By Mike May
In the last 15-20 years, the world of men’s professional tennis has been dominated by Switzerland’s Roger Federer, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. Many tennis pundits would argue that the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era has been the greatest era in men’s professional tennis. While that may be true, Wellington resident Dick Stockton might argue that the 1970s represented the high point of men’s professional tennis since he was a part of it. Stockton is well qualified to make such an argument since he had a long and successful playing career in the 1970s and into the early 1980s on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour.
In his career, Stockton won 13 doubles titles and eight titles in singles. His highest world ranking in singles was eighth and his best world ranking in doubles was 13th.
Looking back to when he played in the 1970s, the quality of play was strong and the game had many stars such as Stan Smith, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Guillermo Vilas, John Newcombe, Illie Nastase, Ivan Lendl, Johan Kriek, Vitas Gerulaitis, among others.
“I am happy to say that I had wins over each of those individuals,” said Stockton, who was on the road about 30 weeks a year. “I believe that I had a winning record against Stan Smith, but I don’t think I had a winning record against any of the others.”
When asked to name the top ten men’s players that he has seen play or played against, he came up with a list of household names. His list features 10 players from seven different countries, which proves the international distribution of talent in men’s professional tennis in the last 50 years or so.
“Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Jimmy Connors,” stated Stockton. “This was a tough one!!!”
Of Stockton’s eight singles titles, his biggest singles title took place in 1977 when he won the U.S. Pro Indoor Championship in Philadelphia. That year, he defeated Jimmy Connors in five sets: 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
While Stockton was a proven winner in singles, he really excelled in doubles.
“We all grew up together, so we were close friends,” said Stockton, now 73. “Because we knew each other so well, it was pretty easy to form good partnerships. In those days, we traveled together, practiced together and we played doubles together. We were pretty successful in doubles because we complemented each other well on the court.”
Stockton had a number of successful singles and doubles experiences in the Grand Slam tournaments.
In men’s doubles, he reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 1976 with Erik van Dillen, the semifinals of the French Open with Arthur Ashe in 1978, and the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1981 with Tom Okker.
In mixed doubles, he and Rosemary Casals won the mixed doubles at the U.S. Open in 1975 and reached the final at Wimbledon in 1976. He and fellow American Anne Smith won the French Open in 1984.
In singles, his best finish at Wimbledon was in 1974 when he reached the semifinals. He was a two-time quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open in 1976 and 1977. And, he reached the semifinals of the French Open in 1978.
While Stockton remains passionate about tennis, he plays more tennis than he watches tennis.
“To be perfectly honest, I am not a big spectator of the game,” admitted Stockton. “Having said that, I do enjoy watching Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. They are both very exciting and may be the game’s biggest stars for the next few years.”
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For a related previous story about Dick Stockton, visit “Dick Stockton and the Blue Sky Foundation“
