Vitas Gerulaitis

Vytautas "Vitas" Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1978. Gerulaitis won the men's singles title at the December 1977 Australian Open,^[1] and the men's doubles title at the 1975 Wimbledon Championships, partnering with Sandy Mayer. Gerulaitis also won two Italian Opens in 1977 and 1979, and the 1978 WCT Finals.

Vitas Gerulaitis

Gerulaitis in 1978
Full name	Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1954-07-26)July 26, 1954 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	September 17, 1994(1994-09-17) (aged 40) Southampton, New York, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Turned pro	1971
Retired	1986
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$2,778,748
Singles
Career record	535–232 (69.8%)
Career titles	26
Highest ranking	No. 3 (February 27, 1978)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1977Dec)
French Open	F (1980)
Wimbledon	SF (1977, 1978)
US Open	F (1979)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	F (1979, 1981)
WCT Finals	W (1978)
Doubles
Career record	164–123 (57.1%)
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	No. 43 (May 20, 1985)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1983)
French Open	QF (1980)
Wimbledon	W (1975)
US Open	3R (1972)

Early life

Born to Lithuanian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, Gerulaitis grew up in Howard Beach, Queens,^[2] attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, and graduated in 1971. He attended Columbia College of Columbia University with the class of 1975 for one year, then dropped out to pursue tennis full-time.^[3]

Gerulaitis was nicknamed "The Lithuanian Lion".^[4] His younger sister Ruta was also a professional tennis player; both siblings' native language was Lithuanian.^[5]

Career highlights

Gerulaitis led the Pittsburgh Triangles to the World TeamTennis championship title at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena in 1975. Gerulaitis played for the Triangles from 1974 until 1976. He also played for the league's Indiana Loves franchise in 1977.

Gerulaitis was coached by Fred Stolle from 1977 until 1983.

He also won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1975. He was a singles semifinalist at Wimbledon in both 1977 and 1978. In 1977 he lost a Wimbledon semifinal to his close friend and practice partner, Björn Borg, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 8–6, a match considered one of the greatest ever,^[6] with journalist Curry Kirkpatrick stating shortly thereafter that it may have "been the finest ever played at Wimbledon".^[7]

In December 1977, Gerulaitis won the most significant title of his career at the Australian Open, when he defeated John Lloyd in the men's singles final in five sets on New Year's Eve.^[1]

In 1978, Gerulaitis won the year-end championship WCT Finals for the World Championship Tennis tour, beating Eddie Dibbs 6–3, 6–2, 6–1. By 1978, he was the third-ranked men's singles player in the world.

Gerulaitis advanced to the men's singles finals at the US Open in 1979, but lost in straight sets to fellow New Yorker John McEnroe. He was a member of the U.S. team which won the Davis Cup in 1979 and won two singles "rubbers" in the final, as the U.S. swept Italy 5–0.

Gerulaitis reached his third Grand Slam singles final at the French Open in 1980, but lost in straight sets to defending champion Borg.

In February 1981, Gerulaitis won the star-laden Toronto Indoor invitational tournament, defeating Jimmy Connors in the semifinal and McEnroe in four sets the final.^[8]

During his career, Gerulaitis won 25 top-level singles titles and eight doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 3 which he reached on February 27, 1978.

Gerulaitis was known for his exceptionally quick hands at the net and his outstanding court coverage.^[9] In 1985, Gerulaitis teamed with Bobby Riggs to launch a challenge to female players after the famous Battle of the Sexes. The stunt, however, was short-lived when Gerulaitis and Riggs lost a doubles match against Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.^[10]

He retired from the professional tour in 1986, and was a regular tennis commentator on the USA network between 1988 and 1994.

Gerulaitis coached Pete Sampras during the 1994 Italian Open in Rome, when Sampras' coach, Tim Gullikson, was on a family vacation. Sampras won the title by defeating Boris Becker in the final in straight sets.

