Vitas Gerulaitis

Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player. In 1975, Gerulaitis won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering with Sandy Mayer. He won the men's singles title at one of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977 (Gerulaitis won the tournament that was held in December, while Roscoe Tanner won the earlier January tournament). Gerulaitis also won two Italian Open titles, in 1977 and 1979, and the WCT Finals in Dallas, in 1978.

Vitas Gerulaitis

Vitas Gerulaitis at the 1978 ABN World Tennis Tournament
Country (sports)	United States
Born	July 26, 1954 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	September 17, 1994 (aged 40) Southampton, New York, U.S.
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro	1971
Retired	1986
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$2,778,748
Singles
Career record	535–232 (69.8%) in Grand Prix, WCT and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup
Career titles	26
Highest ranking	No. 3 (February 27, 1978)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (1977^Dec)
French Open	F (1980)
Wimbledon	SF (1977, 1978)
US Open	F (1979)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	F (1979, 1981)
WCT Finals	W (1978)
Doubles
Career record	164–123 (Grand Prix, WCT and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 43 (May 20, 1985)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1983)
French Open	QF (1980)
Wimbledon	W (1975)
US Open	3R (1972)

Early life

Gerulaitis was born on July 26, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York, to Lithuanian immigrant parents, and grew up in Howard Beach, Queens.[1] He attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, graduating in 1971. He attended Columbia College of Columbia University for one year before dropping out to pursue tennis full-time. Gerulaitis was nicknamed "The Lithuanian Lion".[2] His younger sister Ruta was also a professional tennis player. Both siblings' native language was Lithuanian.[3]

Career highlights

Gerulaitis led the Pittsburgh Triangles to the World TeamTennis championship title at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena in 1975. Gerulaitis played for the Triangles from 1974 until 1976. He also played for the league's Indiana Loves franchise in 1977.

Gerulaitis was coached by Fred Stolle from 1977 until 1983.

He also won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1975. He was a singles semifinalist at Wimbledon in both 1977 and 1978. In 1977 he lost a Wimbledon semifinal to his close friend and practice partner, Björn Borg, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 8–6, a match later considered one of the greatest of the decade.[4]

In 1977, Gerulaitis won the most significant title of his career at the Australian Open, when he defeated John Lloyd in the men's singles final in five sets.

In 1978, Gerulaitis won the year-end championship WCT Finals for the World Championship Tennis tour, beating Eddie Dibbs 6–3, 6–2, 6–1. By 1978, he was the third-ranked men's singles player in the world.

In 1979, Gerulaitis lost in the men's singles finals at the US Open to fellow New Yorker, John McEnroe, in straight sets. He was a member of the United States team which won the Davis Cup in 1979. He won two singles "rubbers" in the final, as the US beat Italy 5–0.

Gerulaitis reached his third Grand Slam singles final in 1980, when he lost in the final of the French Open to Björn Borg in straight sets.

In February 1981, Gerulaitis won the star-laden Toronto Indoor invitational tournament, defeating John McEnroe in the final after having defeated Jimmy Connors in the semifinal.

During his career, Gerulaitis won 25 top-level singles titles and eight doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 3 which he reached on February 27, 1978.

Gerulaitis was known for his exceptionally quick hands at the net and his outstanding court coverage.[5] In 1985, Gerulaitis teamed with Bobby Riggs to launch a challenge to female players after the famous Battle of the Sexes. The stunt, however, was short-lived when Gerulaitis and Riggs lost a doubles match against Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.

He retired from the professional tour in 1986, and was a regular tennis commentator on the USA network between 1988 and 1994.

Gerulaitis coached Pete Sampras during the 1994 Italian Open in Rome, when Sampras' coach, Tim Gullikson, was on a family vacation. Sampras won the title by defeating Boris Becker in the final in straight sets.

Gerulaitis is the subject of a Half Man Half Biscuit song from the McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt album, "Outbreak of Vitas Gerulaitis".

