Brian Teacher

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brian Teacher
Country Flag of the United States United States
Residence San Diego, California
Date of birth December 23, 1954 (1954-12-23) (age 53)
Place of birth Omaha, Nebraska
Height 6'3 (190 cm)
Weight 175 lbs (79 kg)
Turned pro -
Plays Right-handed
Career prize money $1,426,514
Singles
Career record: 335 - 235
Career titles: 8
Highest ranking: 7 (19-Oct-81)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open W (1980)
French Open 3rd Round (1978)
Wimbledon QF (1982)
US Open 4th Round (1978, 1980)
Doubles
Career record: 220 - 172
Career titles: 16
Highest ranking: 28 (2-Jan-84)

Infobox last updated on: January 22, 2007.

Brian David Teacher (born December 23, 1954) is a former professional American male tennis player.

He was World # 7 in 1981.

Contents

[edit] Tennis career

Teacher learned both tennis and swimming at the age of five, but concentrated solely on tennis after ear and throat troubles caused him to give up swimming.

In 1972 he won the Boys' 18 singles and doubles titles.

The following year, Teacher enrolled at the University of California-Los Angeles where he was an All-American from 1973-76, won the Pacific 8 singles and doubles championship in 1974, and was a member of UCLA's NCAA championship teams in 1975-76.

In 1976, just shy of graduating from UCLA with a degree in economics, Teacher turned pro.

In 1977 he won his first singles title, and reached the finals in both the South Australian and New South Wales Opens.

In 1978, Teacher created a sensation at the Seiko World Super Tennis Tournament in Tokyo, by upsetting UCLA graduates Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe, losing only in the finals to Bjorn Borg, 6–3, 6–4.

Teacher is best remembered for his victory at the Australian Open in 1980. He won the Open in straight sets (7–5, 7–6, 6–2) over Kim Warwick of Australia, becoming the first Jewish male to win a singles title in a Grand Slam event since the 1950s.

He won eight career singles titles, and 16 in doubles.

[edit] Style of play

He was a terrific player on faster surfaces, where he could use a serve-and-volley attack.

[edit] Hall of Fame

Teacher was inducted in 2001 into the ITA Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.[1]

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (1)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1980 Australian Open Kim Warwick 7–5, 7–6, 6–2

[edit] Singles titles (8)

Legend
Grand Slam (1)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
Grand Prix (7)
Titles by Surface
Hard (2)
Grass (2)
Clay (0)
Carpet (4)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 1977 Jackson, U.S. Carpet Flag of the United States Bill Scanlon 6–3, 6–3
2. 1978 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Flag of the United States Tom Gorman 6–3, 6–3, 6–3
3. 1979 Newport, U.S. Grass Flag of the United States Stan Smith 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
4. 1980 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Flag of Australia Kim Warwick 7–5, 7–6, 6–2
5. 1981 Columbus, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States John Austin 6–3, 6–2
6. 1982 Dortmund WCT, Germany Carpet Flag of Poland Wojtek Fibak 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 2–6, 6–4
7. 1983 Munich WCT, Germany Carpet Flag of the United States Mark Dickson 1–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–3
8. 1983 Columbus, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Bill Scanlon 7–6, 6–4

[edit] Runner-ups (15)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 1976 Newport, U.S. Grass Flag of India Vijay Amritraj 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1
2. 1977 Adelaide, Australia Grass Flag of the United States Victor Amaya 6–1, 6–4
3. 1977 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Flag of the United States Roscoe Tanner 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4
4. 1978 Tokyo Indoor, Japan Carpet Flag of Sweden Björn Borg 6–3, 6–4
5. 1980 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Gene Mayer 6–3, 6–2
6. 1980 Hong Kong Hard Flag of the Czech Republic Ivan Lendl 5–7, 7–6, 6–3
7. 1980 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Flag of the Czech Republic Ivan Lendl 6–7, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6
8. 1980 Bangkok, Thailand Carpet Flag of India Vijay Amritraj 6–3, 7–5
9. 1980 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Flag of the United States Fritz Buehning 6–3, 6–7, 7–6
10. 1981 San Francisco, U.S. Carpet Flag of the United States Eliot Teltscher 6–3, 7–6
11. 1982 Maui, U.S. Hard Flag of Australia John Fitzgerald 6–2, 6–3
12. 1983 Dallas, U.S. Hard Flag of Ecuador Andrés Gómez 6–7, 6–1, 6–1
13. 1984 Bristol, England Grass Flag of the United States Johan Kriek 6–7, 7–6, 6–4
14. 1984 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Flag of Sweden Joakim Nyström 6–4, 6–2
15. 1985 Livingston, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Brad Gilbert 7–6, 6–4

