Eddie Dibbs

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Eddie Dibbs
Eddie Dibbs.jpg
Dibbs playing in the final of an exhibition tournament in Rotterdam.
Country (sports)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Born (1951-02-23) February 23, 1951 (age 74)
Brooklyn, New York
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Turned pro1972 (amateur from 1970)
Retired1984
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand) [1]
Prize money$2,016,426
Singles
Career record604–264
Career titles22
Highest rankingNo. 5 (July 24, 1978)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open SF (1975, 1976)
Wimbledon 2R (1974)
US Open QF (1975, 1976, 1979)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals SF (1978)
WCT Finals F (1978)
Doubles
Career record77–106
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 4 (1976)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open QF (1975)
US Open 4R (1972)

Eddie Dibbs (born February 23, 1951) is a retired American tennis player also nicknamed "Fast Eddie". He attained a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 in July 1978, winning 22 titles and being a runner-up another 20 times. [2]

Contents

Dibbs holds the record number of ATP Tour career match wins for a player who never reached a Grand Slam final. He did reach two semifinals, both at Roland Garros, losing to Guillermo Vilas in 1975 and to Adriano Panatta in 1976. His most significant victory was defeating Jimmy Connors, 1–6, 6–1, 7–5 in London on carpet.

In 1976, only one other American player, Connors, had a better record than Dibbs. [3] In 1977, Dibbs was the 2nd highest ranked American in the tour. [3] In the 1978 season, he ended the year as the leading money winner on the professional tennis tour. [4]

Dibbs was consistently ranked in the top 10 tour rankings for five years from 1975 to 1979. [4] He is also the American tennis player with most singles victories in clay ever in the Open Era and ranks 7th all-time in overall singles victories on clay. [5]

Dibbs is credited with coining the tennis term "bagel" to describe a 6–0 set. [6] [7] [8] Dibbs played doubles with Harold Solomon. They were nicknamed "The Bagel Twins" by Bud Collins. [9] In 1976, they were ranked No. 4 worldwide, and they were among the top ten also in 1974, 1975 and 1976. [9]

A 2011 ranking system created at Northwestern University based on quality of performances and number of victories ranked Dibbs in the top 20 greatest players of all time. [10] [11]

Biography

Dibbs was born in Brooklyn, New York to Lebanese parents. [3] [12] His family moved to Miami when he was a youngster where he started playing at a young age. He was a two-time state singles champion for Miami Beach High School [13] and attended the University of Miami for three years before turning professional. [14] At the University of Miami he compiled a 93% winning record and was an NCAA All-American twice. He was inducted in the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. [14]

Career finals

Singles: 42 (22 wins, 20 losses)

