Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American 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, known as Vitas Gerulaitis. In 1975, he won the men's doubles title at
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
* ...
, partnering with
Sandy Mayer
Alexander "Sandy" Mayer (born April 5, 1952) is a former tennis player from the United States. He won twelve titles in singles and twenty-four titles in doubles in his professional career, and was part of the winning tennis squad at Stanford Un ...
. He won the men's singles title at one of the two
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 ...
tournaments held in 1977. (Gerulaitis won the tournament that was held in December, while
Roscoe Tanner
Leonard Roscoe Tanner (born October 15, 1951) is a retired American tennis player, who turned professional in 1972 and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 on July 30, 1979.
Tanner was famous for his big left-handed serve, which ...
won the earlier January tournament.) He won two
Italian Open titles,
in 1977 and 1979, and the
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a men's tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. From 1971–1989 the event was held annually in Texas on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifin ...
in Dallas in 1978.
Early life
Gerulaitis was born on July 26, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York, to
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n immigrant parents, and grew up in
Howard Beach, Queens
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by ...
. He attended
Archbishop Molloy High School
Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9-12, located on on 83-53 Manton Street, Briarwood, Queens, New York. It is part of the Roman C ...
in Queens, graduating in 1971. He attended
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King' ...
with the class of 1975 for one year before dropping out to pursue tennis full-time. Gerulaitis was nicknamed "The Lithuanian Lion". His younger sister
Ruta was also a professional tennis player. Both siblings' native language was
Lithuanian.
Career highlights
Gerulaitis led the
Pittsburgh Triangles
The Pittsburgh Triangles were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The Triangles won the 1975 WTT Championship. The team folded after the 1976 season.
Team history
The Triangles were founded in 1973 as a charter member of WTT by Centur ...
to the
World TeamTennis
World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973.
The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...
championship title at
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
'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
Frederick Sydney Stolle, AO (born 8 October 1938) is an Australian former amateur world No. 1 tennis player and commentator. He was born in Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. He is the father of former Australian Davis Cup player Sandon S ...
from 1977 until 1983.
He also won the men's doubles title at
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 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.
In 1977, Gerulaitis won the most significant title of his career at 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 ...
, when he defeated
John Lloyd in the men's singles final in five sets.
In 1978, Gerulaitis won the year-end championship
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a men's tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. From 1971–1989 the event was held annually in Texas on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifin ...
for the
World Championship Tennis
World Championship Tennis (WCT) was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 (the first players signed a contract at the end of 1967) and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990. A number of tennis tournaments aro ...
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
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
, in straight sets. He was a member of the United States team which won the
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 ...
in 1979. He won two singles "rubbers" in the final, as the US beat
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
5–0.
Gerulaitis reached his third
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
singles final in 1980, when he lost in the final of 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 ...
to
Björn Borg in straight sets.
In February 1981, Gerulaitis won the star-laden
Toronto Indoor invitational tournament, defeating
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
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.
In 1985, Gerulaitis teamed with
Bobby Riggs
Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 amateur in 1939 and World No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...
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
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
between 1988 and 1994.
Gerulaitis coached
Pete Sampras
Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
during the
1994 Italian Open in Rome, when Sampras' coach,
Tim Gullikson
Timothy Ernest Gullikson (September 8, 1951 – May 3, 1996) was a tennis player and coach who was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin and grew up in Onalaska, Wisconsin in the United States.
Gullikson was Pete Sampras' coach from 1992 to 1995.
Tennis ...
, was on a family vacation. Sampras won the title by defeating
Boris Becker in the final in straight sets.
Death
On September 17, 1994, while visiting a friend's home in
Southampton, New York
Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...
, an improperly installed pool heater caused
carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
gas to seep into the guesthouse where Gerulaitis was sleeping, causing his death by
carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...
. 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. Gerulaitis' remains were interred in
Saint Charles Cemetery
St. Charles / Resurrection Cemeteries is a Roman Catholic cemetery of the Diocese of Brooklyn in East Farmingdale, New York.
History
It was formed from two separate but adjoining cemeteries: Resurrection Cemetery was originally created and opera ...
in
Farmingdale, New York
Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. The population was 8,189 as of the 2010 Census.
The Lenox Hills neighborhood is adjacent to Bethpage State Park and the rest of the ...
.
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 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 denser than air at low temperatures. 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."
The Gerulaitis family reached a confidential settlement with some of the defendants in their civil case by 2002.
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
Singles performance timeline
Career finals
Singles: 56 (26 titles, 30 runner-ups)
Doubles: 21 (9–12)
Commemoration
The Vitas Gerulaitis Memorial Tennis Centre was opened in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, the capital of
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
. Also, a street in Vilnius is named after him. The song ''An Outbreak of Vitas Gerulaitis'' by Birkenhead band
Half Man Half Biscuit, from their 1991 album ''
McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt
''McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt'' was released in 1991 by British rock band Half Man Half Biscuit as their third original album (their preceding album having been a compilation). It was the first album released after the band had reformed in ...
'' also references the player, albeit obliquely.
Quote
"And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row."
: – ''after defeating Jimmy Connors at the January 1980
Masters.''
References
Video
* ''Wimbledon Classic Match: Gerulaitis vs Borg'' Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 31, 2006, Run Time: 180 minutes, .
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerulaitis, Vitas
1954 births
1994 deaths
Accidental deaths in New York (state)
American male tennis players
American people of Lithuanian descent
Archbishop Molloy High School alumni
Australian Open (tennis) champions
Burials at Saint Charles Cemetery
Columbia Lions men's tennis players
Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles
Lithuanian male tennis players
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
Sportspeople from Queens, New York
Tennis people from New York (state)
Wimbledon champions
People from Howard Beach, Queens
Columbia College (New York) alumni