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Country (sports) | ![]() |
---|---|
Residence | Kiawah Island, South Carolina |
Born | Chattanooga, Tennessee | October 15, 1951
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Turned pro | 1972 (amateur from 1969) |
Retired | 1985 |
Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $1,696,198 |
Singles | |
Career record | 592–293 |
Career titles | 15 |
Highest ranking | No. 4 (July 30, 1979) |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Australian Open | W (1977Jan) |
French Open | 4R (1978) |
Wimbledon | F (1979) |
US Open | SF (1974, 1979) |
Other tournaments | |
Tour Finals | RR (1976, 1977, 1979, 1981) |
WCT Finals | SF (1981) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 272-182 |
Career titles | 13 |
Highest ranking | No. 14 (August 23, 1977) |
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.
Tanner was famous for his big left-handed serve, which was reportedly clocked at 153 miles per hour (246 km/h) at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California on February 19, 1978 during the 1978 American Airlines Tennis Games singles final against Raúl Ramírez. [2] [3] [4] He is also known for winning the men's singles title at the first of two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Tanner won the tournament held in January. Tanner reached the Wimbledon final in 1979, losing to Björn Borg in five sets.
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
.Leonard Roscoe Tanner III [5] hailed from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, graduated from Baylor School [6] in Chattanooga, and with teammate Sandy Mayer helped to lead Stanford University's rise to national prominence in collegiate tennis. 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.
Tanner defeated Haroon Rahim 10–8 in the fifth set to win the 1970 United States Amateur Championships.
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 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 140 mph serve brought the net down during the fourth set. [7] Tanner lost to Vitas Gerulaitis 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]
Tanner's unorthodox but 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] His booming 153 mph serve was the fastest ever recorded in tournament competition from February 1978 [2] [3] [4] until Andy Roddick posted a 155 mph serve [8] in a Davis Cup semifinal in September 2004 against Vladimir Voltchkov.
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.
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Tournament | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | SR | W–L | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Open 1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | W | 1R | A | A | A | 2R | A | 3R | A | 1 / 4 | 9–3 |
French Open | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | A | A | 4R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 5–3 | |
Wimbledon | A | A | A | 3R | A | 4R | SF | SF | 1R | 4R | F | QF | 2R | 4R | QF | A | 0 / 11 | 36–11 | |
US Open | 1R | 2R | 3R | QF | 3R | SF | 3R | 4R | 4R | 4R | SF | QF | QF | 2R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 16 | 40–16 | |
Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 6–2 | 2–1 | 8–3 | 9–3 | 8–2 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 11–2 | 8–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 8–3 | 0–1 | 1 / 34 | 90–33 |
1The Australian Open was played twice in 1977, in January and December.
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1977 | Australian Open (Jan.) | Grass | ![]() | 6–3, 6–3, 6–3 |
Loss | 1979 | Wimbledon | Grass | ![]() | 7–6(7–4), 1–6, 6–3, 3–6, 4–6 |
Result | No. | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1. | 1972 | Albany, U.S. | Hard (i) | ![]() | 2–6, 6–7 |
Loss | 2. | 1972 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 4–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 3. | 1973 | Milan WCT, Italy | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–7, 0–6, 6–7 |
Loss | 4. | 1974 | Palm Desert WCT, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 4–6, 2–6 |
Win | 1. | 1974 | Denver WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–2, 6–4 |
Loss | 5. | 1974 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 6–3, 6–7, 4–6 |
Loss | 6. | 1974 | Maui, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 6–7, 6–7 |
Win | 2. | 1974 | Christchurch, New Zealand | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–4, 6–2 |
Loss | 7. | 1975 | St. Petersburg WCT, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 0–6, 6–1, 2–6 |
Loss | 8. | 1975 | St. Louis WCT, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | 6–2, 2–6, 3–6 |
Loss | 9. | 1975 | Charlotte, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | 6–3, 4–6, 3–6 |
Win | 3. | 1975 | Las Vegas WCT, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 5–7, 7–5, 7–6 |
Win | 4. | 1975 | Chicago, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–1, 6–7, 7–6 |
Loss | 10. | 1975 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 6–3, 5–7, 3–6 |
Loss | 11. | 1976 | Birmingham, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 4–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
Loss | 12. | 1976 | Rancho Mirage, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 4–6, 4–6 |
Win | 5. | 1976 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | 7–6, 6–3 |
Win | 6. | 1976 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 6–4, 7–6 |
Loss | 13. | 1976 | South Orange, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | 4–6, 2–6 |
Win | 7. | 1976 | San Francisco, U.S. | Hard (i) | ![]() | 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 |
Win | 8. | 1976 | Tokyo Outdoor, Japan | Clay | ![]() | 6–3, 6–2 |
Loss | 14. | 1976 | Wembley, U.K. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–3, 6–7, 4–6 |
Win | 9. | 1977 (Jan.) | Australian Open, Melbourne | Grass | ![]() | 6–3, 6–3, 6–3 |
