The precious final time Pat Cash saw his former Davis Cup captain Neale Fraser was during last year’s Australian Open. The UK-based 1987 Wimbledon champion had hoped their next catch-up would be at Melbourne Park in 2025.
Fraser died on December 2 at the age of 91.
"I missed him by a few months," laments Cash, the singles star of the 1983 and 1986 Davis Cup wins under Fraser at Kooyong and who, like so many, can not remember an Open without the man known fondly as "Frase".
Todd Woodbridge went to visit Fraser at home a couple of months before his passing and recalls that his predecessor as Australian Davis Cup Tennis Foundation (ADCTF) president for a remarkable 48 years was still "as sharp as a tack" when it came to any and all things Australian tennis.
Thus, for many, this grand slam is not quite the same without him.
"It leaves a hole, because especially at the beginning of the tournament, Frase was always on top of every single Australian’s match, no matter what they were ranked," Woodbridge said.
"So there will be, and there should be, an empty seat in RLA in that presidential section, just left there for him. That’s how it feels."
The owner of 19 major singles (including one Wimbledon and two at the US), doubles and mixed titles, Fraser was honoured with a State Funeral, and leaves behind a proud legacy as a giant of Australian tennis, a custodian of a Davis Cup history inherited from Harry Hopman and a devoted keeper of the flame.
Cash and Wally Masur both recall an environment during Fraser’s 1970-93 captaincy in which hard work was a non-negotiable, but fun another cornerstone of a team environment in which all wanted to be involved.
Fraser is now also being remembered through the Neale Fraser Scholarship, an initiative helping to provide financial support for aspiring Davis Cup players via tax-deductible donations made through the Australian Sports Foundation.
Woodbridge said the initiative had long been on the ADTCF’s radar, with the enthusiastic blessing of both Fraser and, now, his family, with one young player to benefit annually.
Indeed, the fact the selected athletes will "need to align to the values that Neale was renowned for" prompted The First Serve to ask multiple former Australian greats which qualities they most associate with Fraser, whose 24 years as captain followed six years as a player, for eight titles overall.
Woodbridge talks of "hard work and discipline" whether saying to doubles players to "make that first return down low and let your net man do the work for you", among various tactics to build pressure on an opponent, plus the work ethic required in the pre-tie week and the standards required on and off court when representing your country.
"Integrity" is the first word that comes to Paul McNamee, another key member of those 1983-86 teams and former Australian Open chief executive, with McNamee noting that there was never a singling out of individuals but an unfailing emphasis on team.
"Respect" was the key theme for former Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champion Geoff Masters, who played nine ties under Fraser early in his tenure. "He wanted you to be competitive, but he wanted it to be in the spirit that he felt was appropriate for Davis Cup," says Masters.
"He respected Davis Cup enormously, so if you were representing your country, you were representing everybody in the country, and therefore he wanted the country to be proud of what you brought to the table as far as effort was concerned.
"But it was also about behaviour. He wanted you just to be respectful of the other team; fight hard and be respectful. That was what he stood for and what he embodied."
Masur describes an almost paternal care for and loyalty to his players by Fraser, who Cash describes as his "second father", while instilling camaraderie, passion and strong team-first values.
"I guess it was just a lot of good life lessons and a lot of good tennis lessons," Masur says.
"Frase never wielded a big stick, but he was very much on the players’ side. He was very invested in your career, and he absolutely wanted the best for you. I kind of put it that he walked alongside you; he didn’t stand above you."
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Ken Rosewall was about 15 when he and great mate Lew Hoad first met Fraser on an early trip to Melbourne. The pair would become teammates and opponents but also remained long-time friends.
Rosewall, now 90 and due to arrive in Melbourne on Sunday, is pleased to see a scholarship launched in Fraser’s name. "I think he deserves it because he devoted a lot of time to tennis and certainly to Davis Cup," Rosewall told The First Serve from his Queensland home.
"I think (the scholarship) is a good idea. There’s a lot of support for the juniors, and more events for them to play, but they always need the extra money, because otherwise it’s a bit of a headache for the parents."
Masur says that, overwhelmingly, both Rosewall and Fraser were about the Australian game, and that the latter would "absolutely" be proud of the scholarship in his name, while always putting the sport above self.
"Would he be honoured? He would and he should, and he put all those years into the Davis Cup Foundation, obviously," Masur says.
"I think ultimately he just wants the game to thrive, and if this is an opportunity to give someone a chance to thrive, he’d be happy. But he wouldn’t be doing cartwheels that it was about him."
Through Tennis Australia, in conjunction with the Fraser family and the Australian Davis Cup Tennis Foundation, over A$5000 has already been raised via the Australian Sports Foundation, with notable donors so far including former Tennis Australia CEO (now Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club president) Steve Wood.
The Australian Sports Foundation is the national sports fundraising platform, and the only place to make tax-deductible donations to Australian sport. Since its inception 38 years ago, the ASF has distributed nearly $800 million, including almost $100 million in the last financial year. www.asf.com.au
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