Tom Gullikson (born September 8, 1951) is a

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 ...

coach and former professional tennis player born in

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

and raised in

Onalaska, Wisconsin Onalaska is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,803 at the 2020 census. It borders the larger La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is a part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Area. Onalaska is built on ...

in the United States.Doyle proclaims week in honor of Onalaska's tennis phenoms , Sports , lacrossetribune.com
Retrieved 2018-10-05.

Career

During his career as a player, Gullikson won 16 top-level doubles titles, ten of them partnering with his identical twin brother,

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 ...

, who was also a noted coach. Tim coached the then number one player in the world

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 ...

before Tim was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1995, and died in 1996. The brothers were runners-up in the men's doubles competition 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 1983. Gullikson also won the mixed doubles title at the US Open in 1984, with

Manuela Maleeva Manuela Georgieva Maleeva ( bg, Мануела Георгиева Малеева; born 14 February 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour between 1982 and 1994. Through her marriage, Maleeva began re ...

. Gullikson's best performance at a Grand Slam came when he got to the quarter finals of the 1982 US Open, defeating John Alexander,

Jérôme Potier Jérôme Potier (born 18 July 1962) is a French former tennis player. He is currently Josselin Ouanna's coach and has coached Marc Gicquel and Thierry Ascione Thierry Ascione (born 17 January 1981) is a retired professional tour male tennis ...

, Chip Hooper and

Jaime Fillol Jaime José Fillol Durán (born 3 June 1946), known professionally as Jaime Fillol Sr., is a retired professional tennis player from Chile, who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Fillol was ranked as high as world No. 14 in singles on the ...

before losing to

Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Vilas (; born 17 August 1952) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. Vilas was the No. 1 of the Grand Prix seasons in 1974, 1975 and 1977, and won four Grand Slam tournaments, one year-end Masters, nine Grand Prix Super Se ...

. Gullikson played compatriot

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 ...

during the first round of the 1981 Wimbledon championships, when the latter got into a verbal altercation with the umpire, during which he uttered his infamous “You cannot be serious!” exclamation. Gullikson won one top-level singles title (at Newport in 1985). His career-high rankings were World No. 34 in singles and World No. 4 in doubles (in 1984 and 1983 respectively). He retired from the professional tour in 1987. After retiring as a player, he became one of the original members of 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, ...

Player Development Program, coaching players such as

Todd Martin Todd Martin (born July 8, 1970) is an American retired tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the 1994 Australian Open and the 1999 US Open and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4. Playing career Martin was born ...

Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles Grand Slam titles and was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics ...

and

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

. He served as Director of Coaching for the program from 1997 to 2001. Gullikson was the United States

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 ...

Captain from 1994 to 1999. He captained the teams that won the Davis Cup in 1995 and were runners-up in 1997. In 1996, Gullikson was coach of the US men's

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

tennis team, and guided

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...

to winning the Olympic Gold Medal in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. From December 2001 to February 2002, Gullikson briefly coached

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 runner-up)

Mixed doubles (1 title)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gullikson, Tom American male tennis players American tennis coaches Identical twins People from Palm Coast, Florida Sportspeople from La Crosse, Wisconsin Tennis people from Florida Tennis people from Wisconsin 1951 births Living people Twin sportspeople American twins People from Onalaska, Wisconsin