Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952) is an American retired

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career. He was the runner-up in singles at the 1977 French Open, won the 1975 and 1977 French Open Doubles as well as the 1976 Wimbledon Doubles. He achieved a career-high singles ranking on the ATP tour on June 19, 1977, when he became world No. 3, and a career-high doubles ranking on December 12, 1976, when he became world No. 2.

Tennis career

Junior and college

Gottfried was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, and is Jewish. He began playing tennis at the age of 5, after receiving a racquet as a gift. In all, Gottfried won 14 national junior titles. As a teen Gottfried attended

Baylor School Baylor School, commonly called Baylor, is a private school, private, coeducational college-preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1893, the school's current campus comprises 690 acres and enrolls students in grad ...

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

, and Piper High School in

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

. In 1970, as a freshman at Trinity University in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, he won the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and devel ...

boys 18s singles championship, as well as the doubles championship with Alexander Mayer. He was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n in 1971 and 1972.

Professional career

Gottfried began his professional tennis career in 1972. He won five tournaments in 1977 and was runner-up at the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

. ''

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'' described him as the "best male tennis player in the world at the moment" in April 1977, while ''World Tennis'' and ''Tennis Magazine'' ranked him as No. 4 in their 1977's year-end rankings. He won the Italian Open doubles championship in four consecutive years (1974–1977). He won the men's doubles at the

in 1975 and 1977. In 1976, he won the men's doubles title at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. He ended his career tied for 22nd in open era singles titles leaders, and tied for 12th in doubles.

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...

liked to recall how Gottfried missed his daily practice session to get married, but atoned by doubling his practice time the next day. Gottfried retired as the player with the greatest number of tour match victories among players who had never won a grand slam. He held this record for 32 years, eventually being succeeded by

David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...

. He was also second to Ferrer for most titles by a player who never won a major.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runners-up)

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles

Grand Prix, WCT, and Grand Slam finals

Singles: 51 (25 titles, 26 runner-ups)

Doubles (54 titles, 41 runner-ups)

Davis Cup

Gottfried was 7–7 in

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

play for the US between 1975 and 1982 and won it twice (in 1978 and 1982).

Halls of Fame & awards

Gottfried won the 1974 and 1975 ATP Doubles Team of the Year Award with partner Raúl Ramírez. He won the 1976 ATP Most Improved Player Award. He won the ATP Sportsmanship award in 1984. Gottfried was inducted into the

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches' association of United States college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Divi ...

's Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1990. Gottfried, who is

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

Life after playing career

Gottfried now lives in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

. In 2007 Gottfried joined the coaching staff at the Harold Solomon Tennis Institute in

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

. In 2010, Gottfried coached with the Bollettieri Tennis Program at the

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

. He was elected to the ATP Player Council in 2012 as an

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

representative. In 2015, he joined the coaching staff at the Bolles School His younger brother, Larry was also a tennis player.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gottfried, Brian American male tennis players French Open champions Jewish American tennis players Sportspeople from Baltimore Tennis players from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Tennis players from Maryland Trinity Tigers men's tennis players Wimbledon champions American people of German-Jewish descent 1952 births Living people Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Piper High School (Florida) alumni 21st-century American Jews Jews from Maryland 20th-century American sportsmen