1981 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
John McEnroe defeated five-time defending champion Björn Borg in a rematch of the previous year's final, 4–6, 7–6(7–1), 7–6(7–4), 6–4 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1981 Wimbledon Championships. It was his first Wimbledon Championships, Wimbledon singles title and third Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major singles title overall. Borg was attempting to equal William Renshaw's record of six consecutive Wimbledon titles and Roy Emerson's all-time record of 12 major singles titles. It was Borg's last Wimbledon appearance. During this tournament, McEnroe famously shouted "You cannot be serious!" to the chair umpire in response to a serve being called "out". The disagreement took place on 22 June, during his first round match against Tom Gullikson.Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine Seeds Björn Borg ''(final)'' John McEnroe (champion) Jimmy Connors ''(semifinals)'' Ivan Lendl ''(first round)'' Gene Mayer ''(withdrew before the to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 170 weeks, and as world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles players, doubles for 269 weeks (List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles players#Weeks at No. 1, third-most of all time). He is one of two male players (alongside Stefan Edberg) to have held both No. 1 rankings, and the only one to hold both simultaneously. McEnroe was best known during his playing career for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court behavior, which frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities. McEnroe won an Open Era Tennis players with most titles in the Open Era#Men, record 155 career titles: 77 in singles and 78 in doubles. This includes seven s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter McNamara
Peter McNamara (5 July 1955 – 20 July 2019) was an Australian tennis player and coach. McNamara won five singles titles and nineteen doubles titles in his career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March 1983 when he became world No. 7. McNamara and fellow Australian Paul McNamee won the 1980 and 1982 men's doubles championship at Wimbledon and the Australian Open doubles in 1979. McNamara's highest rank in doubles was No. 3. After retiring as a player, McNamara coached professionals including Mark Philippoussis, Grigor Dimitrov, Matthew Ebden and Wang Qiang. McNamara died on 20 July 2019, at the age of 64, from prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, .... Career finals Singles (5 titles, 7 runner-ups) Doubles ( ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ferdi Taygan
Ferdi Taygan (born December 5, 1956) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He is of Turkish descent. Taygan enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won 19 doubles titles and finished runner-up an additional 20 times. Partnering with Sherwood Stewart, Taygan won the 1982 French Open doubles title. He achieved a career-high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 4. Taygan was also ranked the No. 1 team in the world with Sherwood Stewart and was the No. 2 doubles player in the Volvo Grand Prix final rankings in 1982. Career finals Doubles (19 wins, 20 losses) Personal life Ferdi Taygan was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to a Turkish father and a mother of Belarusian descent. His father Beyazıt immigrated to the United States to study civil engineering.Adı F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mel Purcell
Mel Purcell (born July 18, 1959) is a former professional tennis player and coach from the U.S. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 21, achieved in November 1980. Purcell's finest moment was when he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1983. He was head coach of the Murray State University men's tennis team from 1996 to 2016. Early years Purcell grew up in Murray, Kentucky, and played in the Kentucky State Tennis Tournament as a fifth-grader, and won two state doubles crowns with older brother Del as a middle schooler. He made the state singles finals three straight years, winning as a senior. Purcell graduated Murray High School and went on to Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), where he played for one year. He transferred to the University of Tennessee, where in 1980 he won an NCAA doubles championship with teammate Rodney Harmon. Pro career Purcell made his debut on the professional circuit in Summer 1980. As a wild card entrant at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dale Collings
Dale Collings (born 16 December 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. Career Collings, who was known for his fast serves, won the Wimbledon Plate in 1978. He twice made the third round of the Australian Open, in 1978 and 1982. The Australian also reached the third round of the men's doubles at the 1978 Wimbledon Championships (with Keith Hancock) and mixed doubles at the 1981 Wimbledon Championships (with Karen Gulley). He was a quarter-finalist at the Sydney Indoor tournament in 1979, beating Ken Rosewall and Geoff Masters along the way. He made another quarter-final in Adelaide that year and reached the semi-finals at Brisbane in 1980. With partner Dick Crealy Richard Crealy (born 18 September 1944) is an Australian former tennis player most notable for reaching the final of the Australian Open in 1970, being a member of the 1970 Australian Davis Cup Team, and winning four Grand Slam titles in dou ..., Collings was a doubles runner-up at t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter Rennert
