John Christopher Lewis (born April 2, 1956) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from the United States.

Biography

Born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, Lewis studied business at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC) in the late 1970s.

Tennis career

Lewis was a three-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

and partnered with Bruce Manson to win the doubles title at the 1977 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships. As a professional player he competed briefly on the Grand Prix tennis circuit. His best result came at the

1979 New South Wales Open The 1979 New South Wales Open, also known by its sponsored name Nabisco New South Wales Open, was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the White City Stadium in Sydney. The men's event was part of the ...

, where he and

Steve Docherty Steve Docherty (born 6 May 1950) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. Docherty enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he finished runner-up in 4 doubles events. His most notable career ac ...

were runners-up in the doubles event, to

Peter McNamara Peter McNamara (5 July 1955 – 20 July 2019) was an Australian tennis player and coach. McNamara won five singles titles and nineteen doubles titles in his career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March ...

and Paul McNamee. At the

1980 French Open The 1980 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 26 May until 8 June. It was the 84th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Sla ...

he was a semi-finalist in the mixed doubles, with Leslie Allen. The pair hadn't dropped a set until they lost their semi-final in three sets to Czechoslovakians

Stanislav Birner Stanislav Birner (born 11 October 1956) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. He is married to Jana Birnerová and has two daughters, Eva Birnerová Eva Birnerová (born 14 August 1984) is a Czech former tennis player. ...

and

Renáta Tomanová Renáta Tomanová (born 9 December 1954) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Career Tomanová won the girls' singles title at the 1972 French Open. In 1975, she and Martina Navratilova represented Czechoslovakia in th ...

. He also competed in the men's doubles draw with USC teammate Glenn Petrovic. His only other Grand Slam appearance came in the mixed doubles at the

1980 Wimbledon Championships The 1980 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 23 June until 5 July. It was the 94 ...

, where he exited in the second round without playing a single point. Again partnering Allen, the pair received a bye in the first round, then withdrew from their scheduled second round match against Colin Dowdeswell and

Greer Stevens Greer Stevens (born 15 February 1957) is a retired professional tennis player from South Africa. Career Stevens in 1980 reached a career high singles ranking of world No. 7 and the Wimbledon quarterfinals in both singles and doubles]. With ...

Business

Lewis co-found a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm in 1982 with Richard Riordan, who was later

Mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is term limit, limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of Califo ...

. Former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

quarterback Pat Haden joined the firm in 1987 and it has since been named Riordan, Lewis & Haden.

Grand Prix career finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Christopher 1956 births Living people American male tennis players USC Trojans men's tennis players Tennis players from Santa Monica, California American financial businesspeople Businesspeople from Los Angeles