The Open Era
United States · born La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1951 · died 1996 · right-handed · Newport champion 1977 · coach of Pete Sampras
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15
Career-high ATP singles ranking, October 1979
3
Career-high ATP doubles ranking, September 1983
4
ATP singles titles, two of them on grass in 1977
15
ATP doubles titles, most of them with his twin brother Tom
1983
Wimbledon doubles final with Tom
Tim Gullikson was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1951, five minutes after his identical twin, Tom; their father was the town barber in Onalaska. Neither was a junior prodigy. They played every sport, were probably better at basketball, graduated from Northern Illinois and were working as teaching professionals when, in their mid-twenties, they decided to try the tour.
In 1977 Tim won three singles titles, at Newport, Taiwan and Adelaide, and was named the ATP's Newcomer of the Year. At Wimbledon in 1979 he beat the second seed John McEnroe on the way to the quarter-finals, and that October he reached No. 15. With Tom he won most of his 15 doubles titles, rose to No. 3 in 1983 and reached that year's Wimbledon final. He left the tour in 1986 and in 1991 won the 35-and-over invitation singles at Wimbledon.
As a coach he worked with Martina Navratilova, Mary Joe Fernández and Aaron Krickstein, and with Pete Sampras from 1992, guiding him to the No. 1 ranking and his first Wimbledon titles. He fell ill at the 1995 Australian Open and was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died at his home in Wheaton, Illinois, on 3 May 1996, aged 44.
| Newport 1977 | Beat Hank Pfister 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final of the Hall of Fame Championships; he and Tom lost the doubles final the same week, and won it the following year |
|---|---|
| Adelaide, December 1977 | Won the South Australian Men's Classic on grass, beating Chris Lewis 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
| Nottingham 1977 | Reached the final against Jaime Fillol, which was rained off and never finished; no champion was declared |
| Wimbledon 1979 | Seeded 15th, beat Mike Cahill, Tomáš Å mÃd, Cliff Letcher and then John McEnroe, who had just beaten Tom; lost the quarter-final to Roscoe Tanner |
| Grass doubles with Tom | Queen's 1979, beating Marty Riessen and Sherwood Stewart 6-4, 6-4; Surbiton 1979, beating Pat DuPré and Riessen 6-3, 6-7, 8-6; Bristol 1982, beating Mark Edmondson and Kim Warwick 6-4, 7-6; Wimbledon final 1983, lost to Peter Fleming and John McEnroe 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon 35 and over | Won the invitation doubles with Tom in 1987; lost the invitation singles final to Tom in 1988, 1989 and 1990, then won it in 1991, beating John Lloyd 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Men's singles Hall of Fame Open | |
| 1978 | Men's doubles Hall of Fame Open | with Tom Gullikson |
| South Australian Championships | ||
| 1977 | Men's singles | |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1979 | Men's doubles | with Tom Gullikson |
| Surrey Championships (Surbiton) | ||
| 1979 | Men's doubles | with Tom Gullikson |
| Bristol (West of England) | ||
| 1982 | Men's doubles Bristol Open | with Tom Gullikson |
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
"Nobody beats two Gulliksons at Wimbledon."
The person behind the player.
Onalaska, Wisconsin
At Wimbledon in 1979 he was asked about grass. "Sure we know grass," he laughed. "The first courts we played on had grass everywhere, growing through the cracks." The twins had started on the courts of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, across the street from home.
Source: The Spokesman-ReviewOn tour, late 1970s
The German Karl Meiler lost to Tim, a right-hander, one week and to Tom, a left-hander, soon after, without realising they were different people. "He beats me right-handed", he complained, and then "he beats me left-handed! How can it be?" Tom had to explain that there were two of them.
Source: The Spokesman-ReviewWimbledon, July 1983
Tom remembered the 1983 doubles final on Centre Court as the best of their playing days: "We couldn't beat the best that day (John McEnroe and Peter Fleming). But we looked at each other and smiled, thinking, 'How did we ever get here from where we started?'"
Source: The Spokesman-ReviewMelbourne, January 1995
Gullikson fell ill at the 1995 Australian Open and flew home for tests. Sampras, worried for him, wept during his quarter-final win over Jim Courier and went on to the final. When Gullikson died, Sampras said: "Today I lost a dear friend and coach. But we all lost a special person."
Source: The Seattle Times (AP)Wimbledon, 1988 to 1991
In the 35-and-over invitation singles at Wimbledon, Tom beat Tim in three successive finals, in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Tim won the event in 1991, the last year it was held.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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