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Van Winitsky

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Van Winitsky
Country (sports) United States
Born (1959-03-12) March 12, 1959 (age 65)
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 Open3R (1980)
Wimbledon2R (1978)
US Open3R (1980)
Doubles
Career record150–119
Career titles9
Highest rankingNo. 7 (October 10, 1983)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open2R (1978, 1980)
Wimbledon3R (1979)
US OpenF (1983)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon2R (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]

Early and personal life

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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

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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][5] He played college tennis for UCLA for one and a half years, and was an All American.[6][7] He played on the 1978 U.S. Davis Cup team in with John McEnroe, Brian Gottfried, and Harold Solomon.[7]

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][7]

Career finals

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Doubles (11 titles, 9 runner-ups)

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Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 1978 Tulsa, U.S. Hard (i) New Zealand Russell Simpson Brazil Carlos Kirmayr
Ecuador Ricardo Ycaza
4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Win 2. 1978 North Conway, U.S. Clay United Kingdom Robin Drysdale United States Mike Fishbach
South Africa Bernard Mitton
4–6, 7–6, 6–3
Loss 1. 1978 Boston, U.S. Clay Switzerland Heinz Günthardt Paraguay Víctor Pecci
Hungary Balázs Taróczy
3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss 2. 1978 Hartford, U.S. Carpet Australia Mark Edmondson United States John McEnroe
United States Bill Maze
3–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win 3. 1978 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay New Zealand Chris Lewis Argentina José Luis Clerc
Chile Belus Prajoux
6–4, 3–6, 6–0
Loss 3. 1980 Tulsa, U.S. Hard (i) Paraguay Francisco González United States Robert Lutz
United States Dick Stockton
6–2, 6–7, 2–6
Loss 4. 1980 South Orange, U.S. Clay United States Fritz Buehning United States Bill Maze
United States John McEnroe
6–7, 4–6
Win 4. 1981 Washington, D.C., U.S. Clay Mexico Raúl Ramírez Czechoslovakia Pavel Složil
United States Ferdi Taygan
5–7, 7–6, 7–6
Loss 5. 1981 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Mexico Raúl Ramírez South Africa Kevin Curren
United States Steve Denton
3–6, 7–5, 5–7
Win 5. 1981 Cleveland, U.S. Hard United States Erik van Dillen Australia Syd Ball
Australia Ross Case
6–4, 5–7, 7–5
Win 6. 1981 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard United States Steve Meister United Kingdom John Feaver
United States Steve Krulevitz
3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss 6. 1981 Bangkok, Thailand Carpet United States Lloyd Bourne United States John Austin
United States Mike Cahill
3–6, 6–7
Loss 7. 1982 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Brazil Carlos Kirmayr United States Sherwood Stewart
United States Ferdi Taygan
6–7, 4–6
Loss 8. 1982 Hilton Head WCT, U.S. Clay United States Alan Waldman Australia Mark Edmondson
Australia Rod Frawley
1–6, 5–7
Win 7. 1982 Washington, D.C., U.S. Clay Mexico Raúl Ramírez Chile Hans Gildemeister
Ecuador Andrés Gómez
7–5, 7–6
Win 8. 1982 South Orange, U.S. Clay Mexico Raúl Ramírez United States Jai DiLouie
United States Blaine Willenborg
3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Loss 9. 1982 Hong Kong Hard Australia Kim Warwick United States Charles Buzz Strode
United States Morris Skip Strode
4–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss 10. 1983 Guarujá, Brazil Hard Israel Shlomo Glickstein United States Tim Gullikson
Czechoslovakia Tomáš Šmíd
7–5, 6–7, 3–6
Loss 11. 1983 U.S. Open Hard United States Fritz Buehning United States Peter Fleming
United States John McEnroe
3–6, 4–6, 2–6
Win 9. 1983 Dallas, U.S. Hard Nigeria Nduka Odizor United States Steve Denton
United States Sherwood Stewart
6–3, 7–5

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d e f g Heeren, Dave. "INJURIES FORCE FATHER, SON TO GIVE UP TENNIS CAREERS". Sun-Sentinel.com.
  4. ^ "Van Winitsky | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  5. ^ Google Books.
  6. ^ Association, National Collegiate Athletic (1976). National Collegiate Championships Records Book. National Collegiate Athletic Association. – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b c "Van Winitsky Pro Tennis Career | ATP Doubles Tournaments".
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