the 1959 US Open at Forest Hills before also gaining the world No.1 singles ranking.

Fraser ultimately became one of 20 men to win all four majors in doubles.

One of his doubles partners, Roy Emerson, described Fraser as “a General” on the court.

Despite lucrative offers to turn professional, Fraser remained an amateur in the hope he would succeed Hopman as Australian Davis Cup captain, which he did.

Hopman once called the competition “the Fraser Cup” as Fraser ushered in several generations of talent including future captains John Newcombe and John Fitzgerald and two-time Cup-winning hero Pat Cash.

Fraser is remembered by wife Thea and family.