Death

On September 17, 1994, while visiting a friend's home in Southampton, New York, an improperly installed propane heater for the swimming pool caused carbon monoxide gas to seep into the guesthouse where Gerulaitis was sleeping, causing his death by carbon monoxide poisoning. He failed to show up for a dinner at 7 p.m. that Saturday evening and his body was found the following day by a maid who went to the guesthouse.^[11][12][13] Gerulaitis' remains were interred in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

Criminal charges of negligent homicide were later brought against the pool mechanic and the company he worked for. Both he and the company were acquitted in October 1996. Jurors heard testimony that a technician from the heater manufacturer had made adjustments several days before Gerulaitis' death and that even if an exhaust pipe had been longer, carbon monoxide (colorless and odorless) would have still been drawn into the air-conditioning vent because it is denser than air at low temperatures. Arthur M. Luxenberg, a lawyer for the Gerulaitis family, stated that Gerulaitis' mother and sister believed the verdict to be fair, and he went on to state that the testimony at the trial "confirmed to us what we always knew: that there were a lot of other people involved in this matter."^[14]

The Gerulaitis family reached a confidential settlement with some of the defendants in their civil case by 2002.^[15][16]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1977	Australian Open (Dec.)	Grass	John Lloyd	6–3, 7–6(7–4), 5–7, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	1979	US Open	Hard	John McEnroe	5–7, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	1980	French Open	Clay	Björn Borg	4–6, 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1975	Wimbledon	Grass	Sandy Mayer	Colin Dowdeswell Allan Stone	7–5, 8–6, 6–4

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	SR	W – L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open[a]	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	A	A	1R	A	A	2R	2R	A	NH	1 / 4	6-3
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		A	SF	F	1R	QF	1R	2R	1R	A	0 / 7	16–7
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	1R	QF	SF		SF	1R	4R	4R	QF	2R	4R	3R	A	0 / 12	30–12
US Open	1R	2R	1R	2R	2R	4R	4R		SF	F	2R	SF	1R	3R	4R	3R	A	0 / 15	33–15
Win – Loss	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–2	7–2	14–2		10–2	11–3	10–4	8–3	8–3	3–4	7–4	4–3	0–0	1/38	85–37
Year-end championships
Masters Grand Prix	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		A	F	A	F	R16	A	R16	A	A	0 / 4	6–6
WCT Finals	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF		W	SF	A	A	A	SF	QF	A	A	1 / 5	7–4
Win – Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1		2–0	4–3	0–0	3–2	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1 / 9	13–10
Career statistics
Tournaments played			9	20	15	19	20		18	22	22	19	20	21	22	15	2	244
Titles – Finals			0–0	1–2	2–7	0–3	5–9		3–5	3–6	3–6	1–4	5–7	1–2	1–3	0–0	0–0	25–54
Overall Win – Loss			7–9	33–19	38–13	31–19	60–16		46–15	64–20	52–19	43–19	61–15	32–20	34–20	12–15	0–2	510–221
Win %			44%	63%	75%	62%	79%		75%	76%	73%	69%	80%	62%	63%	44%	0%	70%
Year-end ranking			131	47	15	18	4		5	4	9	9	5	20	17	81	799