Loss | 15. | 1977 | South Orange, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | 4–6, 1–6 |
Loss | 16. | 1977 | Hilton Head, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | 4–6, 5–7 |
Loss | 17. | 1977 | WCT Challenge Cup, Las Vegas | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 2–6, 6–5, 6–3, 2–6, 5–6 |
Win | 10. | 1977 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Grass | ![]() | 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4 |
Loss | 18. | 1978 | Philadelphia, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 2–6, 4–6, 3–6 |
Win | 11. | 1978 | Rancho Mirage, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 6–1, 7–6 |
Win | 12. | 1978 | New Orleans, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–3, 7–5 |
Win | 13. | 1979 | Rancho Mirage, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 6–4, 6–2 |
Win | 14. | 1979 | Washington Indoor, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–4, 6–4 |
Loss | 19. | 1979 | New Orleans, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 4–6, 2–6 |
Loss | 20. | 1979 | Wimbledon, U.K. | Grass | ![]() | 7–6, 1–6, 6–3, 3–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 21. | 1979 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 4–6, 2–6 |
Loss | 22. | 1980 | Richmond WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 1–6, 2–6 |
Win | 15. | 1981 | Philadelphia, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 6–2, 7–6, 7–5 |
Loss | 23. | 1981 | Memphis, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | 2–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 24. | 1981 | Bristol, U.K. | Grass | ![]() | 3–6, 7–5, 4–6 |
Loss | 25. | 1981 | Sydney Indoor, Australia | Hard (i) | ![]() | 4–6, 5–7, 2–6 |
Loss | 26. | 1982 | La Costa WCT, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | 0–6, 6–4, 0–6, 4–6 |
Result | No. | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1. | 1971 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 4–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 2. | 1971 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–4, 5–7, 2–6 |
Loss | 3. | 1973 | London WCT, U.K. | Hard (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3–6, 3–6 |
Loss | 4. | 1973 | Washington WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–4, 6–7, 2–6 |
Loss | 5. | 1973 | Houston WCT, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 5–7, 5–7 |
Win | 1. | 1973 | Denver WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3–6, 6–3, 7–6 |
Loss | 6. | 1973 | Paris Indoor, France | Hard (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2–6, 6–4, 5–7 |
Loss | 7. | 1974 | Bologna Indoor, Italy | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–7, 2–6 |
Win | 2. | 1974 | Barcelona WCT, Spain | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–3, 6–4 |
Loss | 8. | 1974 | Houston, U.S. | Clay | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–4, 6–7, 4–6 |
Win | 3. | 1974 | Denver WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–3, 7–6 |
Win | 4. | 1974 | Maui, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–3, 7–6 |
Win | 5. | 1974 | Christchurch, New Zealand | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | w/o |
Win | 6. | 1974 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7–5, 6–3 |
Loss | 9. | 1975 | St. Petersburg WCT, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 4–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 10. | 1975 | La Costa WCT, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 5–7, 4–6 |
Win | 7. | 1975 | Nottingham, U.K. | Grass | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–2, 6–3 |
Loss | 11. | 1975 | Stockholm, Sweden | Hard (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–3, 3–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 12. | 1976 | Memphis WCT, U.S. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3–6, 4–6 |
Win | 8. | 1976 | La Costa WCT, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7–6, 7–6 |
Win | 9. | 1976 | Johannesburg WCT, South Africa | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–2, 7–5 |
Win | 10. | 1976 | San Francisco, U.S. | Hard (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–3, 6–4 |
Loss | 13. | 1976 | Maui, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7–6, 3–6, 4–6 |
Win | 11. | 1976 | Perth, Australia | Hard (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–7, 6–1, 6–2 |
Win | 12. | 1976 | Wembley, U.K. | Carpet (i) | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7–6, 6–3 |
Loss | 14. | 1977 | Palm Springs, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–7, 6–7 |
Loss | 15. | 1977 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3–6, 6–7 |
Loss | 16. | 1977 | Hong Kong | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–7, 3–6 |
Win | 13. | 1978 | Palm Springs, U.S. | Hard | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6–4, 6–4 |
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]
Tanner has an extensive record of conflicts with the law. He was first arrested in 1997 for failure to pay child support. [9] He was arrested again in June 2003 on a fugitive warrant on charges related to passing a bad check and to further nonpayment of child support. [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. [10]
In 2008, Tanner was again arrested for writing a bad check in Knoxville, Tennessee, but it was settled out of court. [11] [12] After being evicted from his home, Tanner was arrested in January 2012 for writing another bad check. [13] 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. [14] In 2015, Tanner was arrested for failure to appear in court on a previous warrant. [14]
Currently, Tanner has a venture in teaching tennis. He has taught at doubles tennis camps with other professionals, [15] and is the camp director at his own training camp. [16]
Björn Rune Borg is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at Wimbledon.
