Sydney: Former Australian tennis player Peter McNamara has died from cancer at the age of 64. McNamara, who formed a successful doubles pair with compatriot Paul McNamee, reached a career ranking high of No. 7 in 1983.
The Melbourne-born star died Monday. While he is best remembered for his doubles partnership with McNamee, McNamara beat American great Jimmy Connors and Czech legend Ivan Lendl to win two of his five singles titles.
As a singles player in Grand Slams, McNamara reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1980, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1981 and the French Open last eight in 1982. “Hard to believe that after 50 years of friendship Macca is gone… you lived life to the full mate and will be missed by your loved ones and many more…a toast to the great times mate,” McNamee tweeted Tuesday.
With McNamee, he won the 1979 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1980 and 1982. He retired in 1987 and has enjoyed a successful coaching career. He coached Mark Philippoussis, Grigor Dimitrov in his formative years and more recently Matt Ebden and Wang Qiang.