Brian Gottfried

Junior and college

Gottfried was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and is Jewish.^[2][3] He began playing tennis at the age of 5, after receiving a racquet as a gift.^[4] In all, Gottfried won 14 national junior titles.^[5] As a teen Gottfried attended Baylor School^[6] in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida.^[7] In 1970, as a freshman at Trinity University in Texas, he won the USTA boys 18s singles championship, as well as the doubles championship with Alexander Mayer.^[8] He was an All-American in 1971 and 1972.

Professional career

Gottfried began his professional tennis career in 1972.^[4] He won five tournaments in 1977 and was runner-up at the French Open to Guillermo Vilas, winning just three games. "I was powerless. Everything I tried he did something better", said Gottfried afterwards.^[9] Newsweek described him as the "best male tennis player in the world at the moment" in April 1977,^[4] while World Tennis and Tennis Magazine ranked him as No. 4 in their 1977's year-end rankings.^[10][11] He won the Italian Open doubles championship in four consecutive years (1974–1977). He won the men's doubles at the French Open in 1975 and 1977. In 1976, he won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon. He ended his career tied for 22nd in open era singles titles leaders, and tied for 12th in doubles.^[4]

Arthur Ashe liked to recall how Gottfried missed his daily practice session to get married, but atoned by doubling his practice time the next day.^[4][12]

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.^{[citation needed]} He was also second to Ferrer for most titles by a player who never won a major.^[13]

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1977	French Open	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	0–6, 3–6, 0–6

Close

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

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1975	French Open	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	1976	French Open	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 3–6, 1–6
Win	1976	Wimbledon	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	3–6, 6–3, 8–6, 2–6, 7–5
Win	1977	French Open	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Wojciech Fibak Jan Kodeš	7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	1977	US Open	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 0–6
Loss	1979	Wimbledon	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 2–6
Loss	1980	French Open	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 3–6

Close

Singles

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

More information Result, No. ...

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	Apr 1973	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Jaime Fillol	Walkover
Win	2.	May 1973	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Arthur Ashe	6–1, 6–3
Loss	1.	Oct 1973	Fort Worth, U.S.	Hard	Eddie Dibbs	5–7, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	Nov 1973	Christchurch, New Zealand	Grass	Fred Stolle	6–7, 4–6, 1–6
Win	3.	Nov 1974	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 5–7, 8–6, 6–0
Loss	3.	Nov 1974	London, UK	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 6–7
Win	4.	Jan 1975	Baltimore, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Allan Stone	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win	5.	Feb 1975	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Geoff Masters	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	4.	Apr 1975	Denver WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	3–6, 4–6
Win	6.	Oct 1975	Melbourne, Australia	Grass	Harold Solomon	6–2, 7–6, 6–1
Loss	5.	Nov 1975	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Harold Solomon	3–6, 2–6, 7–5, 2–6
Loss	6.	Feb 1976	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Arthur Ashe	2–6, 4–6
Win	7.	Sep 1976	Los Angeles, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Arthur Ashe	6–2, 6–2
Loss	7.	Oct 1976	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6–4, 5–7, 1–6
Loss	8.	Nov 1976	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Harold Solomon	2–6, 7–6, 3–6, 4–6
Win	8.	Jan 1977	Baltimore, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Guillermo Vilas	6–3, 7–6
Win	9.	Feb 1977	Rancho Mirage, U.S.	Hard	Guillermo Vilas	2–6, 6–1, 6–3
Loss	9.	Mar 1977	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Björn Borg	4–6, 3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win	10.	Mar 1977	Washington, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Robert Lutz	6–1, 6–2
Win	11.	Mar 1977	La Costa, U.S.	Hard	Marty Riessen	6–3, 6–2
Loss	10.	Apr 1977	Los Angeles, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Stan Smith	4–6, 6–2, 3–6
Loss	11.	Apr 1977	Denver, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Björn Borg	5–7, 2–6
Loss	12.	Jun 1977	French Open, Paris	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	0–6, 3–6, 0–6
Loss	13.	Jul 1977	Washington, D.C.	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	4–6, 5–7
Loss	14.	Aug 1977	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Guillermo Vilas	2–6, 1–6
Loss	15.	Sep 1977	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	5–7, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	16.	Oct 1977	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Butch Walts	6–4, 3–6, 5–7
Loss	17.	Oct 1977	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 0–6
Win	12.	Oct 1977	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Wojciech Fibak	6–1, 6–1
Loss	18.	Nov 1977	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Corrado Barazzutti	6–7, 6–7, 7–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win	13.	Mar 1978	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Raúl Ramírez	7–5, 7–6
Win	14.	Apr 1978	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Eddie Dibbs	2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Win	15.	Apr 1978	Houston WCT, U.S.	Clay	Ilie Năstase	3–6, 6–2, 6–1
Loss	19.	Sep 1978	Los Angeles, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Arthur Ashe	2–6, 4–6
Loss	20.	Feb 1979	Rancho Mirage, U.S.	Hard	Roscoe Tanner	4–6, 2–6
Loss	21.	Mar 1979	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	4–6, 4–6
Win	16.	Aug 1979	Columbus, U.S.	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 6–0
Win	17.	Oct 1979	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Johan Kriek	7–5, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3
Win	18.	Jun 1980	Surbiton, UK	Grass	Sandy Mayer	6–3, 6–3
Win	19.	Jul 1980	Washington, D.C.	Clay	José Luis Clerc	7–5, 4–6, 6–4
Win	20.	Oct 1980	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Trey Waltke	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
Win	21.	Nov 1980	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Adriano Panatta	4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 7–6
Loss	22.	Mar 1981	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	23.	Jun 1981	London (Queen's), UK	Grass	John McEnroe	6–7, 5–7
Win	22.	Aug 1981	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Tony Graham	6–3, 6–3
Loss	24.	Oct 1981	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Ivan Lendl	6–1, 0–6, 1–6, 2–6
Win	23.	May 1982	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Mike Estep	6–7, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	25.	Aug 1982	Columbus, Ohio, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	5–7, 0–6
Win	24.	Oct 1982	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Bill Scanlon	6–1, 6–4, 6–0
Loss	26.	Nov 1982	London (Wembley), UK	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	3–6, 2–6, 4–6
Win	25.	Oct 1983	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Mel Purcell	6–2, 6–3, 7–5

Close

Doubles (54 titles, 41 runner-ups)

More information Result, No. ...

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	1973	Philadelphia WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Dick Stockton	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	2.	1973	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Dick Stockton	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	1.	1973	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–1, 6–7, 6–7
Win	3.	1973	Fort Worth, U.S.	Hard	Dick Stockton	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	7–6, 6–4
Loss	2.	1973	Hong Kong	Hard	Paul Gerken	Colin Dibley Rod Laver	3–6, 7–5, 15–17
Loss	3.	1974	Atlanta WCT, U.S.	Clay	Dick Stockton	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	3–6, 6–3, 6–7
Loss	4.	1974	Orlando WCT, U.S.	Clay	Dick Stockton	Owen Davidson John Newcombe	6–7, 3–6
Loss	5.	1974	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann	3–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win	4.	1974	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Juan Gisbert Sr. Ilie Năstase	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
Loss	6.	1974	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Tom Gorman Marty Riessen	6–4, 3–6, 5–7
Win	5.	1974	South Orange, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj	7–6, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	7.	1974	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	3–6, 2–6
Loss	8.	1974	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Patrice Dominguez Antonio Muñoz	1–6, 3–6
Loss	9.	1974	Tehran, Iran	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Manuel Orantes Guillermo Vilas	6–7, 6–2, 2–6
Loss	10.	1974	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Patrice Dominguez François Jauffret	5–7, 4–6
Loss	11.	1974	London, England	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase	6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Win	6.	1975	Philadelphia WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Dick Stockton Erik van Dillen	3–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	12.	1975	Dayton Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Paul Gerken	Ray Ruffels Allan Stone	6–7, 5–7
Win	7.	1975	St. Petersburg WCT, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Charlie Pasarell Roscoe Tanner	6–4, 6–4
Win	8.	1975	La Costa WCT, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Charlie Pasarell Roscoe Tanner	7–5, 6–4
Loss	13.	1975	São Paulo WCT, Brazil	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	7–6, 6–7, 6–7
Loss	14.	1975	Caracas WCT, Venezuela	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	5–7, 6–4, 2–6
Win	9.	1975	Orlando WCT, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Colin Dibley Ray Ruffels	6–4, 6–4
Win	10.	1975	World Doubles WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Mark Cox Cliff Drysdale	7–6, 6–7, 6–2, 7–6
Win	11.	1975	Dallas WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	7–5, 6–3, 4–6, 2–6, 7–5
Win	12.	1975	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase	6–4, 7–6, 2–6, 6–1
Win	13.	1975	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	15.	1975	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	5–7, 6–2, 1–6
Win	14.	1975	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	John Andrews Mike Estep	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	16.	1975	Melbourne Indoor, Australia	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	4–6, 0–6
Win	15.	1975	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–4, 6–2
Win	16.	1975	Perth, Australia	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–0
Win	17.	1975	Tokyo, Japan	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Juan Gisbert Sr. Manuel Orantes	7–6, 6–4
Win	18.	1976	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
Win	19.	1976	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Arthur Ashe Tom Okker	6–4, 7–5
Win	20.	1976	St. Louis WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	John Alexander Phil Dent	6–4, 6–2
Win	21.	1976	Mexico City WCT, Mexico	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Ismail El Shafei Brian Fairlie	6–4, 7–6
Win	22.	1976	Jackson WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	7–5, 4–6, 6–0
Win	23.	1976	Caracas WCT, Venezuela	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Jeff Borowiak Ilie Năstase	7–5, 6–4
Win	24.	1976	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Geoff Masters John Newcombe	7–6, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Loss	17.	1976	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 3–6, 1–6
Win	25.	1976	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Ross Case Geoff Masters	3–6, 6–3, 8–6, 2–6, 7–5
Win	26.	1976	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Arthur Ashe Jimmy Connors	6–3, 6–3
Win	27.	1976	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Ricardo Cano Víctor Pecci	6–3, 6–0
Win	28.	1976	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–2, 6–2
Win	29.	1976	Woodlands Doubles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Phil Dent Allan Stone	6–1, 6–4, 5–7, 7–6
Loss	18.	1976	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Bob Hewitt	Dick Stockton Roscoe Tanner	3–6, 4–6
Win	30.	1976	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	7–6, 6–4
Loss	19.	1976	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 0–4, ret.
