The Open Era
United States · born San Diego, California, 1954 · right-handed · 1980 Australian Open champion
All playersBack to the rankings
1
Major singles title, the 1980 Australian Open on grass at Kooyong
7
Grass singles finals, 1976 to 1984, two of them won
17
His ranking going into the 1980 Australian Open
No. 7
Career-high singles ranking, 1981
QF
Best Wimbledon singles result, 1982
Brian Teacher was born in San Diego on 23 December 1954. He won the US boys' 18 singles and doubles titles in 1972, and that summer, aged 17, came through qualifying into the US Open. At UCLA from 1973 to 1976 he was an All-American in all four seasons and played on the teams that won the NCAA title in 1975 and 1976.
A tall serve-volleyer who was happiest on fast courts, he made his early finals on grass: Newport in 1976, Adelaide and Sydney in 1977. He won Newport in 1979, beating Stan Smith 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, and the same summer reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, where he lost to Björn Borg.
His one major came at Kooyong in the 1980 Australian Open, played over the turn of the year and decided on 4 January 1981. He had finished runner-up in five tournaments in a row and was ranked 17th; he beat Peter McNamara in the semi-finals and Kim Warwick 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 in the final. He rose to No. 7 in singles and No. 5 in doubles in 1981, the year he and Pat DuPré won the doubles at Queen's Club, and reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 1982. He won eight singles and 16 doubles titles in all.
After he stopped playing in the mid-1980s he became a touring coach. He took Greg Rusedski from outside the top 80 into the top ten and to the 1997 US Open final, and worked with the doubles world No. 1s Jim Grabb, Richey Reneberg, Daniel Nestor, Mark Knowles and Max Mirnyi. He runs a tennis academy in southern California.
| Australian Open 1980 | Semi-final: beat Peter McNamara 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Final: beat Kim Warwick 7-5, 7-6, 6-3. Warwick had played a semi-final over two days against Guillermo Vilas and took a pain-killing injection in his shoulder before the final |
|---|---|
| Newport 1979 | Beat Stan Smith 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final, three years after losing the 1976 final there to Vijay Amritraj 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 1-6 |
| Grass finals lost | Adelaide 1977 to Victor Amaya 1-6, 4-6; Sydney 1977 to Roscoe Tanner 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6; Sydney 1980 to Fritz Buehning, the event just before his Australian Open title; Bristol 1984 to Johan Kriek 7-6, 6-7, 4-6 |
| Queen's Club 1981 | Doubles title with Pat DuPré, beating Kevin Curren and Steve Denton 3-6, 7-6, 11-9 |
| Wimbledon | Fourth round 1979, lost to Björn Borg. Quarter-final 1982, lost to Tim Mayotte |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Men's singles Hall of Fame Open | |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1980 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1981 | Men's doubles | with Pat DuPré |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"Until today, I didn't think I would ever win a Grand Slam tournament"
The person behind the player.
Melbourne, December 1980
After losing the Sydney final he decided to go home because his marriage was in trouble, and rang the tournament director, Colin Stubbs, to withdraw. His father-in-law talked him out of leaving. Stubbs had already given the place away: "You know Brian I can't do that, I just took you out of the draw and put somebody in." He found a way to reinstate him, and Teacher went on to win the title.
Source: Tennis MajorsKooyong, 4 January 1981
Before the Australian Open he had lost five finals in a row and had never gone past the fourth round at a major. His opponent in the final, Kim Warwick, had a sore shoulder and an injection, but would not lean on it: "I don't want to use it as an excuse, I probably wouldn't have won anyhow."
Source: Tennis MajorsUCLA, 1973 to 1976
He won the Pacific-8 singles and doubles titles as a sophomore in 1974, was an All-American in each of his four seasons, and played on UCLA's NCAA championship teams of 1975 and 1976. He finished his economics degree only after his playing career ended, and later took an MBA at USC.
Source: WikipediaA tennis marriage
In 1979 he married Kathy May, a fellow Californian who was also ranked in the world top ten. They later divorced.
Source: WikipediaCoaching, 1996 to 1997
Greg Rusedski came to him ranked 85th after five years on the tour. Teacher worked on his backhand, passing shots, net game, return of serve and footwork, and within about 14 months Rusedski was in the top ten and in the 1997 US Open final.
Source: Brian Teacher Tennis AcademyFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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