ResultNo.YearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1.1973 Jackson, Mississippi, USHard (i) Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Frew McMillan 5–7, 6–1, 7–5
Win2.1973 Hamburg, GermanyClay Flag of Germany.svg Karl Meiler 6–1, 3–6, 7–6, 6–3
Win3.1973 Fort Worth, USHard Flag of the United States.svg Brian Gottfried 7–5, 6–2, 6–4
Win4.1974 Hamburg, GermanyClay Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Plötz 6–2, 6–2, 6–3
Loss1.1974 Paris Indoor, FranceHard (i) Flag of the United States.svg Brian Gottfried3–6, 7–5, 6–8, 0–6
Win5.1975 Tehran, IranClay Flag of Colombia.svg Iván Molina 1–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
Win6.1975London, UKCarpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors 1–6, 6–1, 7–5
Win7.1976 Monterrey WCT, MexicoCarpet Flag of the United States.svg Harold Solomon 7–6, 6–2
Win8.1976 Barcelona, SpainClay Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Cliff Drysdale 6–1, 6–1
Loss2.1976Mexico City, MexicoClay Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez 6–7, 2–6
Win9.1976Hamburg, GermanyClay Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg Manuel Orantes 6–4, 4–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–1
Loss3.1976 Cincinnati, USClay Flag of the United States.svg Roscoe Tanner 6–7, 3–6
Loss4.1976 Madrid, SpainClay Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg Manuel Orantes6–7, 2–6, 1–6
Loss5.1976 Barcelona, SpainClay Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg Manuel Orantes1–6, 6–2, 6–2, 5–7, 4–6
Win10.1976Paris Indoor, FranceHard (i) Flag of Chile.svg Jaime Fillol 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6
Win11.1977 Miami, USClay Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez6–0, 6–3
Win12.1977London, UKHard (i) Flag of the United States.svg Vitas Gerulaitis 7–6(7–2), 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Loss6.1977 Charlotte, USClay Flag of Italy.svg Corrado Barazzutti 6–7, 0–6
Loss7.1977 Louisville, USHard Flag of Argentina.svg Guillermo Vilas 6–1, 0–6, 1–6
Loss8.1977 Boston, USClay Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Manuel Orantes6–7, 5–7, 4–6
Loss9.1977Tehran, IranClay Flag of Argentina.svg Guillermo Vilas2–6, 4–6, 6–1, 1–6
Win13.1977 Oviedo, SpainHard (i) Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez6–4, 6–1
Loss10.1978 St. Louis WCT, USCarpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Sandy Mayer 6–7, 4–6
Loss11.1978 Dayton, USCarpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Brian Gottfried6–2, 4–6, 6–7
Win14.1978 Tulsa, USHard (i) Flag of the United States.svg Pat DuPré 6–7, 6–2, 7–5
Loss12.1978WCT Finals, DallasCarpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Vitas Gerulaitis3–6, 2–6, 1–6
Win15.1978Cincinnati, USClay Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez6–2, 6–3
Loss13.1978 Washington, USClay Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors5–7, 5–7
Win16.1978 North Conway, USClay Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Alexander 6–4, 6–4
Win17.1978 Toronto, CanadaClay Flag of Argentina.svg José Luis Clerc 5–7, 6–4, 6–1
Loss14.1979 Birmingham, USHard Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors2–6, 6–3, 5–7
Loss15.1979Tulsa, USHard (i) Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors7–6, 5–7, 1–6
Win18.1979 Forest Hills, USClay Flag of the United States.svg Harold Solomon7–6, 6–1
Loss16.1979 Columbus, USClay Flag of the United States.svg Brian Gottfried3–6, 0–6
Loss17.1979Barcelona, SpainClay Flag of Chile.svg Hans Gildemeister 4–6, 3–6, 1–6
Win19.1980Sarasota, USClay Flag of Ecuador.svg Andrés Gómez 6–1, 6–1
Loss18.1980 Houston, USClay Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Ivan Lendl 1–6, 3–6
Win20.1980Boston, USClay Flag of the United States.svg Gene Mayer 6–2, 6–1
Loss19.1980North Conway, USClay Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors3–6, 7–5, 1–6
Win21.1981 Forest Hills, USClay Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Carlos Kirmayr 6–3, 6–2
Win22.1981 Quito, EcuadorClay Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Carter 3–6, 6–0, 7–5
Loss20.1982 Forest Hills, USClay Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Ivan Lendl1–6, 1–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(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 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 SR
Australian Open AAAAAAAAAA0 / 0
French Open A 1R 4R SF SF 2R QF QF 3R 3R 0 / 9
Wimbledon AA 2R AAAAAAA0 / 1
US Open 2R 1R A QF QF 3R 3R QF 2R A0 / 8
Win–loss1–10–24–29–29–23–26–28–23–22–10 / 18

References

  1. Eddie Dibbs Archived September 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. umsportshalloffame.com
  2. "Eddie Dibbs". ATP . Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Dibbss Racquet Booms, but Wheres Applause; Miamian Is Hardly Known Despite Steady Rise—Expects a Breakthrough Soon". New York Times. January 5, 1977.
  4. 1 2 "Glory Scarce for Dibbs But Not Success, Money". Washington Post.
  5. "Rafael Nadal now one win away from 400 on clay, but still long way behind all-time leader". The National News (published 2018). April 28, 2018.
  6. "The Big Apple: Tennis Bagel". Barrypopik. Archived from the original on January 31, 2007.
  7. "Bagel. Definition of bagel in tennis". Macmillandictionary. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013.
  8. "Sarasota Loves Tennis: Fun Facts to Know and Tell (by Jack & Sasha)". The Sarasota Salt. August 29, 2016. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Harold Solomon". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  10. "Who's the best tennis player of all time? Ranking of top male tennis players produces some surprises". Sciencedaily. 2011. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011.
  11. Radicchi, Filippo (2011). "Who Is the Best Player Ever? A Complex Network Analysis of the History of Professional Tennis". PLOS ONE. 6 (2): e17249. arXiv: 1101.4028 . Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617249R. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017249 . PMC   3037277 . PMID   21339809.
  12. Herman, Robin (September 2, 1975). "It's a Field Day for Tennis Fans". New York Times.
  13. "Florida High School Athletic Association" (PDF).
  14. 1 2 "University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame: Eddie Dibbs 1970-1972". Umsportshalloffame. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016.