Jump to content

Tom Gorman (tennis)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Gorman
Country (sports) United States
Born (1946-01-19) January 19, 1946 (age 78)
Seattle, United States
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Turned pro1968 (amateur tour from 1966)
Retired1981
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record415–293 in pre Open-Era & Open Era
Career titles7
Highest rankingNo. 8 (1973, World's Top 10)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1970, 1977Jan)
French OpenSF (1973)
WimbledonSF (1971)
US OpenSF (1972)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (1972)
Doubles
Career record205–168
Career titles9

Tom Gorman (born January 19, 1946) is a retired ATP tour American tennis player and coach. He won 7 singles and 9 doubles titles and reached semi-finals in the 3 of the 4 ATP tour grand slam events. His ATP ranking peaked at 8 in 1973.

Career

[edit]

Gorman was ranked as high as world No. 8 (consensus) for the year 1973 and No. 10 on the ATP rankings (achieving that ranking on May 1 and June 3, 1974).[1][2]

Gorman won seven singles titles in his career, the biggest coming in 1975 at Cincinnati. He also won nine doubles titles, including Paris in 1971, the same year he reached the French Open doubles final with Stan Smith. Gorman defeated Björn Borg to win the Stockholm Indoor event in 1973.[citation needed]

He reached the semifinal rounds in singles at Wimbledon (in 1971), the US Open (in 1972), and the French Open (in 1973); defeating Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, and Jan Kodeš respectively. Gorman was a member of the winning U.S. Davis Cup team in 1972. As captain–coach, he led the U.S. Davis Cup team to victory in 1990 and 1992. Gorman holds the record for most match wins (18) by a U.S. Davis Cup captain and is the most current American to have won the Davis Cup as a player and a captain.[citation needed]

He was named coach of the Men's U.S Olympic Tennis teams in Seoul, South Korea and Barcelona, Spain. He guided the American doubles team of Ken Flach and Robert Seguso to a gold medal in the doubles competition in Seoul in 1988. In 2001, Gorman and his partner Jaime Fillol of Chile won the Super Masters Seniors at the US Open.[citation needed]

Gorman received praise for his sportsmanship during his 1972 Masters semifinal against Stan Smith in Barcelona. He had injured his back during the course of match, but opened up a 7–6, 6–7, 7–5, 5–4 40–30 lead and held a match point. Knowing that if he were to win the match he would be in no condition to play in the final against Ilie Năstase, he told the umpire that he could not continue and retired. This allowed Smith to instead play in the final, where he was beaten by Năstase in five sets.[citation needed]

He attended Seattle Preparatory School and was the Washington State high school tennis champion three years in a row. Gorman attended and graduated from Seattle University and was a two time All-American. He played in professional tour events in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. For eight years, Gorman served as captain of the United States Davis Cup team, coaching some of America's greatest players and winning world championships in 1990 and '92. He oversaw American dream teams made up of tennis champions Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Jim Courier, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras, faced with the unenviable task of dealing with entourages and egos.[3][4]

In November 2008, Gorman was named Director of Tennis at La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA WEST(TM) which he, along with other top American players including Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, and Charlie Pasarell, help found in La Quinta, California.[5] He retired from La Quinta in September 2015.[citation needed]

Gorman was appointed to the prestigious seven person International Tennis Federation Davis Cup Committee for a two-year term in 2012–14.[citation needed]

Family

[edit]

Gorman and his wife Danni have two grown daughters, Hailey and KellyAnn, and they make their home at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro,GA.

Career finals

[edit]

Singles (7 titles, 11 runner-ups)

