Brian Teacher

Brian David Teacher (born December 23, 1954) is a former American professional male tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking World No. 7 in 1981.

Brian Teacher

Country (sports)	United States
Born	December 23, 1954 San Diego, California
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Turned pro	1973
Retired	1986
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,426,514
Singles
Career record	335–235
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 7 (October 19, 1981)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (1980)
French Open	3R (1978)
Wimbledon	QF (1982)
US Open	4R (1978, 1980)
Doubles
Career record	220–172
Career titles	16
Highest ranking	No. 24 (August 9, 1983)

Teacher is best remembered for his singles championship at the Australian Open in 1980. His career-high world singles ranking was No. 7 and his world doubles ranking was No. 5, both in 1981. He won 8 career singles titles, and 16 doubles titles.

Following his playing career, he became an ATP & WTA touring coach. He currently runs the Brian Teacher Tennis Academy in South Pasadena, California.

Early and personal life

Teacher was born in San Diego, California.[1][2][3] He attended Crawford High School in San Diego, graduating in 1972.[2] He later lived in Beverly Hills, California.[4]

In 1979 he married fellow California player Kathy May, also a Top 10 tennis player, and the great-granddaughter of David May, founder of The May Department Stores Company[5] (now Macy's), and the mother of Taylor Fritz. They subsequently divorced.[6] He later studied for his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business.[7]

Tennis career

Junior, high school, and college

Teacher won a CIF singles title in 1972 while at Crawford High School.[8]

In 1972, he won the boys' 18 singles and doubles titles.[9] At the University of California-Los Angeles, where he studied economics, he won the Pacific-8 singles and doubles championship in 1974, was an All-American from 1973–76, and was a member of the UCLA teams that won the NCAA championship in 1975 and 1976.[7]

Professional career

He reached the finals in the South Australian and New South Wales Opens in 1977. In 1978, at the Seiko World Super Tennis Tournament in Tokyo, Teacher upset UCLA graduates Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe before losing in the final to Björn Borg 6–3, 6–4.[10]

In 1980, he won the Australian Open, becoming the second Jewish player to win a men's Grand Slam Singles event (after Dick Savitt).[1] He won the final over Kim Warwick of Australia in straight sets.[11][12] With his Grand Slam victory, Teacher is one of only five American male players in the Open era to have won a single Grand Slam event (along with Michael Chang, Vitas Gerulaitis, Andy Roddick, and Roscoe Tanner). Seven more Americans have more than one Slam (Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Jim Courier, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras).

His career-high world singles ranking was No. 7 and his world doubles ranking was No. 5, both in 1981.[1]

He won 8 career singles titles, and 16 doubles titles.[1]

Halls of fame

Teacher was inducted in 2001 into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame,[13] in 2008 into the San Diego Tennis Hall of Fame,[14] and he is also a member of the NCAA Tennis Hall of Fame and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[15] In 2014 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[1] In 2015, Teacher was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame.[16]

Coach

Following his playing career, he became an ATP & WTA touring coach working with, among others, Andre Agassi and Greg Rusedski.[17][18] Under his tutelage, Rusedski made a run from #85 in the world to the top ten and the U.S. Open finals. Teacher also coached world #1 doubles players Jim Grabb, Richey Reneberg, Daniel Nestor, and Max Mirnyi.[19] On the women's side, he coached WTA tour player Marissa Irvin.[20] He currently runs the Brian Teacher Tennis Academy in South Pasadena, California.[21]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 win)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1980	Australian Open	Grass	Kim Warwick	7–5, 7–6^(7–4), 6–2

Career finals

Singles (8 titles, 15 runners-up)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (1) Tennis Masters Cup (0) Grand Prix (7)

