Marty Riessen (born December 4, 1941) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player active from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was ranked as high as No. 11 in the world in singles on the ATP rankings in September 1974, though was ranked as high as world No. 8 by

Lance Tingay Lance Tingay (15 July 1915 – 10 March 1990) was a British sports journalist, historian, and author of several tennis books. For many years his annual ranking of top tennis players was "the only one that counted" before ATP rankings were introduc ...

of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 1971 before the computer rankings. Renowned for his doubles play, Riessen was also a regular doubles partner of Australian tennis great

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

, winning six of his seven major mixed titles and a career Grand Slam alongside her. Additionally a winner of two men's doubles Grand Slams, his highest doubles ranking was No. 3 in March 1980.

Career

Riessen played collegiate tennis at Northwestern University, where he reached the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) singles finals three times: 1962 (falling to

Rafael Osuna Rafael Osuna Herrera (15 September 1938 – 4 June 1969), nicknamed "El Pelón" (The Bald), was a former world No. 1 tennis player, the most successful player in the history of Mexico and an Olympian. He was born in Mexico City, and is best re ...

of University of Southern California); 1963 and 1964 (falling to

Dennis Ralston Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 – December 6, 2020) was an American professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s. As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University o ...

of USC both times). He was a semifinalist at the NCAA Doubles Championship with

Clark Graebner Clark Graebner (born November 4, 1943) is a retired American professional tennis player. Early life Graebner was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of Paul Graebner, a doctor, and his wife, the former Janice Clark. Paul had been a moderat ...

in 1963 and 1964. He won six singles titles in the

open era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...

, with the biggest coming in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1974. (He won numerous other pre-open era titles, including two other Cincinnati titles in the pre-Open Era.) He also reached the quarterfinals in singles at both the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

and the US Open in 1971. He also won 53 doubles titles, including the US Open (in 1976), the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

(1971, with

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Un ...

), and seven ATP Masters Series events: Paris Indoor (1976),

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(1971 & 1970),

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

(1970),

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

(1968 and 1969), and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(1968). He reached the doubles final at the US Open in 1978 and 1975, the

in 1971, and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in 1969.

Distinctions and honors

* He was a member of the U.S.

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team in 1963, 1965, 1967, 1973 and 1981. * The Marty Riessen tennis courts are in

Osmond, Nebraska Osmond is a city in Pierce County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Norfolk, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 791 at the 2020 census. History Osmond was established in 1890 when the Chicago, Burlington and Q ...

. * Dunlop named one of its wooden racquets the "Marty Riessen." * Riessen has been enshrined in the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

/Midwest Hall of Fame. * He is one of two high school tennis players from the state of Illinois to win the singles title four years in a row, 1957–1960, representing Hinsdale Township, now

Hinsdale Central High School Hinsdale Central High School, or HCHS (locally referred to as simply "Central") is a public four-year high school located at the corner of W. 55th St. and S. Grant St. in Hinsdale, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United ...

. * Riessen was also noted for his sportsmanship, not infrequently arguing that a judgement was incorrect and that points should be given against him.

Open era career finals

Singles: 22 (9 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Doubles: 80 (52–28)

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 6 (2–4)

Mixed doubles: 9 (7–2)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riessen, Marty 1941 births Living people American male tennis players Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open champions Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players Northwestern Wildcats men's tennis players Sportspeople from Boca Raton, Florida People from Hinsdale, Illinois American people of German descent Tennis people from Florida Tennis people from Illinois US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles American men's basketball players