Eliot Teltscher

Eliot Teltscher

Country	United States
Residence	Irvine, California, USA
Born	March 15, 1959 (1959-03-15) Rancho Palos Verdes, California, USA
Height	1.778 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Turned pro	1977
Retired	1988
Plays	Right-handed
Career prize money	$1,653,997
Singles
Career record	399–216
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 6 (May 7, 1982)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (1983)
French Open	4R (1979, 1982, 1983)
Wimbledon	3R (1977)
US Open	QF (1980, 1981, 1983)
Doubles
Career record	161–164
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 38 (August 26, 1985)
Last updated on: June 15, 2008.

Eliot Teltscher (born March 15, 1959, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California) is a retired professional American tennis player.

Tennis career

Early years

Teltscher's mother was born in Israel; his father emigrated there during the Holocaust, and joined the British army. They moved to the United States, where Teltscher was born, and encouraged him to take up tennis, which he began playing at the age of nine.

By the time he was 17, Teltscher was ranked in the top 10 nationally in junior rankings.

He was an All-American in his only year at UCLA (1978), which he attended on a tennis scholarship.

That same year he defeated Onny Parun to capture the Benson & Hedges New Zealand Open at Stanley Street, Auckland, in a match best remembered for a controversial overrule midway through the third set.

Pro career

In 1979, Teltscher turned pro. A worldwide top 10 player from 1980–82, he was ranked no lower than #15 from through 1984. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on May 7, 1982, when he became ranked #6 in the world.

He reached the French Open doubles final with partner Terry Moor in 1981, and won the French Open mixed doubles title with Barbara Jordan two years later. He also reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open three times (1980, 1981, and 1983 – losing to Jimmy Connors all three years), and the quarterfinals at the 1983 Australian Open. In March 1987 he beat Connors, ranked # 8 in the world, in Chicago 6–3, 6–1. He won 10 singles titles during his professional career, which ended in 1988.

Looking back at his career, Teltscher expressed pride at the time his honesty took over from his competitive nature. During a match at the Masters Tournament against Vitas Gerulaitis, his racket grazed the net while it was match point. No one, including Gerulitis, was aware of the rule violation except for Teltscher. Rather than let it pass, however, he informed the judges of the infraction and lost the point, and maybe the match, because of his honesty. His parents are most proud of him for that action.

Davis Cup

Teltscher was on the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1982, 1983, and 1985. He had a combined record of 5–4 in singles play, and helped the U.S. win the Davis Cup in 1982 over France.[1]

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Men's doubles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1981	French Open	Clay	Terry Moor	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	2–6, 6–7, 3–6

Mixed doubles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1983	French Open	Clay	Barbara Jordan	Leslie Allen Charles Strode	6–2, 6–3

ATP Tour finals

Singles (24)

Wins (10)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	1978	Atlanta, U.S.	Hard	Stan Smith	6–4, 1–6, 1–2, ret.
Winner	1.	1978	Hong Kong	Hard	Pat Du Pré	6–4, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	2.	1979	Atlanta, U.S.	Hard	John Alexander	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	1980	Birmingham, U.S.	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	1980	New Orleans, U.S.	Carpet	Wojtek Fibak	4–6, 5–7
Winner	3.	1980	Atlanta, U.S.	Hard	Terry Moor	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	4.	1980	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Gene Mayer	2–6, 6–2, 1–6
Winner	4.	1980	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Tim Wilkison	7–6, 6–3
Runner-up	5.	1980	Republic of China	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	6.	1980	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–3, 4–6, 0–6
Winner	5.	1981	San Juan, U.S.	Hard	Tim Gullikson	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	7.	1981	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Ivan Lendl	3–6, 2–6
Winner	6.	1981	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Brian Teacher	6–3, 7–6
Runner-up	8.	1981	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Clay	Balázs Taróczy	3–6, 6–1, 6–7
Runner-up	9.	1982	Rome, Italy	Clay	Andrés Gómez	2–6, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	10.	1982	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Vitas Gerulaitis	6–2, 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	11.	1983	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	José Higueras	4–6, 2–6
Winner	7.	1983	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Andrés Gómez	7–5, 3–6, 6–1
Runner-up	12.	1984	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	8.	1984	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Francisco González	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	9.	1984	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Vitas Gerulaitis	6–3, 6–1, 7–6
Runner-up	13.	1987	Scottsdale, U.S.	Hard	Brad Gilbert	2–6, 2–6
Winner	10.	1987	Hong Kong	Hard	John Fitzgerald	6–7, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5
Runner-up	14.	1988	Guarujá, Brazil	Hard	Luiz Mattar	3–6, 3–6

Doubles (14)

Wins(4)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	1978	Columbus, U.S.	Clay	Marcello Lara	Colin Dibley Bob Giltinan	2–6, 3–6
Winner	1.	1979	Tulsa, U.S.	Hard (i)	Francisco González	Colin Dibley Tom Gullikson	6–7, 7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	2.	1979	Atlanta, U.S.	Hard	Steve Docherty	Raymond Moore Ilie Năstase	4–6, 2–6
Winner	2.	1980	New Orleans, U.S.	Carpet	Terry Moor	Raymond Moore Robert Trogolo	7–6, 6–1
Runner-up	3.	1980	Rome, Italy	Clay	Balázs Taróczy	Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick	6–7, 6–7
Runner-up	4.	1980	Columbus, Ohio, U.S.	Hard	Peter Fleming	Brian Gottfried Sandy Mayer	4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	5.	1980	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Clay	Terry Moor	Ross Case Jaime Fillol	3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Runner-up	6.	1980	Wembley, England	Carpet	Bill Scanlon	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	7.	1981	San Juan, Puerto Rico	Hard	Tim Gullikson	Tim Mayotte Chris Mayotte	4–6, 6–7
Runner-up	8.	1981	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Terry Moor	Bruce Manson Brian Teacher	6–7, 2–6
Runner-up	9.	1981	French Open, Paris	Clay	Terry Moor	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	2–6, 6–7, 3–6
Winner	3.	1982	Delray Beach WCT, U.S.	Clay	Mel Purcell	Tomáš Šmíd Balázs Taróczy	6–4, 7–6
Winner	4.	1982	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Mike Cahill	Francisco González Bernard Mitton	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	10.	1984	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Steve Meister	Tracy Delatte Francisco González	6–7, 1–6

Coaching

Among others, he served as a traveling personal coach from 1992 to 1997 for Justin Gimelstob, Richey Reneberg (1997), Jeff Tarango (1995), Pete Sampras, and Jim Grabb (1992).

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 served as a USA Tennis National Coach from 1998 to 2001, but in 2001 he resigned from to become 19-year-old Taylor Dent's personal coach.

He was named USTA Director of Tennis Operations in December 2002.

Teltscher was named the 2003 Pan American Games Men's Coach.

Hall of Fame

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

Miscellaneous

• Upon his retirement, Teltscher became a member of the ATP Players board in 1989.

• Teltscher resides in Irvine, California.

See also

• List of select Jewish tennis players

External links

• Profile at ATP-site
• USTA
• Davis Cup record
• Jews in Sports bio
• Teltscher v Onny Parun 1978 New Zealand Open final