Brian Gottfried

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952) is a former tennis player from the United 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.

Contents 1 Tennis career 1.1 Junior & College 1.2 Professional career 1.3 Grand Slam singles finals 1.3.1 Runner-up (1) 2 Singles titles (25) 2.1 Runner-ups (26) 3 Doubles titles (54) 3.1 Runner-ups (41) 3.2 Davis Cup 3.3 Halls of Fame & Awards 4 Life after playing career 5 External links

[edit] Tennis career

[edit] 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 with Jimmy Connors. Gottfried repeated the victory in 1963 with Dick Stockton. In 1964 he won the 12-and-under singles crown.

In 1970, as a freshman at Trinity University in Texas, he won the USTA Boys 18s singles championship, as well as the doubles championship with Alexander Mayer.[1] He was an All-American in 1971 and 1972. He was the runner-up in NCAA singles and doubles in 1972.

[edit] 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."[2] He won the Italian 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 technically flawless, particularly his potent forehand volley, considered one of the best in the game. 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.[3][4]

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1977	French Open	Guillermo Vilas	0–6, 3–6, 0–6

[edit] Singles titles (25)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1973	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Jaime Fillol	W/O
2.	1973	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Arthur Ashe	6–1, 6–3
3.	1974	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 5–7, 8–6, 6–0
4.	1975	Baltimore, U.S.	Carpet	Allan Stone	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
5.	1975	Dayton Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Geoff Masters	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
6.	1975	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Grass (i)	Harold Solomon	6–2, 7–6, 6–1
7.	1976	Los Angeles, U.S.	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6–2, 6–2
8.	1977	Baltimore, U.S.	Carpet	Guillermo Vilas	6–3, 7–6
9.	1977	Palm Springs, U.S.	Hard	Guillermo Vilas	2–6, 6–1, 6–3
10.	1977	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Robert Lutz	6–1, 6–2
11.	1977	La Costa, U.S.	Hard	Marty Riessen	6–3, 6–2
12.	1977	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Wojtek Fibak	6–1, 6–1
13.	1978	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	7–5, 7–6
14.	1978	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	2–6, 6–4, 7–6
15.	1978	Houston WCT, U.S.	Clay	Ilie Năstase	3–6, 6–2, 6–1
16.	1979	Columbus, U.S.	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 6–0
17.	1979	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Johan Kriek	7–5, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3
18.	1980	Surbiton, England	Grass	Sandy Mayer	6–3, 6–3
19.	1980	Washington D.C., U.S.	Clay	José Luis Clerc	7–5, 4–6, 6–4
20.	1980	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Trey Waltke	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
21.	1980	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet	Adriano Panatta	4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 7–6
22.	1981	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Tony Graham	6–3, 6–3
23.	1982	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Mike Estep	6–7, 6–2, 6–4
24.	1982	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Bill Scanlon	6–1, 6–4, 6–0
25.	1983	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Mel Purcell	6–2, 6–3, 7–5

[edit] Runner-ups (26)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1973	Fort Worth, U.S.	Hard	Eddie Dibbs	7–5, 6–2, 6–4
2.	1973	Christchurch, New Zealand	Other	Fred Stolle	7–6, 6–4, 6–1
3.	1974	London, England	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	6–2, 7–6
4.	1975	Denver WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	6–3, 6–4
5.	1975	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Harold Solomon	6–3, 6–2, 5–7, 6–2
6.	1976	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6–2, 6–4
7.	1976	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	4–6, 7–5, 6–1
8.	1976	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Harold Solomon	6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 6–4
9.	1977	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Björn Borg	6–4, 6–3, 4–6, 7–5
10.	1977	Los Angeles PSW, U.S.	Carpet	Stan Smith	6–4, 2–6, 6–3
11.	1977	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	Björn Borg	7–5, 6–2
12.	1977	French Open, Paris	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–0, 6–3, 6–0
13.	1977	Washington D.C., U.S.	Outdoor	Guillermo Vilas	6–4, 7–5
14.	1977	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Guillermo Vilas	6–2, 6–1
15.	1977	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	7–5, 3–6, 6–4
16.	1977	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Butch Walts	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
17.	1977	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	6–2, 6–0
18.	1977	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Corrado Barazzutti	7–6, 7–6, 6–7, 3–6, 6–4
19.	1978	Los Angeles, U.S.	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6–2, 6–4
20.	1979	Rancho Mirage, U.S.	Hard	Roscoe Tanner	6–4, 6–2
21.	1979	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	6–4, 6–4
22.	1981	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
23.	1981	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	John McEnroe	7–6, 7–5
24.	1981	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Ivan Lendl	1–6, 6–0, 6–1, 6–2
25.	1982	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	7–5, 6–0
26.	1982	Wembley, England	Carpet	John McEnroe	6–3, 6–2, 6–4