James Scott Connors is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 weeks. By virtue of his long and prolific career, Connors still holds three prominent Open Era men's singles records: 109 titles, 1,557 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. His titles include eight major singles titles and three year-end championships. In 1974, he became the second man in the Open Era to win three major titles in a calendar year, and was not permitted to participate in the fourth, the French Open. Connors finished year end number one in the ATP rankings from 1974 to 1978. In 1982, he won both Wimbledon and the US Open and was ATP Player of the Year and ITF World Champion. He retired in 1996 at the age of 43.
Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis was an American professional tennis player, known as Vitas Gerulaitis. In 1975, he won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering with Sandy Mayer. He won the men's singles title at the latter of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. He won two Italian Opens, and the WCT Finals in Dallas in 1978.
Adriano Panatta is an Italian former professional tennis player. He is a major champion, winning the French Open in 1976, and was the first Italian man in the Open Era to win a major singles title. Panatta was also the only player ever to defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros, doing so twice.
Four-time defending champion Björn Borg defeated John McEnroe in the final, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7(16–18), 8–6 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships. It was his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title and tenth major title overall. The final has often been called one of the greatest and most exciting matches of all time, and was the core of the Borg–McEnroe rivalry. A dramatic depiction of the final featured as the central event of the 2017 movie Borg vs McEnroe.
John McEnroe defeated five-time defending champion Björn Borg in a rematch of the previous year's final, 4–6, 7–6(7–1), 7–6(7–4), 6–4, to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1981 Wimbledon Championships. It was his first Wimbledon singles title and third major singles title overall. Borg was attempting to equal William Renshaw's record of six consecutive Wimbledon titles and Roy Emerson's all-time record of 12 major titles.
Jimmy Connors defeated defending champion John McEnroe in the final, 3–6, 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1982 Wimbledon Championships. It was his second Wimbledon title and sixth major title overall. The final was the first Wimbledon match in history that was deliberately scheduled to take place on a Sunday.
The 1979 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 25 June until 7 July. It was the 93rd staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1979.
Two-time defending champion Björn Borg defeated Jimmy Connors in a rematch of the previous year's final, 6–2, 6–2, 6–3 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1978 Wimbledon Championships. It was his third Wimbledon title and sixth major title overall.
Three-time defending champion Björn Borg defeated Roscoe Tanner in the final, 6–7(4–7), 6–1, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships. It was his fourth Wimbledon title and eighth major title overall.
John McEnroe defeated Vitas Gerulaitis in the final, 7–5, 6–3, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1979 US Open. It was his first major singles title.
Defending champion John McEnroe defeated Björn Borg in the final, 7–6(7–4), 6–1, 6–7(5–7), 5–7, 6–4 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1980 US Open. It was his second US Open singles title and second major singles title overall. The final is often ranked among the best matches in tennis history, and was central to the Borg–McEnroe rivalry. It was the first successful US Open men's singles title defense in the Open Era.
Arthur Ashe defeated defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final, 6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1975 Wimbledon Championships. It was his first Wimbledon singles title and third and last major singles title overall. He became the first Black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon, and the second Black player to do so overall, after Althea Gibson.
Manuel Orantes defeated the defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1975 US Open. It was his first major singles title. Orantes became the first man in the Open Era to win the US Open after saving match points en route, saving five against Guillermo Vilas in the semifinals.
Guillermo Vilas defeated the defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final, 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–0 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1977 US Open. It was his first US Open title and second major title overall.
Björn Borg defeated Ilie Năstase in the final, 6–4, 6–2, 9–7 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 1976 Wimbledon Championships. It was the first of his five consecutive Wimbledon titles, and his third major title overall. He became the first man in the Open Era to win the title without losing a set during the tournament.
This is a list of the main career statistics and records of retired Swedish professional tennis player Björn Borg. His professional career spanned from 1973 until 1984 with a brief comeback between 1991 and 1993.
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The 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of four Grand Slam tournaments, the Grand Prix tournaments and the Nations Cup, a team event.
The 1974 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) which served as a forerunner to the current Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour. The circuit consisted of the four modern Grand Slam tournaments and open tournaments recognised by the ILTF. The season-ending Commercial Union Assurance Masters and Davis Cup Final are included in this calendar but did not count towards the Grand Prix ranking.