Peter Rennert (born December 26, 1958) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He achieved career-high rankings of World No. 40 in singles (in 1980), and World No. 8 in doubles (in 1983). At the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel, he and partner Joel Ross won the men's doubles gold medal, and he and Stacy Margolin won the gold medal in mixed doubles. Biography Rennert was born in Great Neck, New York, and is Jewish. He attended and played tennis for Great Neck North High School, and in 1976 won the singles title at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association's tennis championships. He attended Stanford University, where he received a B.S. in Psychology and was an All-American. At Stanford, he was an NCAA singles finalist in 1980. He won three National Division 1 team titles and won College Player of the Year. At the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel, he and partner Joel Ross won the men's doubles gold medal. He and Stacy Margolin won the gold meda ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Johan Kriek
Johan Christiaan Kriek (born April 5, 1958) is a South African–American former professional tennis player. As a tennis player, he won two Australian Open titles and reached the semifinals at the French Open and US Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships. Kriek won 14 professional singles and eight doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1984. He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. Kriek became a naturalized American citizen in August 1982. He currently resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ... with his wife, Daga and their children Karolina and Kristian. Grand Slam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tim Mayotte
Timothy Mayotte (born August 3, 1960) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Mayotte won twelve singles titles during his career. Professional career A tall serve-and-volleyer, Mayotte learned to play the game on the public courts of Forest Park in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts. He played tennis for Stanford University in the early-1980s and won the NCAA singles title in 1981. Mayotte won his first top-level professional singles title in 1985 at the inaugural Lipton International Players Championships (now known as the Miami Masters). Other career highlights included winning the Queen's Club Championships in London in 1986, capturing the Paris Indoor title in 1987, and winning the men's singles silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Mayotte beat almost every great player of his era including Agassi, Sampras, Edberg, Becker, Noah, Connors, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rod Frawley
Rod Frawley (born 8 September 1952) is a former tennis player from Australia, who won one singles title (1982, Adelaide) and five doubles titles during his professional career. The right-hander reached his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 43 in December 1980. His highest ranking in doubles, world No. 23, was achieved in March 1980. Frawley reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1981, before losing to eventual champion John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) .... He is the older brother of John Frawley. Career finals Singles (1 title, 1 runner-up) Doubles (5 titles, 11 runner-ups) References External links * * Living people 1952 births Australian male tennis players Tennis players from Brisbane 20th-century Australian sportsmen 21s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vijay Amritraj
Vijay Amritraj (; born 14 December 1953) is an Indian sports commentator, actor and retired professional tennis player from Madras. He was awarded the Padma Shri, the government of India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1983. In 2022, he was honored for his contributions to tennis in London by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Federation. On July 20, 2024 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Early life Vijay was born in Madras, India to a Tamil Christian Nadar family consisting of parents Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj, and brothers Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, who were also international tennis players. Career After playing his first Grand Prix event in 1970, Amritraj achieved his first success in singles in 1973 when he reached the quarterfinals at two Grand Slam events. At Wimbledon, he lost in five sets to the eventual champion Jan Kodeš and later that summer at the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mike Estep
Mike Estep (born July 19, 1949) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During his career Estep won 2 singles titles and 7 doubles titles. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 59 in August 1973. In 1983 until 1986 he coached Martina Navratilova. Later he worked with Carling Bassett, Hana Mandlíková, Jana Novotná and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. He was a board member of the Association of Tennis Professionals from 1982 to 1989, holding the position of chairman of the ATP ranking Committee at the same time. He also worked with the U.S. Tennis Association, creating a method for ranking juniors in 1999 that is now used nationwide, and serving on the junior development council for Texas from 1993 to 1995. Estep resides in Hurst, Texas. Early life Estep grew up in Dallas, where he graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas. As a junior tennis player, Estep held a No 1 national ranking for five straight years (from 1963 to 1967). Estep w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vitas Gerulaitis
Vytautas "Vitas" Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1978. Gerulaitis won the men's singles title at the December 1977 Australian Open, and the men's doubles title at the 1975 Wimbledon Championships, partnering with Sandy Mayer. Gerulaitis also won two Italian Opens in 1977 and 1979, and the 1978 WCT Finals. Early life Born to Lithuanian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, Gerulaitis grew up in Howard Beach, Queens, attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, and graduated in 1971. He attended Columbia College of Columbia University with the class of 1975 for one year, then dropped 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 Gerulai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |