Bruce Manson (born March 20, 1956) is an American former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 17 in 1981. His career high singles ranking was World No. 39, but he did, when ranked 112, defeat world number 1
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 109 weeks. Borg won 66 singles titles during his caree ...
in 1979 at the Tennis Games Tournament at Mission Hills Country Club.
Biography
Manson is Jewish, and was born in Los Angeles, California, and lived in
North Hollywood
North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...
.
He attended
Grant High School.
He was the first player to win three consecutive L.A. City Tennis Singles Championships (1973–75).
He won the boys 16 and under in the
Ojai Tennis Tournament
The Ojai Tennis Tournament, often shortened to The Ojai, is an annual tennis tournament in Ventura County, California, headquartered at Libbey Park in downtown Ojai, about north of Los Angeles. The event, first held in 1896, is the oldest and l ...
in 1972.
He was the Southern California Junior Singles Champion in both 1973 and 1974, and was a member of the U.S. Junior Davis Cup Team.
At the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
on a tennis scholarship, Manson was a three-time
All-American
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 ...
(1975–77).
He was an
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Singles semi-finalist in both 1976 and 1977, and doubles champion in 1975 and 1977.
While at USC, Manson won a gold medal in doubles at the
1975 Pan American Games
The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...
.
In 1977, he won the 21-and-under U.S. Singles title.
Manson enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career he won 9 doubles titles and finished runner-up an additional 8 times. He achieved a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 17 in 1981. His career high singles ranking was World No. 39. He was a member of the 1980 U.S. Davis Cup Team, and made the U.S. Open quarter-finals in 1981 by defeating
Danny Saltz
Danny Saltz (born July 30, 1961) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.
Career
Saltz played collegiate tennis for the University of California, Los Angeles.
His first Grand Slam appearance was at the 1981 US Open, wher ...
,
Richard Meyer,
Peter McNamara
Peter McNamara (5 July 1955 – 20 July 2019) was an Australian tennis player and coach.
McNamara won five singles titles and nineteen doubles titles in his career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March ...
and
José Luis Clerc
José Luis Clerc (; born 16 August 1958), also known by the nickname Batata, is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 3 August 1981, ...
, before being defeated by
Vitas Gerulaitis
Vytautas "Vitas" Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1978. Gerulaitis won the men's si ...
.
In 1993 he was inducted into the
Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jews, American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distingui ...
.
After retiring from tennis in 1985, he earned an
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...
in 1987, and began a career as a bond trader with First Boston in 1987 in New York.
He moved to London in 1988, working for CSFB and later Barclays Bank, returned to New York in 1993 with Barclays, and moved to HSBC Bank in 2004.
Career finals
Doubles (9 titles, 8 runner-ups)
See also
*
List of select Jewish tennis players
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manson, Bruce
1956 births
Living people
21st-century American Jews
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American male tennis players
American bankers
Tennis players from Los Angeles
Jewish American tennis players
Tennis players at the 1975 Pan American Games
USC Trojans men's tennis players
Wharton School alumni
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in tennis
Grant High School (Los Angeles) alumni
Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games
Jews from California
20th-century American sportsmen