Death

Gerulaitis died on September 17, 1994, at the age of 40. While he was visiting a friend's home in Southampton, New York, an improperly installed pool heater caused carbon monoxide gas to seep into the guesthouse where Gerulaitis was sleeping, causing his death by carbon monoxide poisoning. Gerulaitis failed to show up for a dinner at 7 p.m. that evening and his body was found the following day by a maid who went to the guesthouse.[6] Gerulaitis' remains were interred in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

Criminal charges of negligent homicide were later brought against the pool mechanic and the company he worked for. Both he and the company were acquitted at a trial approximately two years later in October 1996. Jurors heard testimony that a technician from the heater manufacturer had made adjustments several days before Gerulaitis' death and that even if an exhaust pipe had been longer, carbon monoxide (colorless and odorless) would have still been drawn into the air-conditioning vent because it is heavier than air. (This is a flawed argument, since carbon monoxide is actually slightly lighter than air.) Arthur M. Luxenberg, a lawyer for the Gerulaitis family, stated that Gerulaitis' mother and sister believed the verdict to be fair, and he went on to state that the testimony at the trial "confirmed to us what we always knew: that there were a lot of other people involved in this matter."[7]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (1–2)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1977	Australian Open	Grass	John Lloyd	6–3, 7–6^(7–1), 5–7, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	1979	US Open	Hard	John McEnroe	5–7, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	1980	French Open	Clay	Björn Borg	4–6, 1–6, 2–6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	SR	W – L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open (Jan)	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Not Held									0 / 0	0–0
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	F	1R	QF	1R	2R	1R	A	0 / 7	16–7
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	1R	QF	SF	SF	1R	4R	4R	QF	2R	4R	3R	A	0 / 12	30–12
US Open	1R	2R	1R	2R	2R	4R	4R	SF	F	2R	SF	1R	3R	4R	3R	A	0 / 15	33–15
Australian Open (Dec)	Not Held						W	A	A	1R	A	A	2R	2R	A	NH	1 / 4	6–3
Win – Loss	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–2	7–2	14–2	10–2	11–3	10–4	8–3	8–3	3–4	7–4	4–3	0–0	1/38	85–37
Year-end championships
Masters Grand Prix	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	A	F	R16	A	R16	A	A	0 / 4	6–6
WCT Finals	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	W	SF	A	A	A	SF	QF	A	A	1 / 5	7–4
Win – Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	4–3	0–0	3–2	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1 / 9	13–10
Career statistics
Tournaments played			9	20	15	19	20	18	22	22	19	20	21	22	15	2	244
Titles – Finals			0–0	1–2	2–7	0–3	5–9	3–5	3–6	3–6	1–4	5–7	1–2	1–3	0–0	0–0	25–54
Overall Win – Loss			7–9	33–19	38–13	31–19	60–16	46–15	64–20	52–19	43–19	61–15	32–20	34–20	12–15	0–2	510–221
Win %			44%	63%	75%	62%	79%	75%	76%	73%	69%	80%	62%	63%	44%	0%	70%
Year-end ranking			131	47	15	18	4	5	4	9	9	5	20	17	81	799

