Van Winitsky

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Van Winitsky
Country (sports)Flag of the United States.svg United States
Born (1959-03-12) March 12, 1959 (age 66)
Miami, USA
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro1978
Retired1985
PlaysLeft-handed
Prize money $408,120
Singles
Career record106–133
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 35 (February 8, 1982)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open 3R (1980)
Wimbledon 2R (1978)
US Open 3R (1980)
Doubles
Career record150–119
Career titles9
Highest rankingNo. 7 (October 10, 1983)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open 2R (1978, 1980)
Wimbledon 3R (1979)
US Open F (1983)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon 2R (1979, 1980)

Van Winitsky (born March 12, 1959) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He achieved a career-high rankings of World No. 7 in doubles in October 1983 and world No. 35 in singles in February 1984. [1]

Contents

Early and personal life

Winitsky was born in Miami, Florida, lived in Lauderhill, Florida, and is Jewish. [1] [2] [3] His father Manny Winitsky was the best player of his age in Florida for 15 years, beginning at age 45. [3] He lives in Delray Beach, Florida. [4] Van attended North Miami Beach Senior High School and won the Florida state high school singles tennis championships as a freshman in 1974. [3]

Tennis career

Winitsky won Junior Wimbledon, Junior U.S. Open and Junior Nat'l at Kalamazoo, Mich. in singles and doubles in 1977 and won 3 Junior Orange Bowl singles titles. [3] He played college tennis for UCLA for one and a half years, and was an All American. [5] [6] He played on the 1978 U.S. Davis Cup team in with John McEnroe, Brian Gottfried, and Harold Solomon. [6]

Winitsky enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won 9 ATP Tour doubles titles and finished runner-up an additional 11 times. Partnering Fritz Buehning in doubles, Winitsky finished runner-up at the 1983 US Open. [3] Winitsky also was a quarter finalist in mixed doubles partnering with Rayni Fox Borinsky at the 1980 US Open. He won 3 ATP Tour singles titles and finished runner-up 1 additional time. His titles included 1981 Hong Kong Seiko Open over Mark Edmondson of Australia, 1982 Hollywood Bowl Classic in Guaruja, Brazil over Carlos Kirmayr of Brazil, and 1982 Hilton Head Shipyard WCT over Chris Lewis of New Zealand in the finals. His runner-up finish was the 1978 Cleveland Grand Prix against Peter Feigl of Austria.

At just before 21st birthday, he had surgery that resulted in a 16-inch scar and atrophied muscles. [3] In 1985, he retired from ATP Tour after winning the WTT conference championships for the Miami Beach Breakers. [3] [6]

Career finals

Doubles (11 titles, 9 runner-ups)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1.1978 Tulsa, U.S.Hard (i) Flag of New Zealand.svg Russell Simpson Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Carlos Kirmayr
Flag of Ecuador.svg Ricardo Ycaza
4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Win2.1978 North Conway, U.S.Clay Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robin Drysdale Flag of the United States.svg Mike Fishbach
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Bernard Mitton
4–6, 7–6, 6–3
Loss1.1978 Boston, U.S.Clay Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Heinz Günthardt Flag of Paraguay.svg Víctor Pecci
Flag of Hungary.svg Balázs Taróczy
3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss2.1978 Hartford, U.S.Carpet Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Edmondson Flag of the United States.svg John McEnroe
Flag of the United States.svg Bill Maze
3–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win3.1978 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaClay Flag of New Zealand.svg Chris Lewis Flag of Argentina.svg José Luis Clerc
Flag of Chile.svg Belus Prajoux
6–4, 3–6, 6–0
Loss3.1980 Tulsa, U.S.Hard (i) Flag of Paraguay.svg Francisco González Flag of the United States.svg Robert Lutz
Flag of the United States.svg Dick Stockton
6–2, 6–7, 2–6
Loss4.1980 South Orange, U.S.Clay Flag of the United States.svg Fritz Buehning Flag of the United States.svg Bill Maze
Flag of the United States.svg John McEnroe
6–7, 4–6
Win4.1981 Washington, D.C., U.S.Clay Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Pavel Složil
Flag of the United States.svg Ferdi Taygan
5–7, 7–6, 7–6
Loss5.1981 Indianapolis, U.S.Clay Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Kevin Curren
Flag of the United States.svg Steve Denton
3–6, 7–5, 5–7
Win5.1981 Cleveland, U.S.Hard Flag of the United States.svg Erik van Dillen Flag of Australia (converted).svg Syd Ball
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ross Case
6–4, 5–7, 7–5
Win6.1981 Tel Aviv, IsraelHard Flag of the United States.svg Steve Meister Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Feaver
Flag of the United States.svg Steve Krulevitz
3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss6.1981 Bangkok, ThailandCarpet Flag of the United States.svg Lloyd Bourne Flag of the United States.svg John Austin
Flag of the United States.svg Mike Cahill
3–6, 6–7
Loss7.1982 Las Vegas, U.S.Hard Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Carlos Kirmayr Flag of the United States.svg Sherwood Stewart
Flag of the United States.svg Ferdi Taygan
6–7, 4–6
Loss8.1982 Hilton Head WCT, U.S.Clay Flag of the United States.svg Alan Waldman Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Edmondson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rod Frawley
1–6, 5–7
Win7.1982 Washington, D.C., U.S.Clay Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez Flag of Chile.svg Hans Gildemeister
Flag of Ecuador.svg Andrés Gómez
7–5, 7–6
Win8.1982 South Orange, U.S.Clay Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez Flag of the United States.svg Jai DiLouie
Flag of the United States.svg Blaine Willenborg
3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Loss9.1982 Hong Kong Hard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kim Warwick Flag of the United States.svg Charles Buzz Strode
Flag of the United States.svg Morris Skip Strode
4–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss10.1983 Guarujá, BrazilHard Flag of Israel.svg Shlomo Glickstein Flag of the United States.svg Tim Gullikson
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Tomáš Šmíd
7–5, 6–7, 3–6
Loss11.1983 U.S. Open Hard Flag of the United States.svg Fritz Buehning Flag of the United States.svg Peter Fleming
Flag of the United States.svg John McEnroe
3–6, 4–6, 2–6
Win9.1983 Dallas, U.S.Hard Flag of Nigeria.svg Nduka Odizor Flag of the United States.svg Steve Denton
Flag of the United States.svg Sherwood Stewart
6–3, 7–5

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Van Winitsky | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. "Jewish Post 12 March 1982 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Heeren, Dave. "INJURIES FORCE FATHER, SON TO GIVE UP TENNIS CAREERS". Sun-Sentinel.com.
  4. "Van Winitsky | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  5. Association, National Collegiate Athletic (1976). National Collegiate Championships Records Book. National Collegiate Athletic Association. via Google Books.
  6. 1 2 3 "Van Winitsky Pro Tennis Career | ATP Doubles Tournaments".