Peter McNamara, who won three Grand Slam doubles titles with fellow Australian Paul McNamee and reached a career-high No. 7 in singles, has died. He was 64.
His death at his home in Germany from prostate cancer was confirmed by David Law, a family friend and tennis commentator, on behalf of McNamara’s wife Petra.
McNamara formed a long and successful partnership with McNamee — the pair dubbed the “Super Macs” in Australia — to win the Wimbledon doubles titles in 1980 and ’82 and the Australian Open title in 1979.
“Hard to believe that after 50 years of friendship Macca is gone … you lived life to the full mate and will be missed,” McNamee said in a social media post.
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McNamara also won five singles titles, reaching the Australian Open singles semifinals in 1980, the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 1981 and the last eight at the 1982 French Open. A knee injury effectively ended his playing career at age 28.
Tennis Australia described McNamara as a much-loved and respected member of the tennis community who was “known for his flair and gifted shot making.”
McNamara became a successful coach, working with Mark Philippoussis, Grigor Dimitrov and more recently rising women’s star Wang Qiang of China.
He joined the Patrick Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris in 2009, and worked extensively with Dimitrov.
“He was very charismatic, totally passionate about his job, and such a great team mate,” Mouratoglou said on Twitter. “He did an incredible job with Grigor Dimitrov helping his transitions to the pros.”