Career finals

Singles: 56 (26 titles, 30 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	1974	Salt Lake City, US	Hard (i)	Jimmy Connors	6–4, 6–7, 3–6
Win	1.	1974	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Andrew Pattison	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	2.	1975	Philadelphia WCT, US	Carpet	Marty Riessen	6–7^(1–7), 7–5, 2–6, 7–6^(7–0), 3–6
Loss	3.	1975	Roanoke, US	Hard (i)	Roger Taylor	6–7, 6–7
Loss	4.	1975	Salisbury, US	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	7–5, 5–7, 1–6, 6–3, 0–6
Win	2.	1975	New York City, US	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	walkover
Loss	5.	1975	Orlando WCT, US	Hard	Rod Laver	3–6, 4–6
Win	3.	1975	St. Louis, US	Clay	Roscoe Tanner	2–6, 6–2, 6–3
Loss	6.	1975	Bermuda	Clay	Jimmy Connors	1–6, 4–6
Loss	7.	1976	Indianapolis WCT, US	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	2–6, 7–6^(8–6), 4–6
Loss	8.	1976	Toronto Indoor WCT, Canada	Carpet	Björn Borg	6–2, 3–6, 1–6
Loss	9.	1976	Charlotte WCT, US	Carpet	Tony Roche	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss	10.	1977	Richmond WCT, US	Carpet	Tom Okker	6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Win	4.	1977	Ocean City, US	Hard	Robert Lutz	3–6, 6–1, 6–2
Loss	11.	1977	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Wojtek Fibak	4–6, 3–6
Loss	12.	1977	London WCT, UK	Hard (i)	Eddie Dibbs	6–7^(2–7), 7–6^(7–5), 4–6
Loss	13.	1977	Houston WCT, US	Hard	Adriano Panatta	6–7^(4–7), 7–6^(7–3), 1–6
Win	5.	1977	Rome, Italy	Clay	Antonio Zugarelli	6–2, 7–6^(7–2), 3–6, 7–6^(7–5)
Win	6.	1977	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Tony Roche	6–7, 6–1, 6–1, 7–5
Win	7.	1977	Perth, Australia	Hard	Geoff Masters	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
Win	8.	1977	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	John Lloyd	6–3, 7–6^(7–1), 5–7, 3–6, 6–2
Win	9.	1978	Richmond WCT, US	Carpet	John Newcombe	6–3, 6–4
Loss	14.	1978	Las Vegas, US	Hard	Björn Borg	5–6^(5–7), 6–5^(7–5), 4–6, 5–6^(4–7)
Loss	15.	1978	Milan WCT, Italy	Carpet	Björn Borg	3–6, 3–6
Win	10.	1978	WCT Finals, US	Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
Win	11.	1978	Forest Hills, US - WCT Invitational	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–2, 6–0
Loss	16.	1979	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Björn Borg	2–6, 1–6, 3–6
Win	12.	1979	Rome, Italy	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–7^(4–7), 7–6^(7–0), 6–7^(5–7), 6–4, 6–2
Win	13.	1979	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Pavel Složil	6–2, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	17.	1979	US Open, New York	Hard	John McEnroe	5–7, 3–6, 3–6
Win	14.	1979	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Guillermo Vilas	4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 7–6
Loss	18.	1979	Masters, New York	Carpet	Björn Borg	2–6, 2–6
Win	15.	1979	Arkansas, Little Rock US	Carpet (i)	Butch Walts	6–2, 6–2
Loss	19.	1979	Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico	Hard	Jimmy Connors	5–6, 0–6, 4–6
Loss	20.	1980	Pepsi Grand Slam, Boca Raton	Clay	Björn Borg	1–6, 7–5, 1–6
Win	16.	1980	WCT Tournament of Champions, US	Clay	John McEnroe	2–6, 6–2, 6–0
Loss	21.	1980	French Open, Paris	Clay	Björn Borg	4–6, 1–6, 2–6
Win	17.	1980	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Wojtek Fibak	6–2, 7–5, 6–2
Loss	22.	1980	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	3–6, 4–6
Win	18.	1980	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Peter McNamara	7–5, 6–3
Loss	23.	1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Johan Kriek	6–7, 6–3, 6–7
Loss	24.	1981	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Peter McNamara	6–4, 1–6, 5–5 retired
Win	19.	1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Jeff Borowiak	6–4, 7–6, 6–1
Loss	25.	1981	Masters, New York	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	7–6^(7–5), 6–2, 6–7^(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Loss	26.	1982	Genova WCT, Italy	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 3–6
Win	20.	1982	Brussels, Belgium	Hard (i)	Mats Wilander	4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Loss	27.	1982	Zürich WCT, Switzerland	Carpet	Bill Scanlon	5–7, 6–7, 6–1, 6–0, 4–6
Win	21.	1982	Florence, Italy	Clay	Stefan Simonsson	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win	22.	1982	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Ivan Lendl	4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win	23.	1982	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Eliot Teltscher	2–6, 6–2, 6–2
Win	24.	1982	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Guillermo Vilas	7–6, 6–2, 4–6, 7–6
Loss	28.	1983	Forest Hills WCT, US	Clay	John McEnroe	3–6, 5–7
Win	25.	1983	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Wojtek Fibak	4–6, 6–1, 7–5, 5–5 retired
Loss	29.	1984	Toronto, Canada	Hard	John McEnroe	0–6, 3–6
Win	26.	1984	Treviso, Italy	Carpet	Tarik Benhabiles	6–1, 6–1
Loss	30.	1984	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Eliot Teltscher	3–6, 1–6, 6–7