[edit] Doubles titles (16)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponent in the final Score
1. 1976 Columbus, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States William Brown Flag of the United States Fred McNair
Flag of the United States Sherwood Stewart
6–3, 6–4
2. 1978 Manila, Philippines Clay Flag of the United States Sherwood Stewart Flag of Australia Ross Case
Flag of Australia Chris Kachel
6–3, 7–6
3. 1980 Washington-2, U.S. Carpet Flag of the United States Ferdi Taygan Flag of South Africa Kevin Curren
Flag of the United States Steve Denton
4–6, 6–3, 7–6
4. 1980 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Butch Walts Flag of India Anand Amritraj
Flag of the United States John Austin
6–2, 6–4
5. 1980 Toronto, Canada Hard Flag of the United States Bruce Manson Flag of Switzerland Heinz Günthardt
Flag of the United States Sandy Mayer
6–3, 3–6, 6–4
6. 1980 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Bruce Manson Flag of Poland Wojtek Fibak
Flag of the Czech Republic Ivan Lendl
6–7, 7–5, 6–4
7. 1980 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Flag of the United States Bruce Manson Flag of the United States John Austin
Flag of the United States Ferdi Taygan
6–4, 6–0
8. 1980 Bangkok, Thailand Carpet Flag of the United States Ferdi Taygan Flag of the Netherlands Tom Okker
Flag of the United States Dick Stockton
7–6, 7–6
9. 1981 La Quinta, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Bruce Manson Flag of the United States Terry Moor
Flag of the United States Eliot Teltscher
7–6, 6–2
10. 1981 Frankfurt, Germany Carpet Flag of the United States Butch Walts Flag of the United States Vitas Gerulaitis
Flag of the United States John McEnroe
7–5, 6–7, 7–5
11. 1981 London/Queen's Club, England Grass Flag of the United States Pat Du Pré Flag of South Africa Kevin Curren
Flag of the United States Steve Denton
3–6, 7–6, 11-9
12. 1981 Columbus, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Bruce Manson Flag of India Anand Amritraj
Flag of India Vijay Amritraj
6–1, 6–1
13. 1982 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Flag of Australia Mark Edmondson Flag of Germany Andreas Maurer
Flag of Germany Wolfgang Popp
6–3, 6–1
14. 1982 San Francisco, U.S. Carpet Flag of the United States Fritz Buehning Flag of the United States Marty Davis
Flag of the United States Chris Dunk
6–7, 6–2, 7–5
15. 1983 Columbus, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Scott Davis Flag of India Anand Amritraj
Flag of Australia John Fitzgerald
6–1, 4–6, 7–6
16. 1983 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Flag of the United States Steve Meister Flag of Ecuador Andrés Gómez
Flag of the United States Sherwood Stewart
6–7, 7–6, 6–2

[edit] Runner-ups (7)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponent in the final Score
1. 1978 Miami, U.S. Clay Flag of Australia Bob Carmichael Flag of the United States Tom Gullikson
Flag of the United States Gene Mayer
7–6, 6–3
2. 1979 Washington Indoor, U.S. Carpet Flag of Australia Bob Carmichael Flag of the United States Robert Lutz
Flag of the United States Stan Smith
6–4, 7–5, 3–6, 7–6
3. 1979 Stuttgart Indoor, Germany Hard (i) Flag of Australia Bob Carmichael Flag of Poland Wojtek Fibak
Flag of the Netherlands Tom Okker
6–3, 5–7, 7–6
4. 1980 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet Flag of the United States Bill Scanlon Flag of India Vijay Amritraj
Flag of the United States Stan Smith
6–4, 6–3
5. 1980 Hong Kong Hard Flag of the United States Bruce Manson Flag of the United States Peter Fleming
Flag of the United States Ferdi Taygan
7–5, 6–2
6. 1982 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Flag of the United States Bruce Manson Flag of the United States Sherwood Stewart
Flag of the United States Ferdi Taygan
6–1, 6–7, 6–3
7. 1983 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet Flag of the United States Fritz Buehning Flag of the Czech Republic Pavel Slozil
Flag of the Czech Republic Tomáš Šmíd
6–2, 6–4

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • He has two daughters with wife Lori: Noel and Kelly.
  • The book Superlearning 2000 (update on the 1979 original version) attributes the rise in Teacher's career during 1980 to his experiments with suggestive accelerated learning methods, which were introduced to him by Powell Blankenship, a tennis teacher in San Diego.

[edit] Links