Woody Blocher

Last updated

Woody Blocher
Full nameJohn Woodward Blocher II [1]
Country (sports)Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Born (1951-08-24) August 24, 1951 (age 73)
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
PlaysRight-handed
Singles
Career record4–30
Highest rankingNo. 156 (January 16, 1978)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 1R (1977Dec)
Wimbledon 1R (1975)
US Open 2R (1969)
Doubles
Career record13–38
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 2R (1977Dec)
US Open 2R (1969)

John Woodward Blocher II (born August 24, 1951) is an American former professional tennis player.

Born in California, Blocher started getting tennis lessons at the age of seven and was a successful junior player. In 1967, competing in the 16's age division, Blocher won an Orange Bowl title and was the national clay court champion. [2]

Blocher played collegiate tennis for Southern Methodist University but was sidelined for much of the time with a serious wrist injury, although he was an All-American in his senior year. [2]

While playing on the professional tour in the 1970s he reached a best singles ranking of 156 and featured in the main draw at Wimbledon.

Since the 1980s he has coached tennis, in North Carolina and San Diego. He has run his own tennis academies and coached numerous player on the professional tour, including Marianne Werdel and Tim Wilkison. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Chang</span> American tennis player

Michael Te-pei Chang is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old. Chang won a total of 34 top-level professional singles titles, was a three-time major runner-up and reached a career-best ranking of world No. 2 in 1996. Since he was shorter than virtually all of his opponents, he played a dogged defensive style utilizing his quickness and speed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Tilden</span> American tennis player (1893–1953)

William Tatem Tilden II, nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional by Ray Bowers in 1931 and 1932 and Ellsworth Vines in 1933. He won 14 Major singles titles, including 10 Grand Slam events, one World Hard Court Championships and three professional majors. He was the first American man to win Wimbledon, taking the title in 1920. He also won a joint-record seven U.S. Championships titles.

Hans "Hanne" Nüsslein was a German tennis player and coach and former World professional number 1 tennis player who won four professional Majors singles titles during his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Trabert</span> American tennis player (1930–2021)

Marion Anthony Trabert was an American amateur world No. 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karel Koželuh</span> Czech sportsperson (1895–1950)

Karel Koželuh was a Czech tennis, association football, and ice hockey player of the 1920s and 1930s. Koželuh became a European ice hockey champion in 1925 and was one of the top-ranked players on the professional tennis circuit in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Roche</span> Australian tennis player

Anthony Dalton Roche AO MBE is an Australian former professional tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan-Michael Gambill</span> American tennis player

Jan-Michael Charles Gambill is an American former professional tennis player who made his professional debut in 1996. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 14, which he achieved on June 18, 2001. Best known for his unusual double-handed forehand, Gambill reached the quarterfinals of the 2000 Wimbledon Championships, the final of the 2001 Miami Masters, and won three singles titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick McEnroe</span> American tennis player

Patrick William McEnroe is an American former professional tennis player, broadcaster, and former captain of the United States Davis Cup team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Woodbridge</span> Australian tennis player (born 1971)

Todd Andrew Woodbridge, OAM is an Australian broadcaster and former professional tennis player. During his playing career, he formed multiple Grand-Slam winning doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde and later Jonas Björkman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnus Norman</span> Swedish tennis player and coach

Magnus Norman is a Swedish tennis coach and former professional player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, in June 2000. His career highlights include reaching a major final at the French Open in 2000, and winning a Masters title at the 2000 Rome Masters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Gilbert</span> American tennis player and coach (born 1961)

Brad Gilbert is an American former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and tennis commentator and analyst for ESPN. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 18 four years prior. He won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics, and both a gold medal and a silver medal at the 1981 Maccabiah Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Woodforde</span> Australian tennis player

Mark Raymond Woodforde, OAM is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Russell (tennis)</span> American tennis player

Michael Craig Russell is an American former professional tennis player, and tennis coach. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 60 in August 2007. His 23 United States Tennis Association (USTA) Pro Circuit singles titles were the all-time record, as of November 2013. That month he became the American No. 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Butorac</span> American tennis player

Eric Butorac, nicknamed Booty, is an American retired professional tennis player. He was a doubles specialist, and for a period of approximately six years was the No. 3 ranked American doubles player. His best result was reaching the 2014 Australian Open finals with partner Raven Klaasen. Their run to the final included a victory over the World No. 1 team of Bob and Mike Bryan.

Steve "Lightning" Krulevitz is an American-Israeli former professional tennis player, and current coach. Playing for UCLA, he was an All-American. He won gold medals for the United States in singles and doubles at the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He played # 1 for the Israel Davis Cup team from 1978–80. His highest world singles ranking was No. 70. He was in the bottom of the top 100 on the men’s tour from 1974 to 1983.

Marianne Werdel is an American former professional tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Swain</span> American racquetball player

Cliff Swain is a professional racquetball player and coach from Boston, Massachusetts. Known for his dominant drive serve and on-court intensity, Swain finished as the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) six times -- in 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2002. He won US Open Championships in 1997 and 2001, and was inducted into the USA Racquetball Hall of Fame in 2003. A legendary figure in racquetball for over 3 decades, Swain still plays professionally and is quickly becoming a sought-after professional coach as well.

David O'Hare is a retired professional Irish tennis player who played mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour. On 24 August 2015 he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 1438 and on 3 April 2017 reached his highest doubles ranking of 117. O’Hare still plays for the Irish Davis Cup team. He is the coach of the former No. 1 doubles player Joe Salisbury and has had considerable success, overseeing 2 US Open wins, 2 Masters titles and 2 Tour Final wins.

Alysia May is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Shelton</span> American tennis player (born 2002)

Benjamin Todd Shelton is an American professional tennis player. Shelton has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 13 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on August 19, 2024. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 68 achieved on May 20, 2024.

References

  1. "10-Year-Old Awes State Tennis World". Waco News Tribune. July 8, 1962. p. 20.
  2. 1 2 3 Vecsey, George (September 3, 1986). "Inside the Baseball Cap". The New York Times .
  3. "Werdel Witmeyer Has Sanchez Vicario on Run". Los Angeles Times . August 4, 1995.