Eliot Teltscher (born March 15, 1959) is a retired professional American

tennis player 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 cove ...

. He won the 1983 French Open Mixed Doubles. His highest ranking in singles was #6 in the world and in doubles was #38 in the world.

Tennis career

Early years

Teltscher was born in Palos Verdes, California and lives in Irvine, California. His mother was born in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, and his father Eric, of Austrian descent, was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Mandatory Palestine and joined the British military, ultimately becoming an industrial engineer. He began playing tennis when he was nine, and by the time he was 17, he was ranked in the top ten in the United States junior rankings. He attended UCLA in 1978 on a tennis scholarship, but dropped out to begin his professional tennis career.

Pro career

In 1979, Teltscher turned pro. A worldwide top 10 player from 1980 to 1982. He reached his highest singles

ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...

-ranking on May 7, 1982 when he became ranked #6 in the world. He and his partner

Terry Moor Terry Moor (born April 23, 1952) is a former tennis player from the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North Ameri ...

made it to the finals 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 ...

in 1981, and he and Barbara Jordan won the mixed doubles title in 1983. He made it to the quarterfinals at the US Open in 1980, 1981, and 1983, where each time he was defeated by

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...

. He won 10 singles titles during his professional career, which ended in 1988.

Davis Cup

Teltscher was on 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

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. His team defeated France in the 1982 tournament.

Coaching

He served as a coach for Justin Gimelstob, Richey Reneberg (1997), Jeff Tarango (1995),

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 ...

, Jim Grabb (1992), Phillip King and others. Teltscher served as a head men's tennis coach at Pepperdine University for the 1991–92 school season, and as a tennis coach at the Manhattan Beach Country Club from 1992 to 1997. He was a coach of the US national team from 1998 to 2001, then he became the coach to Taylor Dent. He was named USTA Director of Tennis Operations in December 2002. Teltscher was named the 2003

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Men's Coach.

Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Teltscher, who is Jewish, was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...

in 1998, and into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

in 2009.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles

Mixed doubles

ATP Tour finals

Singles 24 (10–14)

Doubles 13 (4–9)

References

External links

* * *
USTA

Teltscher v Onny Parun 1978 New Zealand Open final
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teltscher, Eliot 1959 births Living people American male tennis players French Open champions Jewish American sportspeople Jewish tennis players People from Rancho Palos Verdes, California Sportspeople from Irvine, California People from Sebring, Florida Tennis people from California UCLA Bruins men's tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Israeli descent 21st-century American Jews