1. The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Career finals

Singles: 56 (26 titles, 30 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Mar 1974	Salt Lake City, US	Hard (i)	Jimmy Connors	6–4, 6–7, 3–6
Win	1.	Nov 1974	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Andrew Pattison	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	2.	Jan 1975	Philadelphia WCT, US	Carpet	Marty Riessen	6–7(1–7), 7–5, 2–6, 7–6(7–0), 3–6
Loss	3.	Feb 1975	Roanoke, US	Hard (i)	Roger Taylor	6–7, 6–7
Loss	4.	Feb 1975	Salisbury, US	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	7–5, 5–7, 1–6, 6–3, 0–6
Win	2.	Mar 1975	New York City, US	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	walkover
Loss	5.	Mar 1975	Orlando WCT, US	Hard	Rod Laver	3–6, 4–6
Win	3.	Apr 1975	St. Louis, US	Clay	Roscoe Tanner	2–6, 6–2, 6–3
Loss	6.	Sep 1975	Bermuda	Clay	Jimmy Connors	1–6, 4–6
Loss	7.	Jan 1976	Indianapolis WCT, US	Carpet	Arthur Ashe	2–6, 7–6(8–6), 4–6
Loss	8.	Feb 1976	Toronto Indoor WCT, Canada	Carpet	Björn Borg	6–2, 3–6, 1–6
Loss	9.	Apr 1976	Charlotte WCT, US	Carpet	Tony Roche	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss	10.	Feb 1977	Richmond WCT, US	Carpet	Tom Okker	6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Win	4.	Feb 1977	Ocean City, US	Hard	Robert Lutz	3–6, 6–1, 6–2
Loss	11.	Mar 1977	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Wojciech Fibak	4–6, 3–6
Loss	12.	Apr 1977	London WCT, UK	Hard (i)	Eddie Dibbs	6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–5), 4–6
Loss	13.	Apr 1977	Houston WCT, US	Hard	Adriano Panatta	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–3), 1–6
Win	5.	May 1977	Rome, Italy	Clay	Tonino Zugarelli	6–2, 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 7–6(7–5)
Win	6.	Oct 1977	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Tony Roche	6–7, 6–1, 6–1, 7–5
Win	7.	Oct 1977	Perth, Australia	Hard	Geoff Masters	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
Win	8.	Dec 1977	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	John Lloyd	6–3, 7–6(7–4), 5–7, 3–6, 6–2
Win	9.	Fev 1978	Richmond WCT, US	Carpet	John Newcombe	6–3, 6–4
Loss	14.	Mar 1978	Las Vegas, US	Hard	Björn Borg	5–6(5–7), 6–5(7–5), 4–6, 5–6(4–7)
Loss	15.	Apr 1978	Milan WCT, Italy	Carpet	Björn Borg	3–6, 3–6
Win	10.	May 1978	WCT Finals, US	Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
Win	11.	Jul 1978	Forest Hills, US – WCT Invitational	Clay	Ilie Năstase	6–2, 6–0
Win	12.	Feb 1979	Arkansas, Little Rock US	Carpet (i)	Butch Walts	6–2, 6–2
Loss	16.	Feb 1979	Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico	Hard	Jimmy Connors	5–6, 0–6, 4–6
Loss	17.	Apr 1979	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Björn Borg	2–6, 1–6, 3–6
Win	13.	May 1979	Rome, Italy	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–0), 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–2
Win	14.	Jul 1979	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Pavel Složil	6–2, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	18.	Sep 1979	US Open, New York	Hard	John McEnroe	5–7, 3–6, 3–6
Win	15.	Oct 1979	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Guillermo Vilas	4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 7–6
Loss	19.	Jan 1980	Masters, New York	Carpet	Björn Borg	2–6, 2–6
Loss	20.	Feb 1980	Pepsi Grand Slam, Boca Raton	Clay	Björn Borg	1–6, 7–5, 1–6
Win	16.	May 1980	WCT Tournament of Champions, US	Clay	John McEnroe	2–6, 6–2, 6–0
Loss	21.	Jun 1980	French Open, Paris	Clay	Björn Borg	4–6, 1–6, 2–6
Win	17.	Jul 1980	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Wojciech Fibak	6–2, 7–5, 6–2
Loss	22.	Oct 1980	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	3–6, 4–6
Win	18.	Oct 1980	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Peter McNamara	7–5, 6–3
Loss	23.	Jan 1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Johan Kriek	6–7, 6–3, 6–7
Loss	24.	Oct 1981	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Peter McNamara	6–4, 1–6, 5–5 retired
Win	19.	Nov 1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Jeff Borowiak	6–4, 7–6, 6–1
Loss	25.	Jan 1982	Masters, New York	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	7–6(7–5), 6–2, 6–7(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Loss	26.	Feb 1982	Genova WCT, Italy	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 3–6
Win	20.	Mar 1982	Brussels, Belgium	Hard (i)	Mats Wilander	4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Loss	27.	Apr 1982	Zürich WCT, Switzerland	Carpet	Bill Scanlon	5–7, 6–7, 6–1, 6–0, 4–6
Win	21.	May 1982	Florence, Italy	Clay	Stefan Simonsson	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win	22.	Aug 1982	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Ivan Lendl	4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win	23.	Oct 1982	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Carpet	Eliot Teltscher	2–6, 6–2, 6–2
Win	24.	Nov 1982	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Guillermo Vilas	7–6, 6–2, 4–6, 7–6
Loss	28.	May 1983	Forest Hills WCT, US	Clay	John McEnroe	3–6, 5–7
Win	25.	Oct 1983	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Wojciech Fibak	4–6, 6–1, 7–5, 5–5 retired
Loss	29.	Aug 1984	Toronto, Canada	Hard	John McEnroe	0–6, 3–6
Win	26.	Nov 1984	Treviso, Italy	Carpet	Tarik Benhabiles	6–1, 6–1
Loss	30.	Nov 1984	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Eliot Teltscher	3–6, 1–6, 6–7

