Brian Teacher

Brian David Teacher (born December 23, 1954) is a former American professional male tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking World No. 7 in 1981.

Brian Teacher
Country (sports) United States
Born (1954-12-23) December 23, 1954
San Diego, California
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Turned pro1973
Retired1986
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,426,514
Singles
Career record335–235
Career titles8
Highest rankingNo. 7 (October 19, 1981)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenW (1980)
French Open3R (1978)
WimbledonQF (1982)
US Open4R (1978, 1980)
Doubles
Career record220–172
Career titles16
Highest rankingNo. 24 (August 9, 1983)

Teacher is best remembered for his singles championship at the Australian Open in 1980. His career-high world singles ranking was No. 7 and his world doubles ranking was No. 5, both in 1981. He won 8 career singles titles, and 16 doubles titles.

Following his playing career, he became an ATP & WTA touring coach. He currently runs the Brian Teacher Tennis Academy in South Pasadena, California.

Early and personal life

Teacher was born in San Diego, California.[1][2][3] He attended Crawford High School in San Diego, graduating in 1972.[2] He later lived in Beverly Hills, California.[4]

In 1979 he married fellow California player Kathy May, also a Top 10 tennis player, and the great-granddaughter of David May, founder of The May Department Stores Company[5] (now Macy's), and the mother of Taylor Fritz. They subsequently divorced.[6] He later studied for his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business.[7]

Tennis career

Junior, high school, and college

Teacher won a CIF singles title in 1972 while at Crawford High School.[8]

In 1972, he won the boys' 18 singles and doubles titles.[9] At the University of California-Los Angeles, where he studied economics, he won the Pacific-8 singles and doubles championship in 1974, was an All-American from 1973–76, and was a member of the UCLA teams that won the NCAA championship in 1975 and 1976.[7]

Professional career

He reached the finals in the South Australian and New South Wales Opens in 1977. In 1978, at the Seiko World Super Tennis Tournament in Tokyo, Teacher upset UCLA graduates Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe before losing in the final to Björn Borg 6–3, 6–4.[10]

In 1980, he won the Australian Open, becoming the second Jewish player to win a men's Grand Slam Singles event (after Dick Savitt).[1] He won the final over Kim Warwick of Australia in straight sets.[11][12] With his Grand Slam victory, Teacher is one of only five American male players in the Open era to have won a single Grand Slam event (along with Michael Chang, Vitas Gerulaitis, Andy Roddick, and Roscoe Tanner). Seven more Americans have more than one Slam (Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Jim Courier, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras).

His career-high world singles ranking was No. 7 and his world doubles ranking was No. 5, both in 1981.[1]

He won 8 career singles titles, and 16 doubles titles.[1]

Halls of fame

Teacher was inducted in 2001 into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame,[13] in 2008 into the San Diego Tennis Hall of Fame,[14] and he is also a member of the NCAA Tennis Hall of Fame and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[15] In 2014 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[1] In 2015, Teacher was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame.[16]

Coach

Following his playing career, he became an ATP & WTA touring coach working with, among others, Andre Agassi and Greg Rusedski.[17][18] Under his tutelage, Rusedski made a run from #85 in the world to the top ten and the U.S. Open finals. Teacher also coached world #1 doubles players Jim Grabb, Richey Reneberg, Daniel Nestor, and Max Mirnyi.[19] On the women's side, he coached WTA tour player Marissa Irvin.[20] He currently runs the Brian Teacher Tennis Academy in South Pasadena, California.[21]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 win)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win1980Australian OpenGrass Kim Warwick7–5, 7–6(7–4), 6–2

Career finals

Singles (8 titles, 15 runners-up)
Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (1)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
Grand Prix (7)
Titles by surface
Hard (2)
Grass (2)
Clay (0)
Carpet (4)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Sep 1976 Newport, U.S. Grass Vijay Amritraj 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6
Loss 2. Jan 1977 Adelaide, Australia Grass Victor Amaya 1–6, 4–6
Win 1. Apr 1977 Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. Carpet Bill Scanlon 6–3, 6–3
Loss 3. Dec 1977 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Roscoe Tanner 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6, 4–6
Loss 4. Oct 1978 Tokyo Indoor, Japan Carpet Björn Borg 3–6, 4–6
Win 2. Nov 1978 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Tom Gorman 6–3, 6–3, 6–3
Win 3. Jul 1979 Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. Grass Stan Smith 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 5. Apr 1980 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Gene Mayer 3–6, 2–6
Loss 6. Nov 1980 Hong Kong Hard Ivan Lendl 7–5, 6–7, 3–6
Loss 7. Nov 1980 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Ivan Lendl 7–6, 3–6, 3–6, 6–7
Loss 8. Nov 1980 Bangkok, Thailand Carpet Vijay Amritraj 3–6, 5–7
Loss 9. Dec 1980 Sydney Outdoor, Australia Grass Fritz Buehning 3–6, 7–6, 6–7
Win 4. Dec 1980 Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Kim Warwick 7–5, 7–6, 6–2
Win 5. Aug 1981 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Hard John Austin 6–3, 6–2
Loss 10. Sep 1981 San Francisco, U.S. Carpet Eliot Teltscher 3–6, 6–7
Loss 11. Sep 1982 Maui, Hawaii, U.S. Hard John Fitzgerald 2–6, 3–6
Win 6. Dec 1982 Dortmund WCT, Germany Carpet Wojtek Fibak 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Win 7. Mar 1983 Munich WCT, Germany Carpet Mark Dickson 1–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–3
Win 8. Aug 1983 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Hard Bill Scanlon 7–6, 6–4
Loss 12. Sep 1983 Dallas, Texas, U.S. Hard Andrés Gómez 7–6, 1–6, 1–6
Loss 13. Jun 1984 Bristol, U.K. Grass Johan Kriek 7–6, 6–7, 4–6
Loss 14. Jul 1984 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Joakim Nyström 4–6, 2–6
Loss 15. Jul 1985 Livingston, U.S. Hard Brad Gilbert 6–7, 4–6