Loss	20.	1976	Wembley, England	Carpet	Wojciech Fibak	Stan Smith Roscoe Tanner	6–7, 3–6
Win	31.	1976	Johannesburg WCT, South Africa	Hard	Sherwood Stewart	Juan Gisbert Sr. Stan Smith	1–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–6
Win	32.	1977	Miami, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Paul Kronk Cliff Letcher	7–5, 6–4
Loss	21.	1977	Washington Indoor, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	3–6, 5–7
Win	33.	1977	Rome, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 7–6, 7–5
Win	34.	1977	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Wojciech Fibak Jan Kodeš	7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	35.	1977	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	7–5, 6–3
Loss	22.	1977	US Open, New York	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 0–6
Loss	23.	1977	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	6–7, 4–6
Win	36.	1977	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Jeff Borowiak Roger Taylor	6–2, 6–0
Loss	24.	1977	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker	3–6, 3–6
Loss	25.	1977	Wembley, England	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Sandy Mayer Frew McMillan	3–6, 6–7
Win	37.	1978	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Phil Dent John Newcombe	3–6, 7–6, 6–2
Win	38.	1978	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet	Geoff Masters	Hank Pfister Butch Walts	6–3, 6–4
Win	39.	1979	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	Ion Țiriac Guillermo Vilas	6–4, 6–3
Loss	26.	1979	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Raúl Ramírez	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 2–6
Loss	27.	1979	Washington, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart	6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Win	40.	1979	Columbus, U.S.	Clay	Robert Lutz	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Win	41.	1979	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Ilie Năstase	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	1–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	28.	1979	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	3–6, 4–6
Loss	29.	1979	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Raúl Ramírez	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	4–6, 6–3, 1–6
Win	42.	1980	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker	3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Loss	30.	1980	Baltimore WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Frew McMillan	Tim Gullikson Marty Riessen	6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	31.	1980	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	3–6, 6–7
Loss	32.	1980	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Frew McMillan	Fritz Buehning Johan Kriek	6–3, 3–6, 6–7
Win	43.	1980	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	Rod Frawley Tomáš Šmíd	6–3, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	33.	1980	French Open, Paris	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 3–6
Win	44.	1980	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Jimmy Connors	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	7–6, 6–2
Win	45.	1980	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Sandy Mayer	Peter Fleming Eliot Teltscher	6–4, 6–2
Win	46.	1980	Sawgrass Doubles, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	7–6, 6–4, 2–6, 7–6
Loss	34.	1980	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Raymond Moore	Paolo Bertolucci Adriano Panatta	4–6, 4–6
Loss	35.	1980	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Vitas Gerulaitis	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	2–6, 4–6
Loss	36.	1981	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Marty Riessen Sherwood Stewart	2–6, 2–6
Loss	37.	1981	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Tim Gullikson Bernard Mitton	6–3, 2–6, 3–6
Win	47.	1981	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	John McEnroe Peter Rennert	7–6, 6–3
Loss	38.	1981	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Robert Lutz	Johan Kriek Larry Stefanki	6–2, 1–6, 2–6
Win	48.	1982	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	John Lloyd Dick Stockton	6–4, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	39.	1982	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Hank Pfister	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	2–6, 3–6
Win	49.	1982	Sawgrass Doubles, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick	W/O
Win	50.	1982	Paris Indoor, France	Hard (i)	Bruce Manson	Jay Lapidus Richard Meyer	6–4, 6–2
Win	51.	1982	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Frew McMillan	Shlomo Glickstein Andrew Pattison	6–2, 6–2
Loss	40.	1983	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet	Raúl Ramírez	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	3–6, 5–7, 6–7
Win	52.	1983	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Raúl Ramírez	Tian Viljoen Danie Visser	6–3, 6–3
Loss	41.	1983	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Mark Edmondson	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	6–7, 6–4, 4–6
Win	53.	1983	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Paul McNamee	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	6–4, 6–3
Win	54.	1984	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Tomáš Šmíd	Cássio Motta Blaine Willenborg	6–4, 6–2

Close