Doubles: 21 (9–12)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	Jan 1974	Roanoke, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Ian Crookenden Jeff Simpson	7–6, 6–1
Loss	1.	Feb 1974	Little Rock, US	Carpet	Bob Hewitt	Jürgen Fassbender Karl Meiler	0–6, 2–6
Win	2.	Mar 1974	Salt Lake City, US	Indoors	Jimmy Connors	Iván Molina Jairo Velasco Sr.	2–6, 7–6, 7–5
Loss	2.	Nov 1974	Oslo, Norway	Indoor	Jeff Borowiak	Karl Meiler Haroon Rahim	3–6, 2–6
Win	3.	Feb 1975	Roanoke, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Juan Gisbert Ion Țiriac	7–6, 1–6, 6–3
Win	4.	Jul 1975	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Sandy Mayer	Colin Dowdeswell Allan Stone	7–5, 8–6, 6–4
Loss	3.	Jan 1976	Indianapolis WCT, US	Carpet	Tom Gorman	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	2–6, 4–6
Win	5.	Feb 1976	Boca Raton, US	Clay	Clark Graebner	Bruce Manson Butch Walts	6–2, 6–4
Win	6.	Feb 1976	Fort Worth WCT, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Eddie Dibbs Harold Solomon	6–4, 7–5
Loss	4.	Apr 1976	Charlotte WCT, US	Clay	Gene Mayer	John Newcombe Tony Roche	3–6, 5–7
Loss	5.	Aug 1976	South Orange, US	Clay	Ilie Năstase	Fred McNair Marty Riessen	5–7, 6–4, 2–6
Loss	6.	May 1977	Masters Doubles WCT, New York	Carpet	Adriano Panatta	Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton	6–7, 6–7, 6–4, 3–6
Win	7.	Oct 1977	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Bill Scanlon	Mal Anderson Ken Rosewall	7–6, 6–4
Win	8.	Jan 1978	Birmingham WCT, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Frew McMillan Dick Stockton	3–6, 6–1, 7–6
Loss	7.	Jan 1978	Philadelphia WCT, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 4–6
Loss	8.	Feb 1978	Richmond WCT, US	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	3–6, 5–7
Win	9.	Feb 1979	Arkansas, U.S.	Hard (i)	Vladimír Zedník	Phil Dent Colin Dibley	5–7, 6–3, 7–5
Loss	9.	Apr 1980	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	John McEnroe	Paolo Bertolucci Adriano Panatta	2–6, 7–5, 3–6
Loss	10.	Dec 1980	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Brian Gottfried	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	2–6, 4–6
Loss	11.	Apr 1981	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	John McEnroe	Brian Teacher Butch Walts	5–7, 7–6, 5–7
Loss	12.	Mar 1985	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Paul McNamee	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	4–6, 4–6

Commemoration

The Vitas Gerulaitis Memorial Tennis Centre was opened in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.^[17] Also, a street in Vilnius is named after him. The song An Outbreak of Vitas Gerulaitis by Birkenhead band Half Man Half Biscuit, from their 1991 album McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt also references the player, albeit obliquely.

In 2023, the book "Vitas Gerulaitis: Portrait of a Champion" was published, and in the text both Jimmy Connors and Björn Borg said if Gerulaitis was not inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, they both would consider rescinding their inductions.

Quote

• Tennis portal

"And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row."^[18]

– after defeating Jimmy Connors at the January 1980 Masters.