Vitas Gerulaitis

Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was a professional tennis player from the United States. He is known for winning the men's singles title at the Australian Open in 1977.

Gerulaitis was born in 1954 in Brooklyn, NY to Lithuanian immigrant parents, and grew up in Howard Beach, Queens. He attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, graduating in 1971. He attended Columbia College of Columbia University for one year before dropping out to pursue tennis full time.

In 1977, Gerulaitis won the most significant title of his career at the Australian Open, when he defeated John Lloyd in the men's singles final in five sets.

In 1979, Gerulaitis lost in men's singles finals at the US Open to fellow New Yorker John McEnroe in straight sets.

Gerulaitis reached his third Grand Slam singles final in 1980, when he lost in the final of the French Open to Björn Borg in straight sets.

Gerulaitis also won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1975. He was a singles semi-finalist at Wimbledon in both 1977 and 1978. In 1977, he lost a long Wimbledon semi-final to Borg 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 8–6.

Gerulaitis was a member of the United States team which won the Davis Cup in 1979. In the final, he won two singles rubbers as the US beat Italy 5–0.

Gerulaitis led the Pittsburgh Triangles to the World Team Tennis championship title at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena in 1975.

Gerulaitis was known for his exceptionally quick hands at the net and for his outstanding court coverage. With his dash of long blond hair he was a precursor, in style at least, to Andre Agassi. Gerulaitis is considered one of the great "might-have beens" of tennis. Some believe that by indulging in a close and perhaps servile friendship with Björn Borg, Gerulaitis may have stifled the aggressive instincts needed to bring a player to the top rank. Gerulaitis had a career head-to-head record against Borg of 0 wins to 16 losses.

In 1985, Gerulaitis teamed-up with Bobby Riggs to launch a challenge to female players after the famous Battle of the Sexes. However, the stunt was short-lived when Gerulaitis and Riggs lost a doubles match against Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.

During his career, Gerulaitis won 24 top-level singles titles and 8 doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 3 in 1978. He retired from the professional tour in 1986.

Gerulaitis died in an accident on September 17, 1994, at age 40. While visiting a friend's home in Southampton, Long Island, a malfunction in the heating system caused odorless, poisonous carbon monoxide gas to seep into the guesthouse where Gerulaitis was sleeping, causing his death. Gerulaitis is interred in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.

In 1991 the English rock band Half Man Half Biscuit released a song entitled Outbreak of Vitas Gerulaitis.

Grand Slam singles finals

Win (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1977	Australian Open (Dec)	John Lloyd	6–3, 7–6, 5–7, 3–6, 6–2

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1979	US Open	John McEnroe	7–5, 6–3, 6–3
1980	French Open	Björn Borg	6–4, 6–1, 6–2

Singles finals (53)

Wins (24)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	1974	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Andrew Pattison	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
2.	1975	New York City, U.S.	Indoor	Jimmy Connors	walkover
3.	1975	St. Louis, U.S.	Clay	Roscoe Tanner	2–6, 6–2, 6–3
4.	1977	Ocean City, U.S.	Hard	Robert Lutz	3–6, 6–1, 6–2
5.	1977	Rome, Italy	Clay	Antonio Zugarelli	6–2, 7–6, 3–6, 7–6
6.	1977	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Tony Roche	6–7, 6–1, 6–1, 7–5
7.	1977	Perth, Australia	Hard	Geoff Masters	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
8.	1977	Australian Open-2, Melbourne	Grass	John Lloyd	6–3, 7–6, 5–7, 3–6, 6–2
9.	1978	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	John Newcombe	6–3, 6–4
10.	1978	Dallas, U.S. - WCT Finals	Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
11.	1978	Forest Hills, U.S. - WCT Invitational	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–2, 6–0
12.	1979	Rome, Italy	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–7, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4, 6–2
13.	1979	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Pavel Složil	6–2, 6–2, 6–4
14.	1979	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Guillermo Vilas	4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 7–6
15.	1980	Forest Hills, U.S. - WCT Tournament of Champions	Clay	John McEnroe	2–6, 6–2, 6–0
16.	1980	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Wojtek Fibak	6–2, 7–5, 6–2
17.	1980	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Peter McNamara	7–5, 6–3
18.	1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Jeff Borowiak	6–4, 7–6, 6–1
19.	1982	Brussels, Belgium - Belgian Indoor	Hard (i)	Mats Wilander	4–6, 7–6, 6–2
20.	1982	Florence, Italy	Clay	Stefan Simonsson	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
21.	1982	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Ivan Lendl	4–6, 6–1, 6–3
22.	1982	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Eliot Teltscher	2–6, 6–2, 6–2
23.	1982	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Guillermo Vilas	7–6, 6–2, 4–6, 7–6
24.	1983	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Wojtek Fibak	4–6, 6–1, 7–5, 5–5, retired
25.	1984	Treviso, Italy	Clay	Tarik Benhabiles	6–1, 6–1

