Dick Crealy

Dick Crealy
Fullname	Richard D. Crealy
Residence	Sydney, Australia
Birth date	18 September 1944 (age 82)
Birth place	Sydney, Australia
Turnedpro	1969 (amateur tour from 1963)
Retired	1981
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singlesrecord	274–277 (Open era)
Singlestitles	5
Highestsinglesranking	No. 21 (7 September 1970)
Australianopenresult	F (1970)
Frenchopenresult	4R (1970)
Wimbledonresult	3R (1967, 1969, 1974)
Usopenresult	2R (1969, 1973, 1978)
Doublesrecord	262–240 (Open era)
Doublestitles	6
Australianopendoublesresult	W (1968)
Frenchopendoublesresult	W (1974)
Wimbledondoublesresult	SF (1975)
Usopendoublesresult	W (1969)
Australianopenmixedresult	W (1968)
Frenchopenmixedresult	QF (1971, 1974)
Usopenmixedresult	QF (1969)

Richard Crealy (born 18 September 1944) is an Australian former tennis player most notable for reaching the final of the Australian Open in 1970, being a member of the 1970 Australian Davis Cup Team, and winning four Grand Slam titles in doubles.

Tennis career

Crealy was born in Sydney in 1944. In 1968 he achieved his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with his fellow countryman and team mate Allan Stone in doubles. He also won the mixed doubles with Billie Jean King. At the 1970 Australian Open Crealy beat Stan Smith in straight sets by "matching Smith's serving and volleying power at every turn".^[1] He lost the final to Arthur Ashe in straight sets, played in a light drizzle, making the grass surface slippery.^[2]

Crealy won the Men's Doubles at the 1974 French Open with Onny Parun over Stan Smith and Bob Lutz. In 1970, Crealy had his most successful season, reaching No. 5 on the Grand Prix rankings. In this year, he reached the singles final at the Australian Open, where he lost to American player Arthur Ashe, as well as the quarter-finals of the French Open. He also won the Swedish Open in Båstad and represented Australia in the Davis Cup with a 4–2 singles record and 2–0 doubles record. In 1974, he won another Grand Slam Title in doubles, combining with New Zealander Onny Parun in the French Open.

Crealy retired from the ATP Tour in 1978, but continued having success for many years on the Veteran's Tour, playing in many of the "Legends" tournaments at the Australian Open. He also still plays Pro-Ams, often supporting The Starlight Foundation in its annual tournament in Sydney.

Dick Crealy is a Life Member of the Australian Davis Cup Foundation.

1969 US Open

There is some confusion over the 1969 US Open Championship title, which is held by Crealy and Allan Stone conjointly with Ken Rosewall and Fred Stolle.^{[citation needed]}

The era of Open Tennis commenced in 1968, and at that time Boston was the home of the US National Doubles championship. However, the agents of some contract professionals demanded guaranteed prize money which could not be covered by the tournament. Accordingly, contract professionals boycotted the tournament, with many playing instead at Forest Hills, which was won by Rosewall and Stolle. Crealy and Stone won the Doubles in Boston in 1969 as professionals, defeating Charlie Pasarell and Bill Bowrey.^{[citation needed]}

In 1971, the USTA and Association of Tennis Professionals decided to combine the winners of both tournaments to make the Grand Slam tournament. This was not an issue for the winners of 1968 as both tournaments were won by Smith and Lutz. Crealy and Stone were asked if they would agree to share the 1969 title with Rosewall and Stolle - they agreed, as the latter were two of the great Australian players and because "tennis was played with much goodwill in those days."^{[citation needed]}

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1970	Australian Open	Grass	Arthur Ashe	4–6, 7–9, 2–6

Doubles (2 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1968	Australian Championships	Grass	Allan Stone	Terry Addison Ray Keldie	10–8, 6–4, 6–3
Win	1974	French Open	Grass	Onny Parun	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1

Mixed Doubles (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1968	Australian Championships	Grass	Billie Jean King	Margaret Court Allan Stone	walkover

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

Tournament	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	SR
Australian Open	2R	2R	A	1R	2R	QF	2R	F	2R	QF	1R	3R	SF	QF	3R	2R	2R	A	Q3	0 / 16
French Open	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	2R	4R	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R		1R	1R	A	0 / 13
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	3R	2R	3R	2R	1R	2R	A	3R	2R	1R	1R		1R	A	A	0 / 12
US Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	2R	1R	A	1R	A		2R	A	A	0 / 6
Strike rate	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4		0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 47

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Open era finals

Singles (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Grand Slam (0–1)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Tour (2–1)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1970	Australian Open	Grass	Arthur Ashe	4–6, 7–9, 2–6
Win	1–1	Jul 1970	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Georges Goven	6–3, 6–1, 6–1
Loss	1–2	Jul 1972	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Colin Dibley	1–6, 3–6, 4–6
Win	2–2	Mar 1975	Nice, France	Clay	Iván Molina	7–6, 6–4, 6–3

Doubles (8 titles, 12 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jan 1968	Australian Championships	Grass	Allan Stone	Terry Addison Ray Keldie	10–8, 6–4, 6–3
Win	2–0	1969	US Amateur Championships	Grass	Allan Stone	Bill Bowrey Charlie Pasarell	9–11, 6–3, 7–5
Win	3–0	Jan 1969	Victorian Open, Australia	Grass	Allan Stone	Ray Ruffels Bill Bowrey	9–7, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	3–1	Jul 1969	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Allan Stone	Bill Bowrey Clark Graebner	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win	4–1	Jul 1970	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Allan Stone	Željko Franulović Jan Kodeš	6–2, 2–6, 12–12, ret.
Win	5–1	Oct 1970	Phoenix, U.S.	Hard	Ray Ruffels	Jan Kodeš Charlie Pasarell	7–6, 6–3
Loss	5–2	Jul 1973	Washington, D.C., US	Clay	Andrew Pattison	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–2, 1–6, 4–6
Win	6–2	Feb 1974	Hempstead WCT, U.S.	Hard	Jeff Borowiak	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
Win	7–2	Jun 1974	French Open	Grass	Onny Parun	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1
Loss	7–3	Sep 1974	Cedar Grove, U.S.	Hard	Bob Tanis	Steve Siegel Kim Warwick	6–4, 2–6, 1–6
Loss	7–4	Nov 1974	Bombay, India	Clay	Onny Parun	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	4–6, 6–7
Win	8–4	Jan 1975	Baltimore, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Ray Ruffels	Ismail El Shafei Frew McMillan	6–4, 6–3
Loss	8–5	May 1975	Bournemouth, UK	Clay	Syd Ball	Juan Gisbert Manuel Orantes	6–8, 3–6
Loss	8–6	Aug 1975	South Orange, U.S.	Clay	John Lloyd	Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase	6–7, 5–7
Loss	8–7	Feb 1976	Rome WCT, Italy	Carpet (i)	Frew McMillan	Bob Lutz Stan Smith	7–6, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	8–8	May 1976	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Kim Warwick	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 6–7, 6–7
Loss	8–9	Aug 1977	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Cliff Letcher	Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol	7–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	8–10	Sep 1976	Hamilton, Bermuda	Clay	Ray Ruffels	Mike Cahill John Whitlinger	4–6, 6–4, 6–7^(6–8)
Loss	8–11	Jul 1979	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Tonino Zugarelli	Željko Franulović Heinz Günthardt	2–6, 4–6
Loss	8–12	Jan 1980	Perth, Australia	Grass	Dale Collings	Syd Ball Cliff Letcher	3–6, 4–6

References

^ "Aussie 'sub' Dick Crealy beats Smith". The Spokesman-Review. 23 January 1970. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
^ "Arthur Ashe captures Aussie national Open". Sarasota Journal. 27 January 1970. Retrieved 25 August 2025.