Brian Gottfried
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Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952 in Baltimore, Maryland) is a former tennis player from the United States, who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career.
The righthander reached his highest ranking on the ATP Tour on June 19, 1977, when he became the # 3 in the world.
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[edit] Tennis career
[edit] Junior & College
When Gottfried 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 an incredible 14 national junior titles.
As a junior player, Gottfried won the 1962 National 12-and-under singles title and the doubles title with Jimmy Connors.
He repeated the victory in 1963 with Dick Stockton.
In 1964 he won the 12-and-under Singles crown.
In 1970, as a Trinity University freshman in Texas, he won the USTA Boys 18s singles championship, as well as the doubles championship with Alexander Mayer.[1] These were 2 of 14 Junior titles he would win while at Trinity, where 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."
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.
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Runner-ups (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1977 | French Open |  Guillermo Vilas |
0-6, 3-6, 0-6 |
[edit] Davis Cup
Gottfried was 7-7 in Davis Cup play for the US between 1975 and 1982.[2]
[edit] Halls of Fame & Awards
He received the ATP Sportsmanship award for 1984.
Gottfried was inducted into the ITA Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1990.[3]
Gottfried, who is Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.[4]
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Seemingly addicted to practice, he skipped practice on his wedding day, but put in a double session the next day.
- Gottfried now resides in Florida, works with the ATP tour, and occasionally plays on the senior circuit.
[edit] External links
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