The Open Era
United States · born New York, 1952 · right-handed · unseeded Wimbledon doubles champion 1975 and an unseeded singles semi-finalist in 1973
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1975
Wimbledon doubles title with Vitas Gerulaitis, unseeded
1973
Wimbledon singles semi-final as an unseeded player
3
Wimbledon singles quarter-finals or better: 1973, 1978, 1983
7
Career-high singles ranking, April 1982
1979
French Open doubles title with his brother Gene
Alexander Mayer, known as Sandy, was born in New York on 5 April 1952. His father, Alex Mayer, had played Davis Cup for both Hungary and Yugoslavia before emigrating to the United States in 1950 and becoming a well-known coach. Sandy went to Stanford, won the NCAA doubles with Roscoe Tanner in 1972, and in 1973 won the NCAA singles and doubles as Stanford took the team title.
Days later he made his name at Wimbledon. In a draw weakened by the players' boycott he beat the top seed Ilie Nastase, came from two sets down against Jurgen Fassbender and reached the semi-finals, where Alex Metreveli beat him. Two years later he and Vitas Gerulaitis won the Wimbledon doubles unseeded.
Mayer won 11 singles titles on the tour and reached No. 7 in the world in 1982. He was a Wimbledon singles quarter-finalist again in 1978 and 1983, and with his younger brother Gene won the 1979 French Open doubles; the ATP notes they were the only brothers ranked together in the US top ten.
| Wimbledon doubles final 1975 | With Vitas Gerulaitis, both unseeded, beat Colin Dowdeswell and Allan Stone 7-5, 8-6, 6-4 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon singles 1973 | Fourth round: beat Ilie Nastase, the top seed, 6-4, 8-6, 6-8, 6-4. Quarter-final: beat Jurgen Fassbender 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Semi-final: lost to Alex Metreveli 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 |
| Surbiton 1980 | Singles final, lost to Brian Gottfried 3-6, 3-6 |
| Wimbledon doubles 1984 | Semi-final with Ferdi Taygan |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Men's doubles | with Vitas Gerulaitis |
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
The person behind the player.
Princeton to London, 1973
Mayer was still at the NCAA championships two days before Wimbledon, where he beat Raul Ramirez for the singles title. He had about 24 hours to adjust to grass, then reached the fourth round by beating three lucky losers in a row.
Source: Jeff Sackmann, Heavy Topspin, June 2023Wimbledon, 1973
Against the top seed Ilie Nastase on No. 2 Court, Mayer took the ball early on the return and kept Nastase off balance. Lance Tingay of the Daily Telegraph wrote that Nastase played like an artist whose normal flair was sadly impaired.
Source: Jeff Sackmann, Heavy Topspin, June 2023Family
Alex Mayer, Sandy's father, was a leading European doubles player before the Second World War and became one of the best-known coaches in the United States. His pupils included Vitas Gerulaitis, Sandy's partner for the 1975 Wimbledon title.
Source: NJ SportsParis, 1979
Sandy and Gene Mayer won the 1979 French Open doubles, beating Ross Case and Phil Dent in the final. They were the first brothers in about half a century to win a major doubles title.
Source: NJ Sports; ATPWimbledon, 1975
The 1975 champions did not share a supplier: Gerulaitis won with a Wilson racket, Mayer with a Snauwaert.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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