Leonard Roscoe Tanner (born October 15, 1951) is an American former professional tennis player.[1] He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 on July 30, 1979.
After his retirement, Tanner received media attention in the 2000s for legal problems that included stretches of imprisonment, arrests for missing child support payments, allegations of financial misdeeds, and bankruptcy (see §Legal issues).
Early life
Leonard Roscoe Tanner III[5] was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on 15 October, 1951.[6]He is the son of Leonard Roscoe Tanner Jr., an attorney who played collegiate tennis at the University of Chattanooga, and Anne Tanner.[7] Tanner grew up in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee where he was introduced to tennis at the age of 6.[8] He competed against Jimmy Connors throughout juniors and Tanner says in an interview that he won most matches.[9] He won his first Junior U.S. Nationals Tournament at 16-years-old.[10]
Tanner graduated from Baylor School[11] with honors, where he was captain of the tennis team and recipient of the Senior Tennis Award. He went on to help lead Stanford University's rise to national prominence in collegiate tennis with teammate, Sandy Mayer.Tanner played number one singles, with Mayer playing number two. In 1972, Tanner and Mayer won the NCAA doubles championship, and the Stanford team finished second in the NCAA tournament, behind Trinity (TX). The team also featured Chico Hagey, Rick Fisher, Jim Delaney, Gery Groslimond, Chip Fisher, Paul Sidone, and Tim Noonan.
Career
Early career (1969–73)
Tanner defeated Haroon Rahim 10–8 in the fifth set to win the 1970 United States Amateur Championships. While attending Stanford, Tanner began playing professional tennis tournaments throughout the U.S., which earned him a ranking in the top 20.[12] Tanner graduated from Stanford, forgoed law school, and officially turned pro in 1972. That same year, the world no.1, Arthur Ashe, asked Tanner to be his doubles partner and Tanner says, "One of the biggest turning points for me was playing doubles with Arthur Ashe," in a 2020 interview.His first tournament on tour was the 1972 Wimbledon Championships, where he lost to Colin Dibley in the 3rd round.[13] Tanner made it to the quarterfinals of the 1972 U.S. Open, where he lost to Tom Gorman in 5 sets.That same year, the world no.1, Arthur Ashe, asked Tanner to be his doubles partner and Tanner says, "One of the biggest turning points for me was playing doubles with Arthur Ashe," in a 2020 interview. Tanner won his first professional tournament in doubles with Arthur Ashe in 1973 Denver WCT.
Peak years (1974–79)
Tanner claimed the singles and doubles titles at Denver WCT in 1974 where he defeated Arthur Ashe. Tanner played in the 1975 and 1976 Wimbledon semi-finals, with losses to Jimmy Connors and Wimbledon semi-finals and Björn Borg, respectively. In the round of 16, Tanner lost to Ilie Nastase in the 1976 U.S. Open - where he told the umpire to change the call on Nastase’s ball from “out to “in.”Tanner defeated Guillermo Vilas in three straight sets in the 1977 Australian Open (January) final, to win his first and only Grand Slam title.
Tanner went on to clock a 153 mph serve at the 1978 Palm Springs Tournament where he defeated Raul Ramirez. His booming 153mph serve was the fastest ever recorded in tournament competition from February 1978[2][3][4] until Andy Roddick posted a 155mph serve[7] in a Davis Cup semifinal in September 2004 against Vladimir Voltchkov. Research has shown that the advancements made to modern day tennis rackets have allowed serve speed to increase by 17.5%.[14]Tanner lost a five set match to Björn Borg in the 1979 Wimbledon final, which was the first Wimbledon final to be broadcast live in the United States as part of NBC's Breakfast at Wimbledon. Tanner avenged this loss to Borg by beating him in four sets in the US Open quarterfinals two months later, a match where Tanner's 140mph serve brought the net down during the fourth set.[6] Tanner lost to Vitas Gerulaitis in a five-set thriller in the semifinals. Tanner described his 1979 US Open win over Borg and loss to Gerulaitis in his autobiography as "the highest of my highs and the lowest of my lows on a tennis court within two days of each other".[2]
1980s
Tanner advanced to the quarter-finals of the U.S Open in 1980 and 1981. He made it to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 1980 and 1983, despite suffering an injury to his left elbow, his serving arm. He won the Davis Cup in 1981 playing with John McEnroe, Eliot Teltscher and Peter Fleming on a team captained by Arthur Ashe that defeated Argentina in the final, played at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.