Runner-ups (29)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	1974	Salt Lake City, U.S.	Indoors	Jimmy Connors	4–6, 7–6, 6–3
2.	1975	Philadelphia WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Marty Riessen	7–6, 5–7, 6–2, 6–7, 6–3
3.	1975	Roanoke, U.S.	Indoors	Roger Taylor	7–6, 7–6
4.	1975	Salisbury, U.S.	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	5–7, 7–5, 6–1, 3–6, 6–0
5.	1975	Orlando WCT, U.S.	Hard	Rod Laver	6–3, 6–4
6.	1975	Bermuda	Clay	Jimmy Connors	6–1, 6–4
7.	1976	Indianapolis WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	6–2, 6–7, 6–4
8.	1976	Toronto Indoor WCT, Canada	Carpet	Björn Borg	2–6, 6–3, 6–1
9.	1976	Charlotte WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Tony Roche	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
10.	1977	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Tom Okker	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
11.	1977	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Wojtek Fibak	6–4, 6–3
12.	1977	London WCT, England	Hard (i)	Eddie Dibbs	7–6, 6–7, 6–4
13.	1977	Houston WCT, U.S.	Hard	Adriano Panatta	6–2, 6–3
14.	1978	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Björn Borg	6–5, 5–6, 6–4, 6–5
15.	1978	Milan WCT, Italy	Carpet	Björn Borg	6–3, 6–3
16.	1979	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Björn Borg	6–2, 6–1, 6–3
17.	1979	US Open, New York City	Hard	John McEnroe	7–5, 6–3, 6–3
18.	1979	Masters, New York City	Carpet	Björn Borg	6–2, 6–2
19.	1980	Pepsi Grand Slam, Boca Raton	Hard	Björn Borg	6–1, 5–7, 6–1
20.	1980	French Open, Paris	Clay	Björn Borg	6–4, 6–1, 6–2
21.	1980	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	6–3, 6–4
22.	1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Johan Kriek	7–6, 3–6, 7–6
23.	1981	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Peter McNamara	4–6, 6–1, 5–5 retired
24.	1981	Masters, New York City	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	6–7, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2, 6–4
25.	1982	Genova WCT, Italy	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3
26.	1982	Zürich WCT, Switzerland	Carpet	Bill Scanlon	7–5, 7–6, 1–6, 0–6, 6–4
27.	1983	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	John McEnroe	6–3, 7–5
28.	1984	Toronto, Canada	Hard	John McEnroe	6–0, 6–3
29.	1984	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Eliot Teltscher	6–3, 6–1, 7–6

Men's doubles finals (20)

Wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	1974	Roanoke, U.S.	Indoors	Sandy Mayer	Ian Crookenden Jeff Simpson	7–6, 6–1
2.	1974	Salt Lake City, U.S.	Indoors	Jimmy Connors	Iván Molina Jairo Velasco	2–6, 7–6, 7–5
3.	1975	Roanoke, U.S.	Indoors	Sandy Mayer	Juan Gisbert Ion Ţiriac	7–6, 1–6, 6–3
4.	1975	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Sandy Mayer	Colin Dowdeswell Allan Stone	7–5, 8–6, 6–4
5.	1976	Boca Raton, U.S.	Hard	Clark Graebner	Bruce Manson Butch Walts	6–2, 6–4
6.	1976	Fort Worth WCT, U.S.	Hard	Sandy Mayer	Eddie Dibbs Harold Solomon	6–4, 7–5
7.	1977	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Bill Scanlon	Mal Anderson Ken Rosewall	7–6, 6–4
8.	1978	Birmingham WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Frew McMillan Dick Stockton	3–6, 6–1, 7–6

Runner-ups (12)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	1974	Little Rock, U.S.	Carpet	Bob Hewitt	Jürgen Fassbender Karl Meiler	6–0, 6–2
2.	1974	Oslo, Norway	Indoor	Jeff Borowiak	Karl Meiler Haroon Rahim	6–3, 6–2
3.	1976	Indianapolis WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Tom Gorman	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	6–2, 6–4
4.	1976	Charlotte WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Gene Mayer	John Newcombe Tony Roche	6–3, 7–5
5.	1976	South Orange, U.S.	Clay	Ilie Năstase	Fred McNair Marty Riessen	7–5, 4–6, 6–2
6.	1977	Masters Doubles WCT, New York	Carpet	Adriano Panatta	Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton	7–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–3
7.	1978	Philadelphia WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–4, 6–4
8.	1978	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–3, 7–5
9.	1980	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	John McEnroe	Paolo Bertolucci Adriano Panatta	6–2, 5–7, 6–3
10.	1980	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Brian Gottfried	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	6–2, 6–4
11.	1981	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	John McEnroe	Brian Teacher Butch Walts	7–5, 6–7, 7–5
12.	1985	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Paul McNamee	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 6–4

Quote

"Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row"

– after finally beating Jimmy Connors at the 1979 Masters following sixteen straight losses.

Video

• Wimbledon Classic Match: Gerulaitis vs Borg Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 31, 2006, Run Time: 180 minutes, ASIN: B000ICLR8O.

External links

• Vitas Gerulaitis at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Vitas Gerulaitis at the Davis Cup