Australian tennis is mourning the passing of four-time grand slam singles champion and Davis Cup star Ashley Cooper AO.

Cooper died on Friday aged 83 after a long battle with illness.

Competing in Australia’s halcyon days against legends like Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall and Neale Fraser, Cooper won three of the four slams in 1958 – the Australian, Wimbledon and US championships.

He collected two Australian titles, as well as four grand slam doubles crowns.

In 1957, he led Australia’s Davis Cup team that included Mal Anderson and Merv Rose which defeated the United States in the Challenge Round at Kooyong.

The following year the result was reversed and Cooper was so upset by the loss he tried to withdraw from a professional contract he had signed with Jack Kramer because he felt he owed Australia.

His public profile rose even higher when he married Helen Wood, the reigning Miss Australia in 1959. Their wedding attracted more than 3000 spectators, some of whom clambered onto the car trying to get a closer look at the golden couple.

After a back injury cruelly cut short his professional career, Cooper returned to Brisbane where he had a successful business career and then served Tennis Queensland and Tennis Australia as an administrator.

During his tenure, the old Milton courts were demolished and a new tennis centre built on the site of an abandoned power station.

“We just kept working and working and working until we put it together,” Cooper said.

Throughout his life Cooper was honoured for the roles he played including the Order of Australia.

He was also inducted into the International and Australian Tennis Halls of Fame plus the Queensland Sports Hall of Fame.

A walking bridge giving visitors access to the Queensland Tennis Centre is named in his memory.

“Ashley was a giant of the game both as a brilliant player and an astute administrator and he will be greatly missed,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said.