Peter Doohan

Peter Doohan
Country (sports) Australia
ResidenceNelson Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Born(1961-05-02)2 May 1961
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Died21 July 2017(2017-07-21) (aged 56)
Australia
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CollegeUniversity of Arkansas
Prize money$445,192
Singles
Career record49–81
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 43 (3 August 1987)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1987)
French Open1R (1986)
Wimbledon4R (1987)
US Open2R (1984)
Doubles
Career record141–106
Career titles5
Highest rankingNo. 15 (9 February 1987)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenF (1987)
French Open2R (1989)
WimbledonSF (1984, 1988)
US Open3R (1988, 1990)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1989)
French Open3R (1989)
Wimbledon3R (1984, 1985, 1989)
US Open1R (1987)

Peter Leslie Doohan (2 May 1961 – 21 July 2017) was an Australian tennis player who won three consecutive Australian Hard Court Championships singles titles (1984, 1985, 1986),[1] which remains an Open era record for that tournament. He won a further two singles titles at the South Australian Open in 1984 and San Louis Potosí tournament in Mexico in 1988. He also won five doubles titles during his career. The right-hander reached his highest Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 43 in August 1987.

Early and personal life

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Peter Leslie Doohan was born on 2 May 1961 in Newcastle, New South Wales, to Paul and Thelma Doohan.[2][3] Her sisters were Cathie Roff and Margaret Knight.[2][3] His sons include tennis coach John Doohan and American actor Hunter Doohan.

Doohan died on 21 July 2017 from motor neurone disease.[4]

Career

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At the 1987 Wimbledon Championships, he unexpectedly defeated two-time defending champion and top-seeded Boris Becker in the second round, earning himself the nickname "The Becker Wrecker" at home in Australia.[5][6][7]

Doohan played collegiately in the United States with the University of Arkansas where he won the NCAA doubles title in 1982. Also a successful singles player, he won three Australian Hard Court Championships consecutively from 1984 to 1986. In 1984, he won the South Australian Open singles title.[8] In 1988, he won the San Louis Potosí singles title on clay[9] in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He also coached high school tennis at Donoho High School in Anniston, Alabama, for several years in the mid-1990s.[4]

Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1987 Australian Open Grass Australia Laurie Warder Sweden Stefan Edberg
Sweden Anders Järryd		 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(3–7)

ATP career finals

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Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour Championship Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour World Series (1–3)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (1–3)
Carpet (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (1–3)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Dec 1984 Adelaide, Australia Grand Prix Grass Netherlands Huub van Boeckel 1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Dec 1985 Adelaide, Australia Grand Prix Grass South Africa Eddie Edwards 2–6, 4–6
Loss 1–2 Dec 1985 Melbourne, Australia Grand Prix Grass United States Jonathan Canter 7–5, 3–6, 4–6
Loss 1–3 Feb 1987 Sydney, Australia Grand Prix Grass Czech Republic Miloslav Mečíř 2–6, 4–6

Doubles: 14 (5 titles, 9 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters Series (0–1)
ATP World Tour Championship Series (0–1)
ATP World Tour World Series (5–6)
Titles by surface
Hard (3–4)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (2–4)
Carpet (0–0)
Titles by setting
Outdoor (5–9)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Sep 1984 Tel Aviv, Israel Grand Prix Hard South Africa Brian Levine United Kingdom Colin Dowdeswell
Switzerland Jakob Hlasek 		6–3, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Dec 1984 Adelaide, Australia Grand Prix Grass South Africa Brian Levine Australia Broderick Dyke
Australia Wally Masur 		6–4, 5–7, 1–6
Win 2–1 Jul 1985 Newport, United States Grand Prix Grass United States Sammy Giammalva United States Paul Annacone
South Africa Christo van Rensburg 		6–1, 6–3
Win 3–1 Jul 1985 Livingston, United States Grand Prix Hard United States Mike De Palmer South Africa Eddie Edwards
South Africa Danie Visser 		6–3, 6–4
Loss 3–2 Mar 1986 Fort Meyers, United States Grand Prix Hard Australia Paul McNamee Ecuador Andrés Gómez
United States Ivan Lendl 		5–7, 4–6
Loss 3–3 Jan 1987 Adelaide, Australia Grand Prix Grass Australia Laurie Warder United States Ivan Lendl
United States Bill Scanlon 		7–6, 3–6, 4–6
Loss 3–4 Jan 1987 Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Grass Australia Laurie Warder Sweden Stefan Edberg
Sweden Anders Järryd 		4–6, 4–6, 6–7
Loss 3–5 Feb 1987 Sydney, Australia Grand Prix Grass Australia Laurie Warder Australia Brad Drewett
Australia Mark Edmondson 		4–6, 6–4, 2–6
Loss 3–6 Aug 1987 Montreal, Canada Masters Series Hard Australia Laurie Warder Australia Pat Cash
Sweden Stefan Edberg 		7–6, 3–6, 4–6
Win 4–6 Jun 1988 Bristol, United Kingdom Grand Prix Grass Australia Laurie Warder United States Marty Davis
United States Tim Pawsat 		2–6, 6–4, 7–5
Loss 4–7 Sep 1988 Los Angeles, United States Grand Prix Hard United States Jim Grabb United States John McEnroe
Australia Mark Woodforde 		4–6, 4–6
Win 5–7 Jan 1989 Wellington, New Zealand Grand Prix Hard Australia Laurie Warder United States Rill Baxter
Canada Glenn Michibata 		3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Loss 5–8 May 1989 Munich, Germany Grand Prix Clay Australia Laurie Warder Spain Javier Sánchez
Hungary Balázs Taróczy 		6–7, 3–6
Loss 5–9 Aug 1989 Indianapolis, United States Championship Series Hard Australia Laurie Warder South Africa Pieter Aldrich
South Africa Danie Visser 		6–7, 6–7

