Onny Parun

Onny Parun
OBE
	Parun in the mid 1960s
Country (sports)	New Zealand
Residence	Wellington, New Zealand
Born	15 April 1947 (age 77); Wellington, New Zealand
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	1969 (amateur from 1967)
Retired	1982
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	1007–572
Career titles	30
Highest ranking	No. 18 (16 September 1975)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1973)
French Open	QF (1975)
Wimbledon	QF (1971, 1972)
US Open	QF (1973)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (1974)
Doubles
Career record	162–221
Career titles	2
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1973)
French Open	W (1974)
Wimbledon	3R
US Open	QF (1971)

Onny Parun OBE (born 15 April 1947) is a former tennis player of Croatian descent from New Zealand, who was among the world's top 20 for five years and who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1971 and 1972. He made the final of the Australian Open in 1973, losing to John Newcombe in four sets, and was a US Open quarterfinalist in 1973 and also a quarterfinalist at the French Open in 1975. He eventually went on to coach the Bhatti brothers.

Parun and Australian Dick Crealy won the French Open doubles title in 1974. He also made the Masters in 1974, qualifying by finishing in the top eight on the grand prix table. Parun played Davis Cup from 1966 to 1982 and won a string of national titles, including the Benson and Hedges Open three times in four years.

Parun became the second player from New Zealand to reach a Grand Slam Singles final, 62 years after Anthony Wilding had reached the 1913 Wimbledon final, and Parun became the second player from New Zealand to win a Grand Slam Doubles title, 61 years after Wilding had won the 1914 Wimbledon doubles title and was also the last player from New Zealand to reach the finals of a Grand Slam Doubles title before Michael Venus was successful in the 2017 French Open.

Parun reached his career-high ATP singles ranking on 5 March 1975, when he became World No. 19. His brother, Tony Parun, also played professional tennis.

In September 1974, he defeated Jimmy Connors in San Francisco to end the No. 1 world ranked player's run of 160 weeks atop the ATP rankings.

In the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours, Parun was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to tennis.^[1] Since retiring from competition, Parun has been a coach, and trades shares on the US share market.^[2]^[3]

In 2023, his younger brother Melvin Joseph Parun was killed in the Loafers Lodge fire.^[4]

Grand Slam finals[edit]

Singles (1 runner-up)[edit]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1973	Australian Open	Grass	John Newcombe	3–6, 7–6, 5–7, 1–6

Doubles (1 title)[edit]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1974	French Open	Clay	Dick Crealy	Robert Lutz Stanley Smith	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline[edit]

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	DNQ	A	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles[edit]

Tournament	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	3R	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1R	1R	A	0 / 5
French Open	A	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	3R	4R	QF	A	1R		1R	A	1R	1R	1R	0 / 13
Wimbledon	Q1	2R	3R	2R	1R	QF	QF	A	1R	3R	4R	3R		1R	2R	4R	A	A	0 / 13
US Open	A	A	A	1R	2R	3R	3R	QF	2R	3R	1R	3R		A	1R	1R	A	A	0 / 11
Strike rate	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 4		0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 42

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Career finals[edit]

Singles (6 titles, 7 runner-ups)[edit]

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 1968	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Barry Phillips-Moore	3–6, 8–6, 6–1, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	0–2	Jan 1973	Australian Open, Australia	Grass	John Newcombe	3–6, 7–6, 5–7, 1–6
Win	1–2	Jan 1973	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Patrick Proisy	4–6, 6–7, 6–2, 6–0, 7–6
Loss	1–3	Sep 1973	Aptos, US	Hard	Jeff Austin	6–7, 4–6
Loss	1–4	Jan 1974	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Björn Borg	4–6, 3–6, 1–6
Loss	1–5	Jul 1974	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Balázs Taróczy	1–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win	2–5	Nov 1974	Jakarta, Indonesia	Hard	Kim Warwick	6–3, 6–3, 6–4
Win	3–5	Nov 1974	Bombay, India	Clay	Tony Roche	6–3, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	3–6	Dec 1974	Adelaide, Australia	Grass	Björn Borg	4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 2–6
Win	4–6	Jan 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Brian Fairlie	4–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–7, 6–4
Win	5–6	Dec 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Brian Fairlie	6–2, 6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Loss	5–7	Mar 1976	Washington, US	Carpet (i)	Harold Solomon	3–6, 1–6
Win	6–7	Apr 1976	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Cliff Drysdale	7–6, 6–3

Doubles (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)[edit]

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	May 1971	Houston, US	Clay	Milan Holeček	Tom Edlefsen Frank Froehling	1–6, 7–6, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Sep 1973	Aptos, US	Hard	Ray Moore	Jeff Austin Fred McNair	2–6, 1–6
Loss	1–2	Mar 1974	Palm Desert, US	Hard	Ray Moore	Jan Kodeš Vladimír Zedník	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–2	Apr 1974	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Ray Moore	Juan Gisbert Sr. Roger Taylor	4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Win	3–2	Jun 1974	French Open	Grass	Dick Crealy	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 5–7, 6–1
Loss	3–3	Nov 1974	Bombay, India	Clay	Dick Crealy	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	4–6, 6–7
Loss	3–4	Jan 1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Brian Fairlie	Bob Carmichael Ray Ruffels	6–7, ret.
Loss	3–5	Jun 1978	Brussels, Belgium	Clay	Vladimír Zedník	Jean-Louis Haillet Antonio Zugarelli	3–6, 6–4, 5–7