Australia mourns death of grand slam winner, coach Rose

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Mervyn Rose, who won two grand slam titles and a pair of Davis Cups for Australia before coaching some of the greats of the game, has died at 87.

A pugnacious left-hander with an occasionally combustible temper, Rose won the 1954 Australian Open and the 1958 French Open along with five grand slam doubles crowns.

He was part of the Henry Hopman-captained teams that beat the United States for the Davis Cup in 1951 and 1957, and later enjoyed a successful coaching career, mentoring Margaret Court, Billie Jean-King and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, among others.

Born in Coffs Harbour, a coastal town in northern New South Wales state, Rose was inducted into the international Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001.

"A left-hander who perfected the art of the chip and charge, the only thing sharper than Rose's volleys was his wit," Tennis Australia said in a statement.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)