Former Tennis Australia and ITF President Brian Tobin dies at age 93

Brian Tobin (X)

According to the Associated Press on Tuesday, former Tennis Australia President and International Tennis President Brian Tobin of Perth, Australia passed away at the age of 93 on Monday. Tobin was the president of Tennis Australia from 1977 to 1989, and the president of the International Tennis Federation from 1991 to 1999.

Tobin was the third Australian to be the president of the International Tennis Federation. He followed Roy Youdale (1950 to 1951, 1956 to 1957, and 1961 to 1962), and Ben Barnett of Auburn, Australia (1969 to 1971).

While the president of Tennis Australia, Tobin was responsible for moving the Australian Open from Kooyong to Melbourne Park in 1988. In his first year as president in 1977, there were two Australian Opens. One was in January and the other was in December. The next couple of Australian Opens started around Christmas time, while in 1980, the women played in November, while the men played in December. The men and women played at the same time again in 1981, and in 1987, the tournament was officially moved from the November/December time period to January. There was no Australian Open in the 1986 calendar year.

It is interesting that Australia won the Davis Cup in 1999, the same year Tobin was the ITF president for the final year. In Nice, France, Australia beat France 3-2. Australia was led by Mark Philippoussis of Melbourne, and the legendary doubles duo of Mark Woodforde of Adelaide and Todd Woodbridge of Sydney.

As a player, Tobin reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in men’s singles in 1957, 1960, and 1961. He also reached the semifinals in men’s doubles in 1963. After playing, Tobin was also the captain of Team Australia that won the 1964 Federation Cup (now called Billie Jean King Cup, which was won by Canada in 2023).