- Brian Gottfried
Brian Edward Gottfried (born
January 27 ,1952 ) is a formertennis player from theUnited States who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career.The right-hander reached his highest ranking on the ATP Tour on
June 19 ,1977 , when he became # 3 in the world.Tennis career
Junior & College
Gottfried was born in
Baltimore, Maryland . When he was five years old, some Japanese players stayed with his family while competing in a local tournament. Before leaving, they gave him a tennis racket as a present, thus launching his tennis career. In all, Gottfried won 14 national junior titles. He won the 1962 National 12-and-under singles title, and the doubles title withJimmy Connors . Gottfried repeated the victory in 1963 withDick Stockton . In 1964 he won the 12-and-under singles crown.In 1970, as a freshman at
Trinity University inTexas , he won the USTA Boys 18s singles championship, as well as the doubles championship with Alexander Mayer. [http://ustaboys.com/tournament/past_winners.php] He was anAll-America n in 1971 and 1972. He was the runner-up in NCAA singles and doubles in 1972.Professional career
Gottfried turned professional in 1972, and the following year he won his first career singles title in Las Vegas. In 1976 he reached 15 singles finals, winning 5, and was runner-up at the French Open. In April 1977,
Newsweek said he was "simply the best male tennis player in the world at the moment." [http://books.google.com/books?id=GWE_lEPfHpIC&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq=%22simply+the+best+male+tennis+player+in+the+world%22+gottfried&source=web&ots=LHLr69s0db&sig=cequzdou5GU_Rzk8tnKrh7I6B20] He won theItalian Open doubles championship for four consecutive years (1974-77). He won the men's doubles at the French Open in 1975 and 1977. In 1976 he won the men's doubles at Wimbledon. He finished his career ranked tied for 22nd in the 50 all-time open era singles titles leaders (16), and tied for 12th in the doubles leaders.His game was viewed as workman-like and solid with a particularly strong forehand volley, considered one of the best in the game, at the time. He honed his game to perfection with dedication and an addiction to practice. The story about his penchant for practice that is most often heard came from
Arthur Ashe , who recalled how Gottfried missed a scheduled practice in Miami one afternoon in order to get married, but atoned by putting in a double session the next day. [http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/highlights.asp?playernumber=G029] [http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=tennis&ID=15]Grand Slam singles finals
Runner-up (1)
Doubles titles (54)
Runner-ups (41)
Davis Cup
Gottfried was 7–7 in
Davis Cup play for the US between 1975 and 1982. [http://www.daviscup.com/teams/player.asp?player=10000536]Halls of Fame & Awards
He received the ATP Sportsmanship award for 1984.
Gottfried was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1990. [http://www.itatennis.com/Hall/hall_of_fame_men.htm]
Gottfried, who is
Jew ish, was inducted into theInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. [http://www.jewishsports.net/biopages/BrianGottfried.htm]Life after playing career
Gottfried now resides in Ponte Vedra, Florida, works with the ATP tour, and occasionally plays on the senior circuit.
In 2007 he joined the coaching staff at the
Harold Solomon Tennis Institute inFort Lauderdale . [http://www.miamiherald.com/673/story/251992.html]External links
*ATP|id=G029
*DavisCupplayerlink|id=10000536
* [http://www.jewishsports.net/biopages/BrianGottfried.htm Jewish Sports bio]
* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=tennis&ID=15 Jews in Sports bio]
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