1985: Retirement
Tanner officially retired from professional tennis in 1985.[15] He coached in Europe for a brief period and led clinics at tennis resorts in the United States. He played in the Over-50s tennis tournaments and was ranked 2nd in the world during that period.
Playing style
Tanner was known for his unorthodox, very strong left-handed serve was tossed very low and struck with a lunge involving the whole body, earning him the nickname "The Rocket".[5] In a 2023 podcast interview, Tanner shares how he first learned his service motion: "When [Jerry Evert] taught me how to serve... he took me to the woods beside the court without a ball, and had me do the service motion knocking leaves off of trees." His game consisted of a powerful serve with an approach to the net and strong volleys. In a video for Jack Kramer, Tanner shared, "The offensive style of game which is closest to my heart is basically the attacking style... that is a serve and volley type of game. That's really moving at the other player, picking out their weaknesses and attacking them, being aggressive." [16]Tanner played with a PDP Open racket, which was the "stiffest" racket on tour at the time, which added speed and power to his strokes and volleys.[17]
Grand Slam 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.
Tanner has been married three times, first to Nancy, then Charlotte, and last to Margaret. He has five children, Omega Anne Romano, Tamara Tanner, Lauren Tanner, Anne Monique, and Lacey Tanner.[5] He went through a costly divorce with his first wife, Nancy, that led to financial troubles. Tanner holds a strong relationship to the Christian faith.[2]
Legal issues
Tanner's conflicts with the law stem from financial mismanagement. He was first arrested in 1997 for failure to pay child support.[18] He was arrested again in June 2003 on a fugitive warrant on charges related to passing a bad check.[3] He pleaded guilty and received an initial sentence of probation. Tanner violated his probation and served one year in prison in Florida, but was then jailed for contempt of court in California.[8]
In 2008, Tanner was again arrested for writing a bad check in Knoxville, Tennessee, but it was settled out of court.[19][10] After being evicted from his home, Tanner was arrested in January 2012 for writing another bad check.[20] In March 2013, Tanner was arrested in Florida for writing a bad check and grand theft, and in 2014, he served 10 days for driving with a suspended license.[21] In 2015, Tanner was arrested for failure to appear in court on a previous warrant.[21]
Daughters
His second book, Second Serve: My Fall From Grace and Road to Reconciliation, is dedicated to his daughters. Tamara, Lacey Turner, and Anne Monique Tanner went on to play collegiate tennis. Anne Monique now works at the Women's Tennis Association. Lacey Turner currently plays NCAA Division 1 tennis at Valparaiso University.
Tennis clinics
Tanner has a venture in teaching tennis. He has taught at doubles tennis camps with other professionals,[22] and is the camp director at his own training camp.[23] Tanner is passionate about helping underprivileged kids gain access to the sport. The Roscoe Tanner Tennis Clinic has become a mainstay event in Tucson, Arizona and Houston, Texas. The clinic encompasses the mechanics of serving including stance, location, stroke, contact point, toss, and follow-through, creating weight transfer. Roscoe covers placement, types of serve (flat, slice, kick), and when to use it. He also has a section on volleys and net play.[24]
Books
Double Fault: My Rise And Fall, And My Road Back (2005) by Roscoe Tanner and Mike Yorkey, Foreword by Stan Smith[2]
Recognition
Roscoe Tanner is known for holding the record for the fastest serve in the world (153 mph) from 1978-2005. His offensive playing style led him to a career high of No. 4 in the world in 1979. He is the Grand Slam singles champion of the 1977 Australian Open. Tanner received the "Fair Play Award" from the United Nations in 1979.[25]
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