[edit] Doubles titles (54)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1973	Philadelphia WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Dick Stockton	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
2.	1973	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Dick Stockton	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
3.	1973	Fort Worth, U.S.	Hard	Dick Stockton	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	7–6, 6–4
4.	1974	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Juan Gisbert Ilie Năstase	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
5.	1974	South Orange, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	7–6, 6–7, 7–6
6.	1975	Philadelphia WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Dick Stockton Erik Van Dillen	3–6, 6–3, 7–6
7.	1975	St. Petersburg WCT, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Charlie Pasarell Roscoe Tanner	6–4, 6–4
8.	1975	La Costa WCT, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Charlie Pasarell Roscoe Tanner	7–5, 6–4
9.	1975	Orlando WCT, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Colin Dibley Ray Ruffels	6–4, 6–4
10.	1975	World Doubles WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Mark Cox Cliff Drysdale	7–6, 6–7, 6–2, 7–6
11.	1975	Dallas WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	7–5, 6–3, 4–6, 2–6, 7–5
12.	1975	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase	6–4, 7–6, 2–6, 6–1
13.	1975	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
14.	1975	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	John Andrews Mike Estep	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
15.	1975	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–4, 6–2
16.	1975	Perth, Australia	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–0
17.	1975	Tokyo, Japan	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Juan Gisbert Manuel Orantes	7–6, 6–4
18.	1976	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
19.	1976	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Arthur Ashe Tom Okker	6–4, 7–5
20.	1976	St. Louis WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–4, 6–2
21.	1976	México City WCT, México	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Ismail El Shafei Brian Fairlie	6–4, 7–6
22.	1976	Jackson WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	7–5, 4–6, 6–0
23.	1976	Caracas WCT, Venezuela	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Jeff Borowiak Ilie Năstase	7–5, 6–4
24.	1976	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Geoff Masters John Newcombe	7–6, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
25.	1976	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	3–6, 6–3, 8–6, 2–6, 7–5
26.	1976	Washington D.C., U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Arthur Ashe Jimmy Connors	6–3, 6–3
27.	1976	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Ricardo Cano Victor Pecci	6–3, 6–0
28.	1976	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–2, 6–2
29.	1976	Woodlands Doubles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Phil Dent Allan Stone	6–1, 6–4, 5–7, 7–6
30.	1976	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	7–6, 6–4
31.	1976	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Sherwood Stewart	Juan Gisbert Stan Smith	1–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–6
32.	1977	Miami, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Paul Kronk Cliff Letcher	7–5, 6–4
33.	1977	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 7–6, 7–5
34.	1977	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Wojtek Fibak Jan Kodeš	7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
35.	1977	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	7–5, 6–3
36.	1977	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Jeff Borowiak Roger Taylor	6–2, 6–0
37.	1978	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Phil Dent John Newcombe	3–6, 7–6, 6–2
38.	1978	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet	Geoff Masters	Hank Pfister Butch Walts	6–3, 6–4
39.	1979	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	Ion Ţiriac Guillermo Vilas	6–4, 6–3
40.	1979	Columbus, U.S.	Clay	Robert Lutz	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
41.	1979	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Ilie Năstase	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	1–6, 6–3, 7–6
42.	1980	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Wojtek Fibak Tom Okker	3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
43.	1980	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	Rod Frawley Tomáš Šmíd	6–3, 6–7, 7–6
44.	1980	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Jimmy Connors	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	7–6, 6–2
45.	1980	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Sandy Mayer	Peter Fleming Eliot Teltscher	6–4, 6–2
46.	1980	Sawgrass Doubles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	7–6, 6–4, 2–6, 7–6
47.	1981	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	John McEnroe Peter Rennert	7–6, 6–3
48.	1982	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	John Lloyd Dick Stockton	6–4, 3–6, 6–2
49.	1982	Sawgrass Doubles, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick	W/O
50.	1982	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Bruce Manson	Jay Lapidus Richard Meyer	6–4, 6–2
51.	1982	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Frew McMillan	Shlomo Glickstein Andrew Pattison	6–2, 6–2
52.	1983	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Tian Viljoen Danie Visser	6–3, 6–3
53.	1983	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Paul McNamee	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	6–4, 6–3
54.	1984	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Cassio Motta Blaine Willenborg	6–4, 6–2

[edit] Runner-ups (41)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1973	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	John Alexander Phil Dent	1–6, 7–6, 7–6
2.	1973	Hong Kong	Hard	Paul Gerken	Colin Dibley Rod Laver	6–3, 5–7, 17-15
3.	1974	Atlanta WCT, U.S.	Clay	Dick Stockton	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	6–3, 3–6, 7–6
4.	1974	Orlando WCT, U.S.	Hard	Dick Stockton	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	7–6, 6–3
5.	1974	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
6.	1974	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Tom Gorman Marty Riessen	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
7.	1974	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–3, 6–2
8.	1974	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Patrice Dominguez Antonio Muñoz	6–1, 6–3
9.	1974	Tehran, Iran	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Manuel Orantes Guillermo Vilas	7–6, 2–6, 6–2
10.	1974	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Patrice Dominguez François Jauffret	7–5, 6–4
11.	1974	London, England	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase	3–6, 7–6, 6–3
12.	1975	Dayton Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Paul Gerken	Ray Ruffels Allan Stone	7–6, 7–5
13.	1975	São Paulo WCT, Brazil	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–7, 7–6, 7–6
14.	1975	Caracas WCT, Venezuela	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	7–5, 4–6, 6–2
15.	1975	Washington D.C., U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	7–5, 2–6, 6–1
16.	1975	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–4, 6–0
17.	1976	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	7–6, 6–3, 6–1
18.	1976	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Bob Hewitt	Dick Stockton Roscoe Tanner	6–3, 6–4
19.	1976	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–4, 4–0, ret.
20.	1976	Wembley, England	Carpet	Wojtek Fibak	Stan Smith Roscoe Tanner	7–6, 6–3
21.	1977	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	6–3, 7–5
22.	1977	U.S. Open, New York	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–4, 6–0
23.	1977	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	7–6, 6–4
24.	1977	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Wojtek Fibak Tom Okker	6–3, 6–3
25.	1977	Wembley, England	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Sandy Mayer Frew McMillan	6–3, 7–6
26.	1979	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	4–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2
27.	1979	Washington, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
28.	1979	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–3, 6–4
29.	1979	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
30.	1980	Baltimore WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Frew McMillan	Tim Gullikson Marty Riessen	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
31.	1980	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–3, 7–6
32.	1980	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Frew McMillan	Fritz Buehning Johan Kriek	3–6, 6–3, 7–6
33.	1980	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	1–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3
34.	1980	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet	Raymond Moore	Paolo Bertolucci Adriano Panatta	6–4, 6–4
35.	1980	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Vitas Gerulaitis	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	6–2, 6–4
36.	1981	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart	6–2, 6–2
37.	1981	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Tim Gullikson Bernard Mitton	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
38.	1981	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Robert Lutz	Johan Kriek Larry Stefanki	2–6, 6–1, 6–2
39.	1982	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Hank Pfister	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	6–2, 6–3
40.	1983	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	6–3, 7–5, 7–6
41.	1983	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Mark Edmondson	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7–6, 4–6, 6–4

[edit] Davis Cup

Gottfried was 7–7 in Davis Cup play for the US between 1975 and 1982.[5]

[edit] 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.[6]

Gottfried, who is Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.[7]

[edit] 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 in Fort Lauderdale.[8]

[edit] External links

• ATP Tour profile for Brian Gottfried
• Davis Cup profile for Brian Gottfried
• Jewish Sports bio
• Jews in Sports bio