Harald Rittersbacher (born 27 April 1963) 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 Germany.

Biography

Born in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

, Rittersbacher played collegiate tennis in the United States for

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

in the early 1980s. Rittersbacher, a right-handed player, made his grand slam main draw debut at the

1986 French Open The 1986 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 26 May until 8 June. It was the 90th staging of the French Open, and the first Gran ...

in the men's doubles with Anthony Emerson. At the

1987 Wimbledon Championships The 1987 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 101st edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

he and partner

Russell Barlow Russell Barlow (born 18 December 1962) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. Biography Barlow, a left-handed player from Toowoomba, twice finished runner-up at the Australian Junior Championships, in the Under-14s and Under-16s ...

faced top seeds

Guy Forget Guy Forget (; born 4 January 1965) is a French tennis administrator and retired professional player. During his career, he helped France win the Davis Cup in both 1991 and 1996. Since retiring as a player, he has served as France's Davis Cup te ...

and

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade c ...

for a first round loss. He made his third and final grand slam appearance in the mixed doubles with

Marise Kruger Marise Kruger (born 17 July 1958) is a former South African tennis player who was active in the second half of the 1970s. Tennis career Kruger started playing tennis when she was five. She reached the girl's final at the 1976 Wimbledon Champion ...

at the

1988 French Open The 1988 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 23 May until 5 June. It was the 92nd staging of the French Open, and the second Grand ...

. On the

Grand Prix circuit The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with t ...

he made most of his appearances in doubles, making several quarter-finals. He won his only

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

title in 1989, which came in the doubles at

Montabaur Montabaur () is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to w ...

in his home country. Now a tennis coach, Rittersbacher was formerly based in Mannheim, the birthplace of

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and won 22 major singles titles, ...

, who had him as a hitting partner for several years. He was later an assistant coach for the tennis team at

Hawaii Pacific University Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) is a private university in downtown Honolulu, Makapuʻu and Kāneʻohe, Hawaii. HPU is the largest private university in the central Pacific, most noted for its diverse student body of nearly 5,000 students, re ...

Challenger titles

Doubles: (1)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rittersbacher, Harald 1963 births Living people German male tennis players West German male tennis players Sportspeople from Ludwigshafen TCU Horned Frogs men's tennis players