Gene Mayer (born May 11, 1956) is a former

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 who won 14 professional singles titles during his career. Mayer was born in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

, New York. He grew up in

Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a Township (New Jersey), township in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York ...

, and played tennis at

Wayne Valley High School Wayne Valley High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school, in Wayne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of the two secondary schools of the Wayne Pu ...

, where he went unbeaten in his two years on the tennis team. He was a double hander on both forehand and backhand. The right-hander Mayer reached his highest ranking on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...

on October 6, 1980, when he reached the rank of World No. 4. Mayer has been a resident of

Woodmere, New York Woodmere is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 17,554 at the 2016 census. Woodmere is one of the Long Island communities known as the Five Towns, w ...

. In 2005, he was inducted into the

Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame The Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame honors elite athletes and sports media workers who have roots in Nassau County, New York. The Hall of Fame presentation takes places at the Nassau County Sports Commission "Salute to Champions" Awards Dinne ...

."NC Sports Commission Invites Athlete and Coach Nominations From Community"
, ''Three Village Times'', January 28, 2005. Accessed December 22, 2007. "The NCSC is privileged to announce that four-time Track and Field Gold Medallist Al Oerter and former world ranked tennis professional Gene Mayer are scheduled, among others, to accept their induction into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame on April 11." Gene's older brother Sandy was also a tour player. He achieved the rank of World No. 7 in 1982. They met each other in the

Stockholm Open The Stockholm Open (currently sponsored by Intrum) is an indoor tennis event on the ATP Tour played at the Kungliga tennishallen in Stockholm, Sweden. The tournament is owned by The Royal Lawn Tennis Club of Stockholm, SALK (Stockholm Pub ...

final 1981 and won 5 doubles tournaments together, including 1979 French Open.

Career finals

Singles: 26 (14 wins, 12 losses)

Doubles: 24 (15 wins, 9 losses)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Gene 1956 births American male tennis players French Open champions Living people American people of German descent People from Woodmere, New York People from Wayne, New Jersey Wayne Valley High School alumni Sportspeople from Queens, New York Stanford Cardinal men's tennis players Tennis people from New Jersey Tennis people from New York (state) Wimbledon champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York Sportspeople from Passaic County, New Jersey