Titles by surface Hard (2) Grass (2) Clay (0) Carpet (4)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Sep 1976	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Vijay Amritraj	3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6
Loss	2.	Jan 1977	Adelaide, Australia	Grass	Victor Amaya	1–6, 4–6
Win	1.	Apr 1977	Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.	Carpet	Bill Scanlon	6–3, 6–3
Loss	3.	Dec 1977	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Roscoe Tanner	3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6, 4–6
Loss	4.	Oct 1978	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Björn Borg	3–6, 4–6
Win	2.	Nov 1978	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Tom Gorman	6–3, 6–3, 6–3
Win	3.	Jul 1979	Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.	Grass	Stan Smith	1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	5.	Apr 1980	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Gene Mayer	3–6, 2–6
Loss	6.	Nov 1980	Hong Kong	Hard	Ivan Lendl	7–5, 6–7, 3–6
Loss	7.	Nov 1980	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	7–6, 3–6, 3–6, 6–7
Loss	8.	Nov 1980	Bangkok, Thailand	Carpet	Vijay Amritraj	3–6, 5–7
Loss	9.	Dec 1980	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Fritz Buehning	3–6, 7–6, 6–7
Win	4.	Dec 1980	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Kim Warwick	7–5, 7–6, 6–2
Win	5.	Aug 1981	Columbus, Ohio, U.S.	Hard	John Austin	6–3, 6–2
Loss	10.	Sep 1981	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Eliot Teltscher	3–6, 6–7
Loss	11.	Sep 1982	Maui, Hawaii, U.S.	Hard	John Fitzgerald	2–6, 3–6
Win	6.	Dec 1982	Dortmund WCT, Germany	Carpet	Wojtek Fibak	6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Win	7.	Mar 1983	Munich WCT, Germany	Carpet	Mark Dickson	1–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–3
Win	8.	Aug 1983	Columbus, Ohio, U.S.	Hard	Bill Scanlon	7–6, 6–4
Loss	12.	Sep 1983	Dallas, Texas, U.S.	Hard	Andrés Gómez	7–6, 1–6, 1–6
Loss	13.	Jun 1984	Bristol, U.K.	Grass	Johan Kriek	7–6, 6–7, 4–6
Loss	14.	Jul 1984	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Joakim Nyström	4–6, 2–6
Loss	15.	Jul 1985	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Brad Gilbert	6–7, 4–6

Doubles (16 titles, 8 runners-up)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	1976	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	William Brown	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–3, 6–4
Loss	1.	1978	Miami, U.S.	Clay	Bob Carmichael	Tom Gullikson Gene Mayer	6–7, 3–6
Win	2.	1978	Manila, Philippines	Clay	Sherwood Stewart	Ross Case Chris Kachel	6–3, 7–6
Loss	2.	1979	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Bob Carmichael	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	4–6, 5–7, 6–3, 6–7
Loss	3.	1979	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Hard (i)	Bob Carmichael	Wojtek Fibak Tom Okker	3–6, 7–5, 6–7
Win	3.	1980	Washington-2, U.S.	Carpet	Ferdi Taygan	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	4.	1980	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Bill Scanlon	Vijay Amritraj Stan Smith	4–6, 3–6
Win	4.	1980	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Butch Walts	Anand Amritraj John Austin	6–2, 6–4
Loss	5.	1980	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Peter Fleming [lower-alpha 1]	Brian Gottfried Sandy Mayer	4–6, 2–6
Win	5.	1980	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Bruce Manson	Heinz Günthardt Sandy Mayer	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Win	6.	1980	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Bruce Manson	Wojtek Fibak Ivan Lendl	6–7, 7–5, 6–4
Loss	6.	1980	Hong Kong	Hard	Bruce Manson	Peter Fleming Ferdi Taygan	5–7, 2–6
Win	7.	1980	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Bruce Manson	John Austin Ferdi Taygan	6–4, 6–0
Win	8.	1980	Bangkok, Thailand	Carpet	Ferdi Taygan	Tom Okker Dick Stockton	7–6, 7–6
Win	9.	1981	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Bruce Manson	Terry Moor Eliot Teltscher	7–6, 6–2
Win	10.	1981	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	Butch Walts	Vitas Gerulaitis John McEnroe	7–5, 6–7, 7–5
Win	11.	1981	London/Queen's Club, U.K.	Grass	Pat Du Pré	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	3–6, 7–6, 11–9
Win	12.	1981	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Bruce Manson	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	6–1, 6–1
Loss	7.	1982	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Bruce Manson	Sherwood Stewart Ferdi Taygan	1–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win	13.	1982	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Mark Edmondson	Andreas Maurer Wolfgang Popp	6–3, 6–1
Win	14.	1982	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Fritz Buehning	Marty Davis Chris Dunk	6–7, 6–2, 7–5
Loss	8.	1983	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.	Carpet	Fritz Buehning	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	2–6, 4–6
Win	15.	1983	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Scott Davis	Anand Amritraj John Fitzgerald	6–1, 4–6, 7–6
Win	16.	1983	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Steve Meister	Andrés Gómez Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 7–6, 6–2

