Ray Ruffels

Ruffels was an Australian Open semi-finalist in 1968, 1969 and 1975, and a quarter-finalist in 1970 and 1977. In 1978, partnering with Billie Jean King in mixed doubles competition, Ruffels reached the final at Wimbledon and the US Open.

He was a member of the Australian Davis Cup team in 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1977.[1]

Doubles titles (16)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	1970	Merion, US	Hard	Bill Bowrey	Jim McManus Jim Osborne	3–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win	2.	1970	Phoenix, US	Hard	Dick Crealy	Jan Kodeš Charlie Pasarell	7–6, 6–3
Win	3.	1970	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Bob Carmichael	Željko Franulović Jan Kodeš	7–5, 6–2, 5–7, 6–7, 6–3
Win	4.	1971	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Bob Carmichael	Brian Fairlie Raymond Moore	6–3, 6–7, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss	1.	1971	Tehran WCT, Iran	Clay	Bob Carmichael	John Newcombe Tony Roche	4–6, 7–6, 1–6
Loss	2.	1971	Washington WCT, US	Clay	Bob Carmichael	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	6–7, 2–6
Win	5.	1972	Toronto WCT, Canada	Carpet	Bob Carmichael	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Win	6.	1972	Quebec WCT, Canada	Indoor	Bob Carmichael	John Alexander Terry Addison	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
Loss	3.	1974	Christchurch, New Zealand		Syd Ball	Ismail El Shafei Roscoe Tanner	W/O
Win	7.	1975	Auckland, New Zealand	Grass	Bob Carmichael	Brian Fairlie Onny Parun	7–6, RET.
Win	8.	1975	Baltimore WCT, US	Carpet	Dick Crealy	Ismail El Shafei Frew McMillan	6–4, 6–3
Win	9.	1975	Dayton Indoor, US	Carpet	Allan Stone	Paul Gerken Brian Gottfried	7–6, 7–5
Loss	4.	1975	Orlando WCT, US	Hard	Colin Dibley	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	4–6, 4–6
Win	10.	1975	St. Louis, US	Clay	Colin Dibley	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–4, 6–4
Win	11.	1976	Dayton, US	Carpet	Sherwood Stewart	Jaime Fillol Charlie Pasarell	6–2, 3–6, 7–5
Win	12.	1976	Little Rock, US	Carpet	Syd Ball	Giuliano Pecci Haroon Rahim	6–3, 6–7, 6–3
Win	13.	1976	Boston, US	Clay	Allan Stone	Mike Cahill John Whitlinger	3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	5.	1976	Bermuda	Clay	Dick Crealy	Mike Cahill John Whitlinger	4–6, 6–4, 6–7
Win	14.	1976	Bangalore, India	Clay	Bob Carmichael	Chiradip Mukerjea Bhanu Nunna	6–2, 7–6
Loss	6.	1977	La Costa WCT, US	Hard	Allan Stone	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 2–6
Win	15.	1977	Perth, Australia	Hard	Allan Stone	Nick Saviano John Whitlinger	6–2, 6–1
Loss	7.	1977	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Allan Stone	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–7, 6–2, 3–6
Win	16.	1977	Australian Open-2, Melbourne	Grass	Allan Stone	John Alexander Phil Dent	7–6, 7–6

Ruffels was appointed the inaugural Head Coach of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) tennis program in 1981. He held this position until his retirement in January 1990.[2] Whilst at the AIS, Ruffels coached many young players that would have successful professional careers including: Pat Cash, Wally Masur, Darren Cahill, Todd Woodbridge, Richard Fromberg, Simon Youl and Johan Anderson.[3] After leaving the AIS, he coached Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, who as a doubles team won many major titles including the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.[4]

In 2009, he returned to Australia to work at the AIS after being a national coach for the United States Tennis Association player development program in California.[5]

In November 2016, he was awarded The President’s Spirit of Tennis by Tennis Australia.

Ruffels married professional tennis player Anna-Maria Fernandez and they have two children, Ryan and Gabriela; both have taken up golf as a career.[6][7]

• Ray Ruffels at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Ray Ruffels at the International Tennis Federation
• Ray Ruffels at the Davis Cup
• Ray Ruffels at Tennis Australia