[edit]
Result W-L Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 1968 Cincinnati, U.S. Clay United States William Harris 6–3, 2–6, 2–6
Win 1–1 1971 Columbus, U.S. Clay United States Jimmy Connors 6–7, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3
Loss 1–2 1972 Seattle, U.S. Other Romania Ilie Năstase 4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 1–3 1972 London, England Carpet (i) Romania Ilie Năstase 4–6, 3–6
Win 2–3 1973 Vancouver WCT, Canada Other Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš 3–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win 3–3 1973 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Sweden Björn Borg 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(7–5)
Loss 3–4 1974 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) Romania Ilie Năstase 2–6, 3–6
Loss 3–5 1974 Miami WCT, U.S. Hard South Africa Cliff Drysdale 4–6, 5–7
Loss 3–6 1974 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Netherlands Tom Okker 6–4, 6–7, 1–6
Loss 3–7 1974 Manchester, England Grass India Vijay Amritraj 7–6, 2–6, 4–6
Win 4–7 1975 Cincinnati, U.S. Clay United States Sherwood Stewart 7–5, 2–6, 6–4
Win 5–7 1975 Hong Kong Hard United States Sandy Mayer 6–3, 6–1, 6–1
Win 6–7 1976 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet (i) Romania Ilie Năstase 7–5, 6–3
Win 7–7 1976 Sacramento, U.S. Carpet (i) Australia Bob Carmichael 6–2, 6–4
Loss 7–8 1977 Hong Kong Hard Australia Ken Rosewall 3–6, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Loss 7–9 1978 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet (i) South Africa Cliff Drysdale 5–7, 3–6
Loss 7–10 1978 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet (i) United States Brian Teacher 3–6, 3–6, 3–6
Loss 7–11 1979 San José, Costa Rica Hard South Africa Bernard Mitton 4–6, 4–6, 3–6

Doubles (9 titles, 10 runner-ups)

[edit]
Result W-L Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 1970 Berkeley, U.S. Hard United States Roy Barth United States Bob Lutz
United States Stan Smith
2–6, 5–7, 6–4, 2–6
Win 1–1 1971 Paris, France Clay United States Stan Smith France Pierre Barthès
France François Jauffret
3–6, 7–5, 6–2
Loss 1–2 1971 French Open, Paris Clay United States Stan Smith United States Arthur Ashe
United States Marty Riessen
6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 9–11
Win 2–2 1971 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) United States Stan Smith United States Arthur Ashe
United States Bob Lutz
6–3, 6–4
Win 3–2 1973 Copenhagen WCT, Denmark Carpet (i) United States Erik van Dillen United Kingdom Mark Cox
United Kingdom Graham Stilwell
6–4, 6–4
Loss 3–3 1973 Vancouver WCT, Canada Other United States Erik van Dillen France Pierre Barthès
United Kingdom Roger Taylor
7–5, 3–6, 6–7
Loss 3–4 1973 Charlotte WCT, U.S. Clay United States Erik van Dillen Netherlands Tom Okker
United States Marty Riessen
6–7, 6–3, 3–6
Win 4–4 1973 Nottingham, England Grass United States Erik van Dillen Australia Bob Carmichael
South Africa Frew McMillan
6–4, 6–1
Loss 4–5 1973 South Orange, U.S. Hard United States Pancho Gonzales United States Jimmy Connors
Romania Ilie Năstase
7–6, 3–6, 2–6
Win 5–5 1973 Seattle, U.S. Other Netherlands Tom Okker Australia Bob Carmichael
South Africa Frew McMillan
2–6, 6–4, 7–6
Win 6–5 1973 Osaka, Japan Hard United States Jeff Borowiak Japan Jun Kamiwazumi
Australia Ken Rosewall
6–4, 7–6
Win 7–5 1974 Chicago, U.S. Carpet (i) United States Marty Riessen United States Brian Gottfried
Mexico Raúl Ramírez
4–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win 8–5 1974 Washington, D.C., U.S. Clay United States Marty Riessen Chile Patricio Cornejo
Chile Jaime Fillol
7–5, 6–1
Loss 8–6 1974 Columbus, U.S. Hard United States Bob Lutz India Anand Amritraj
India Vijay Amritraj
DEF
Loss 8–7 1976 Indianapolis WCT, U.S. Carpet (i) United States Vitas Gerulaitis United States Bob Lutz
United States Stan Smith
2–6, 4–6
Win 9–7 1976 Sacramento, U.S. Carpet (i) United States Sherwood Stewart United States Mike Cahill
United States John Whitlinger
3–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 9–8 1977 San Jose, U.S. Hard Australia Geoff Masters South Africa Bob Hewitt
South Africa Frew McMillan
2–6, 3–6
Loss 9–9 1977 Taipei, Taiwan Hard Australia Steve Docherty United States Pat DuPré
United States Chris Delaney
6–7, 6–7
Loss 9–10 1978 Tokyo Indoor, Japan Carpet (i) United States Pat DuPré Australia Ross Case
Australia Geoff Masters
3–6, 4–6

References

[edit]
[edit]