Pat Cash

Patrick Hart Cash (born 27 May 1965) is an Australian former professional tennis player. 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
Residence	London, England
Born	(1965-05-27) 27 May 1965 (age 57) Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)^[1]
Turned pro	1982
Retired	1997 (singles) 2006 (doubles)
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$1,950,345
Singles
Career record	238–148 (61.7%)
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 4 (9 May 1988)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1987, 1988)
French Open	4R (1988)
Wimbledon	W (1987)
US Open	SF (1984)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (1987)
WCT Finals	QF (1988)
Olympic Games	1R (1984, demonstration event)
Doubles
Career record	174–110
Career titles	12
Highest ranking	No. 6 (13 August 1984)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1984)
French Open	3R (1982)
Wimbledon	F (1984, 1985)
US Open	SF (1983)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1983, 1986)
Hopman Cup	F (1989)

Early life

Cash is the son of Pat Cash Sr., who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the 1950s.^[2][3]

Career

Junior years

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

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 quarterfinal, 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 back to back 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

 

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

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 44 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

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

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)

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

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

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)

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, US	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

Boys' singles: 3 (2–1)

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

Singles

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

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

• 2000 – London Masters, U.K. (Blackrock Tour of Champions)
• 2001 – Graz, Austria (Blackrock Tour of Champions)

References

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. 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. 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 44". 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.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pat Cash.

• Official Pat Cash website
• Pat Cash at the Association of Tennis Professionals  
• Pat Cash at the International Tennis Federation  
• Pat Cash at the Davis Cup  
• Pat Cash at Tennis Australia
• Pat Cash at the ATP Champions Tour
• Pat Cash at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame