Wally Masur was born in England in 1963 to parents Kurt and Lesley Masur. Wally and his family arrived in Canberra in 1965 with the family settling in Chifley.
Wally quickly established himself on the tennis scene as a promising junior winning his first tournament at age eight and playing at local courts in Lyneham, Yarralumla and Red Hill. From the beginning, he received coaching from Charlie Hollis at Lyneham, who remained his coach throughout his early days and with whom he retained a strong connection until Charlie passed away in 1987.
From age 14, Wally regularly spent his weekends travelling to Sydney to play tournaments and compete in the Blackwell Cup. Phillip College accommodated Wally’s tennis by allowing him to travel to tournaments on school days throughout his final years at school. In 1978, Wally won the under 16 tennis title in NSW (grasscourt and hardcourt). In the following year, he went on to claim the Australian, NSW, Victorian, and New Zealand singles titles.
In 1980 he became the first ACT junior to represent NSW in the Linton Cup. He also reached the final of the Australian Open Boys singles and won the Boys Doubles title. He was provided with a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport and chosen to represent Australia. He also made the quarter finals of junior Wimbledon and the Junior US Open in 1981. He was ranked number 6 in the junior world rankings.
After turning professional in 1982, Wally won his first top-level singles title in the following year in Hong Kong, and his first tour doubles title in Taipei. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian open before being knocked out by John McEnroe. In 1987, Wally won his second career singles title in Adelaide and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. His third career singles title came at Newport in 1988.
In 1990, Masur helped Australia reach the final of the Davis Cup, compiling a 6-0 record in singles rubbers, before the team fell to the US in the final. From 1985-1998, he featured in Davis Cup matches achieving a 16-14 singles record.
1993 was possibly the best year of Wally’s career, reaching a career high ranking in singles of No.15 and reaching the semifinals of the US Open, along with the 4th round at Wimbledon. He also won doubles titles in Milan and Stuggart.
Wally retired from the professional tour in 1995, having won 3 singles titles and 16 doubles titles. He continued on his passion for representing Australia when he was appointed captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team in 2015, leading the team to the semifinals. To this day, Wally continues to have an involvement with the sport, with a regular commitment on Fox Sports.
Masur remains the top ranked ACT tennis player (male or female) of all time, and a member of the ACT Sports Hall of fame.
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