Bob "Nails" Carmichael, an Australian tennis player and coach, died on Nov. 18. Cause of death was not released. He was 63.
Carmichael started his tennis career in the early 1960s, and went on to become one of the most respected players in the game. A founding member of the Association of Tennis Professionals, he based himself in Versailles, France, and reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in singles, doubles and mixed doubles in 1970, the same year he achieved a top-10 ranking in singles. In 1979, his last year on the circuit, Carmichael was a doubles semifinalist at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
A coach with Tennis Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport, Carmichael trained Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt and Darren Cahill. In 1999, he coached leading doubles specialist Leander Paes, who won three of the four Grand Slam doubles titles with Mahesh Bhupathi.
I met Bob Carmichael in Cape Town, South Africa in the very early 1970's. When visiting Johannesburg, he dined with our family and we all went to watch one of the Tournements, I think the Sugar Tournement. I was very sorry to hear of his death by sheer chance.
Remembered by me.
My condolences go to his family.