Craig A. Miller Explained

Craig Miller
Country: Australia
Birth Date:18 October 1962
Birth Place:Young, New South Wales, Australia
Plays:Right-handed
Careerprizemoney:$139,258
Singlesrecord:29–54
Singlestitles:0
Highestsinglesranking:No. 102 (3 January 1983)
Australianopenresult:2R (1979)
Frenchopenresult:1R (1983)
Wimbledonresult:2R (1983, 1984)
Doublesrecord:57–66
Doublestitles:2
Highestdoublesranking:No. 64 (2 January 1984)
Australianopendoublesresult:SF (1985)
Frenchopendoublesresult:1R (1983, 1984)
Wimbledondoublesresult:3R (1982, 1983)
Usopendoublesresult:1R (1980, 1983, 1984)

Craig A. Miller (18 October 1962  - August 2021) was a professional tennis player from Australia.[1]

Junior years

Miller was the boys' singles champion at the 1980 Australian Open, beating Wally Masur in the final. The Australian had been runner-up the previous year, to Greg Whitecross. He was also a semi-finalist at the 1980 US Open and with Pat Cash won the doubles title at the 1982 Australian Open.[2]

Professional career

In 1982, Miller was a quarter-finalist at the Sydney Outdoor tournament and lost in the doubles final of the New South Wales Open, partnering Cliff Letcher.[3]

The following year he made the semi-finals of the Melbourne Outdoor event.[3] Also in 1983, Miller had a win over John Lloyd in the Wimbledon Championships and won two doubles titles, at Hong Kong and Adelaide, both times in an unseeded pairing.[3]

Miller and partner Laurie Warder were semi-finalists at the 1985 Australian Open.[3]

In 1986, he started the season well by reaching the singles quarter-finals at Auckland but wouldn't appear on tour again until September, as a result of a benign tumour that he had to have removed from his vocal cords. During this time he wasn't able to travel overseas due to restrictions on his medication and he instead spent his time coaching at the Australian Institute of Sport.[4] [5] He played for another year and a half, before retiring after the 1988 Australian Open.[3]

Coaching

Miller was the head development coach of Tennis Australia for seven years and later ran his own tennis program, IQ Tennis.[6]

Grand Prix career finals

Doubles: 3 (2–1)

ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Dec 1982Sydney, AustraliaGrass Cliff Letcher John Alexander
John Fitzgerald
4–6, 6–7
Win1–1Nov 1983Hong KongHard Drew Gitlin Sammy Giammalva Jr.
Steve Meister
6–2, 6–2
Win2–1Dec 1983Adelaide, AustraliaGrass Eric Sherbeck Broderick Dyke
Rod Frawley
6–3, 4–6, 6–4

Challenger titles

Doubles: (2)

No.YearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
1.1981Brisbane, AustraliaGrass Chris Johnstone Brad Drewett
Warren Maher
6–4, 7–5
2.1982Tokyo, JapanClay Pat Cash Bruce Derlin
David Mustard
6–2, 6–2

Death

Miller died in August 2021 after suffering from throat cancer.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ITF Pro Circuit Profile.
  2. Web site: ITF Junior Profile.
  3. Web site: Players | ATP Tour | Tennis. ATP Tour.
  4. Sunday Age, "In search of the next Australian champion", 16 January 2011, John Manga
  5. The Washington Post, "Fringe Player, Teen Enjoy All the Luck; One Had Second Chance, One Awaits Lendl", 30 July 1987, Steve Berkowitz
  6. Web site: IQ Tennis – Staff Profiles.
  7. Web site: Tennis World Mourns Loss Of Craig A. Miller | ATP Tour. 13 August 2021.