The Open Era
United States · born New York, 1954 · died 1994 · right-handed · Wimbledon doubles champion and Australian Open champion on the Kooyong grass
All playersBack to the rankings
3
Career-high world ranking, reached in February 1978
2
Wimbledon singles semi-finals, 1977 and 1978
1975
Wimbledon doubles title with Sandy Mayer, as an unseeded pair
25
Top-level singles titles
16
Straight defeats by Jimmy Connors before he beat him in 1980
Vitas Gerulaitis was born in Brooklyn in 1954 to Lithuanian parents who had fled the Soviet occupation and reached New York in 1949. His father, a former Lithuanian champion, taught him on the public courts of Queens; he trained at the Port Washington Tennis Academy under Harry Hopman, spent a year at Columbia University and turned professional in 1971.
His first big title came on grass: the 1975 Wimbledon doubles with Sandy Mayer, won as an unseeded pair. He reached the Wimbledon singles semi-finals in 1977 and 1978, won the Italian Open in 1977 and 1979, and in December 1977 won the Australian Open at Kooyong, beating John Lloyd in five sets on New Year's Eve. He reached No. 3 in the world in February 1978, won the 1978 WCT Finals, was runner-up at the 1979 US Open and the 1980 French Open, and helped the United States win the 1979 Davis Cup. He won 25 singles titles in all and was coached by Fred Stolle from 1977 to 1983.
Off court he was 'Broadway Vitas', a fixture of New York night life, and he admitted using cocaine; he was named in a federal drug investigation but cleared of wrongdoing. After retiring he became a television commentator and had begun playing the seniors circuit when he died in September 1994, aged 40, of carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty pool heater at a friend's guesthouse in Southampton, New York.
| Wimbledon doubles 1975 | With Sandy Mayer, unseeded, beat Colin Dowdeswell and Allan Stone 7-5, 8-6, 6-4 in the final |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1977 semi-final | Lost to Björn Borg 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6, a match Sports Illustrated's Curry Kirkpatrick said may have been the finest ever played at Wimbledon |
| Wimbledon 1978 semi-final | Lost to Jimmy Connors 9-7, 6-2, 6-1, after beating Jan Kodeš in the quarter-finals |
| Australian Open, December 1977 | Top seed at Kooyong; beat John Lloyd 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 3-6, 6-2 in the final despite cramping in the last two sets |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Men's doubles | with Sandy Mayer |
| South Pacific Classic | ||
| 1977 | Men's doubles | with Bill Scanlon |
| 1977 | Men's singles | |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1977 | Men's singles Australian Open | |
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
"Because nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1977
After their five-set semi-final, Gerulaitis and a friend called on Borg at the Cumberland Club. Borg recalled: "He could easily have left to fly home, but, incredibly, he told me, 'Whenever you want to practise, I am ready.'" They became close friends and regular practice partners.
Source: ATP TourMadison Square Garden, 1980
Gerulaitis had lost 16 times in a row to Jimmy Connors when he finally beat him at Madison Square Garden. Asked how he had done it, he said: "Because nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row."
Source: The IndependentForest Hills, about 1970
As a teenager he worked on the grounds crew at the West Side Tennis Club, then home of the US Open. He later said he resented the members he saw lazing around the club. His father, who appeared with him in a television commercial, kept telling him to get a haircut.
Source: Newsday, in The Seattle Times, 1994Wimbledon
He once called the officials of the All England Club arrogant and complained that the players were treated badly, served, among other things, "measly little sandwiches" in the tea rooms.
Source: Newsday, in The Seattle Times, 199421st birthday, 1975
He celebrated his 21st birthday by inviting all the fans at a match to a pyjama party at his hotel. When he complained that few had come, his friend Mary Carillo led him to a window: hundreds of fans in pyjamas were standing in the car park.
Source: The IndependentKooyong, December 1977
After both had won their semi-finals, John Lloyd asked whether it would be strange to practise together before the final. Gerulaitis answered: "Are you going to learn something new from my game tomorrow? Am I going to learn something new about you? Are you kidding? Of course we're going to practise together tomorrow." In the final Lloyd took the third and fourth sets while Gerulaitis was cramping, but Gerulaitis broke early in the fifth and won it 6-2.
Source: The IndependentFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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