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 1 (0–1)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (0–1)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Mar 1989 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Mexico Jorge Lozano 4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (1–0)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Sep 1990 Canberra, Australia Challenger Carpet Australia Brett Custer South Africa David Adams
Australia Jamie Morgan 		6–3, 6–4

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 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R Q1 Q3 1R 1R 3R A 4R 2R 1R 1R 1R 0 / 9 6–9 40%
French Open A A A A A A A 1R A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Wimbledon Q2 1R Q1 1R Q3 Q2 1R 1R 4R 1R Q2 Q1 A 0 / 6 3–6 33%
US Open A A A A A 2R 1R A 1R A A A A 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Win–loss 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 2–3 0–2 6–3 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0 / 19 10–19 34%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A A A A A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Miami A A A A A A 2R A A 1R A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Canada A A A A A A A A 1R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Cincinnati A A A A A A A A 1R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–2 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 5 1–5 17%

Doubles

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Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R 1R A 1R SF 3R A F 1R 3R 1R 2R 0 / 10 11–10 52%
French Open A A A A A A A A A 2R A A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Wimbledon 1R Q2 A Q2 SF 1R 2R 3R SF QF 2R 1R 0 / 9 15–9 63%
US Open A A 1R A 2R 2R A 2R 3R A 3R A 0 / 6 7–6 54%
Win–loss 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 8–3 2–3 1–1 7–3 6–3 6–3 3–3 1–2 0 / 26 34–26 57%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A A A 2R QF 2R A A 0 / 3 4–3 57%
Miami A A A A A 3R A QF 2R A 2R A 0 / 4 0–4 64%
Monte Carlo A A A A A A A A A 2R A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Hamburg A A A A A A A A A QF A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Rome A A A A A A A A A QF A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
Canada A A A A A A 2R F A A SF A 0 / 3 8–3 73%
Cincinnati A A A A A A 2R QF 2R A A A 0 / 3 4–3 57%
Paris A A A A A A A 1R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 2–2 10–5 4–3 5–4 4–2 0–0 0 / 17 27–17 50%

Mixed doubles

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Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A QF 1R SF 2R 0 / 4 6–4 60%
French Open A A A A A 3R A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Wimbledon 3R 3R A 2R A 3R 1R 0 / 5 7–5 58%
US Open A A A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 2–1 2–1 0–0 3–3 0–1 6–3 1–2 0 / 11 14–11 56%

References

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  1. ^ "Display:Peter Doohan". collections.ncc.nsw.gov.au. NSW Government Sporting Hall of Fame, Australia. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary for Peter Leslie Doohan, Nelson Bay, Australia, AR". www.nwaonline.com. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Thelma DOOHAN Obituary (2018) - Legacy Remembers". Legacy.com. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b "'Becker wrecker': Ex-Aussie tennis player Peter Doohan dies at age 56". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Becker Is Upset at Wimbledon by Unseeded Australian". New York Times. 27 June 1987. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  6. ^ Warren, Dan (23 June 2003). "Wimbledon's greatest shocks". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  7. ^ Paul Fein (2005). You Can Quote Me on That: Greatest Tennis Quips, Insights, and Zingers. Potomac Books, Incorporated. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-57488-925-3.
  8. ^ "South Australian Open tournament roll of honour". thetennisbase.com. The Tennis Base. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  9. ^ "1988 San Luis Potosí tournament draw". thetennisbase.com. The Tennis Base. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
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