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Tournament	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	W	A	QF	3R	3R	A	A	1 / 5	15–4
French Open	A	A	A	A	2R	3R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	4–3
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	1R	2R	4R	3R	2R	QF	3R	1R	1R	2R	0 / 11	15–11
US Open	2R	3R	1R	1R	2R	4R	1R	4R	2R	2R	1R	1R	3R	1R	0 / 14	14–14
Win–Loss	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–2	2–4	6–3	10–3	12–2	2–2	9–3	4–3	1–3	2–2	1–2	1 / 33	53–32

Miscellaneous

• After he retired he completed his undergraduate economics degree and studied business at the University of Southern California.[23]
• As a coach, he worked with Jim Grabb, Mark Knowles, Max Mirnyi, Daniel Nestor, Richey Reneberg, and Greg Rusedski.[23]
• He is married and has two children.[24]

See also

• List of select Jewish tennis players

Notes

1. Fleming's partner incorrectly listed by the ATP as Eliot Teltscher. It was actually Brian Teacher as listed by the ITF.[22]

References

1. "Brian Teacher". www.jewishsports.net.
2. Robert Slater (2000). Great Jews in Sports
3. Sandra Harwitt, The Greatest Jewish Tennis Players of All Time
5. Jonge, Peter de (August 24, 2016). "The Making of America's Next Great Tennis Talent, in Two Very Different Labs". Intelligencer.
6. "The Australian Open Champion Who Almost Wasn’t - Book Excerpt From 'The Greatest Jewish Tennis Players of All Time,'" World Tennis Magazine.
7. "Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home". scjewishsportshof.com.
8. "San Diego District Tennis Association: Brian Teacher (1954- )". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
9. Dan Magill, Magill: Teacher joins Californian Hall contingent, Athens Banner-Herald, May 19, 2001.
10. "Brian David Teacher". Jews in Sports. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
11. "Brian Teacher Wins Crown in Australia". The New York Times. AP. January 5, 1981.
12. Douglas Perry (January 18, 2015). "Australian Open 2015: Four words that forged an unexpected Grand Slam champion - 'I want a divorce'". The Oregonian.
13. "ITA Men's Hall of Fame".
14. "Archived Document". Archived from the original on November 4, 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-26.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
16. Memorable SCTA Hall Of Fame Induction | Southern California Tennis News, Adult Tennis, Junior, Tennis, Community Tennis
17. "Teacher tries to keep Rusedski focused on semi-final". The Independent. September 5, 1997.
18. "Rusedski is served by a new teacher". The Independent. May 19, 1996.
19. "Brian Teacher | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
20. "Joplin Independent: World of tennis is introduced to young readers". www.joplinindependent.com.
21. "Brian Teacher Tennis Academy". www.brianteacher.com.
22. "Columbus Doubles 1980". itftennis.com. ITF. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Brian Teacher at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Brian Teacher at the International Tennis Federation
• Brian Teacher Tennis Academy