Doubles: 20 (8–12)

Result	No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	1974	Roanoke, US	Indoors	Sandy Mayer	Ian Crookenden Jeff Simpson	7–6, 6–1
Loss	1.	1974	Little Rock, US	Carpet	Bob Hewitt	Jürgen Fassbender Karl Meiler	0–6, 2–6
Win	2.	1974	Salt Lake City, US	Indoors	Jimmy Connors	Iván Molina Jairo Velasco Sr.	2–6, 7–6, 7–5
Loss	2.	1974	Oslo, Norway	Indoor	Jeff Borowiak	Karl Meiler Haroon Rahim	3–6, 2–6
Win	3.	1975	Roanoke, US	Indoors	Sandy Mayer	Juan Gisbert Ion Ţiriac	7–6, 1–6, 6–3
Win	4.	1975	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Sandy Mayer	Colin Dowdeswell Allan Stone	7–5, 8–6, 6–4
Loss	3.	1976	Indianapolis WCT, US	Carpet	Tom Gorman	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	2–6, 4–6
Win	5.	1976	Boca Raton, US	Hard	Clark Graebner	Bruce Manson Butch Walts	6–2, 6–4
Win	6.	1976	Fort Worth WCT, US	Hard	Sandy Mayer	Eddie Dibbs Harold Solomon	6–4, 7–5
Loss	4.	1976	Charlotte WCT, US	Carpet	Gene Mayer	John Newcombe Tony Roche	3–6, 5–7
Loss	5.	1976	South Orange, US	Clay	Ilie Năstase	Fred McNair Marty Riessen	5–7, 6–4, 2–6
Loss	6.	1977	Masters Doubles WCT, New York	Carpet	Adriano Panatta	Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton	6–7, 6–7, 6–4, 3–6
Win	7.	1977	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Bill Scanlon	Mal Anderson Ken Rosewall	7–6, 6–4
Win	8.	1978	Birmingham WCT, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Frew McMillan Dick Stockton	3–6, 6–1, 7–6
Loss	7.	1978	Philadelphia WCT, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 4–6
Loss	8.	1978	Richmond WCT, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	3–6, 5–7
Loss	9.	1980	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	John McEnroe	Paolo Bertolucci Adriano Panatta	2–6, 7–5, 3–6
Loss	10.	1980	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Brian Gottfried	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	2–6, 4–6
Loss	11.	1981	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	John McEnroe	Brian Teacher Butch Walts	5–7, 7–6, 5–7
Loss	12.	1985	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Paul McNamee	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	4–6, 4–6

Commemoration

The Vitas Gerulaitis Memorial Tennis Centre was opened in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.[8] Also, a street in Vilnius is named after him.

Quote

"And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row."[9]

– after defeating Jimmy Connors at the January 1980 Masters. Gerulaitis had lost their previous 16 matches.

References

1. Sports of The Times; 'We've Lost Another of Our Kids', The New York Times, September 20, 1994. Accessed November 3, 2007.
2. "Read 'em and Leap". People. November 19, 1979. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
3. Araton, Harvey (March 4, 2010). "In the court of the ultimate tennis playboy". The Independent. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
4. "BBC SPORT - Tennis - Wimbledon History - Classic Matches: Borg v Gerulaitis".
5. Finn, Robin (September 20, 1994). "Tennis Greats Call Gerulaitis A Friend First". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
6. Gerulaitis died of Carbon monoxide poisoning, Philly.com, September 20, 1994.
7. Rather, John (October 5, 1996). "Acquittal In Death Of Gerulaitis". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
8. "GB's trip into the unknown". BBC News. September 23, 2009.
9. "Roger Federer Unbuttoned". International Herald Tribune. July 9, 2009 – via The New York Times.

Video

• Wimbledon Classic Match: Gerulaitis vs Borg Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 31, 2006, Run Time: 180 minutes, ASIN: B000ICLR8O.

External links

• Vitas Gerulaitis at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Vitas Gerulaitis at the International Tennis Federation
• Vitas Gerulaitis at the Davis Cup
• Vitas Gerulaitis at Find a Grave