Doubles (16 titles, 8 runners-up)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 1976 Columbus, U.S. Hard William Brown Fred McNair
Sherwood Stewart		 6–3, 6–4
Loss 1. 1978 Miami, U.S. Clay Bob Carmichael Tom Gullikson
Gene Mayer		 6–7, 3–6
Win 2. 1978 Manila, Philippines Clay Sherwood Stewart Ross Case
Chris Kachel		 6–3, 7–6
Loss 2. 1979 Washington Indoor, U.S. Carpet Bob Carmichael Robert Lutz
Stan Smith		 4–6, 5–7, 6–3, 6–7
Loss 3. 1979 Stuttgart Indoor, Germany Hard (i) Bob Carmichael Wojtek Fibak
Tom Okker		 3–6, 7–5, 6–7
Win 3. 1980 Washington-2, U.S. Carpet Ferdi Taygan Kevin Curren
Steve Denton		 4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss 4. 1980 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet Bill Scanlon Vijay Amritraj
Stan Smith		 4–6, 3–6
Win 4. 1980 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Butch Walts Anand Amritraj
John Austin		 6–2, 6–4
Loss 5. 1980 Columbus, U.S. Hard Peter Fleming [lower-alpha 1] Brian Gottfried
Sandy Mayer		 4–6, 2–6
Win 5. 1980 Toronto, Canada Hard Bruce Manson Heinz Günthardt
Sandy Mayer		 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Win 6. 1980 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Bruce Manson Wojtek Fibak
Ivan Lendl		 6–7, 7–5, 6–4
Loss 6. 1980 Hong Kong Hard Bruce Manson Peter Fleming
Ferdi Taygan		 5–7, 2–6
Win 7. 1980 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Bruce Manson John Austin
Ferdi Taygan		 6–4, 6–0
Win 8. 1980 Bangkok, Thailand Carpet Ferdi Taygan Tom Okker
Dick Stockton		 7–6, 7–6
Win 9. 1981 La Quinta, U.S. Hard Bruce Manson Terry Moor
Eliot Teltscher		 7–6, 6–2
Win 10. 1981 Frankfurt, Germany Carpet Butch Walts Vitas Gerulaitis
John McEnroe		 7–5, 6–7, 7–5
Win 11. 1981 London/Queen's Club, U.K. Grass Pat Du Pré Kevin Curren
Steve Denton		 3–6, 7–6, 11–9
Win 12. 1981 Columbus, U.S. Hard Bruce Manson Anand Amritraj
Vijay Amritraj		 6–1, 6–1
Loss 7. 1982 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Bruce Manson Sherwood Stewart
Ferdi Taygan		 1–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win 13. 1982 Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany Clay Mark Edmondson Andreas Maurer
Wolfgang Popp		 6–3, 6–1
Win 14. 1982 San Francisco, U.S. Carpet Fritz Buehning Marty Davis
Chris Dunk		 6–7, 6–2, 7–5
Loss 8. 1983 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. Carpet Fritz Buehning Pavel Složil
Tomáš Šmíd		 2–6, 4–6
Win 15. 1983 Columbus, U.S. Hard Scott Davis Anand Amritraj
John Fitzgerald		 6–1, 4–6, 7–6
Win 16. 1983 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard Steve Meister Andrés Gómez
Sherwood Stewart		 6–7, 7–6, 6–2

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
Tournament19731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986SRW–L
Australian Open A A A A 1R A A W A QF 3R 3R A A 1 / 5 15–4
French Open A A A A 2R 3R 2R A A A A A A A 0 / 3 4–3
Wimbledon A A A 2R 1R 2R 4R 3R 2R QF 3R 1R 1R 2R 0 / 11 15–11
US Open 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 4R 1R 4R 2R 2R 1R 1R 3R 1R 0 / 14 14–14
Win–Loss 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–4 6–3 10–3 12–2 2–2 9–3 4–3 1–3 2–2 1–2 1 / 33 53–32

Miscellaneous

See also

Notes
  1. Fleming's partner incorrectly listed by the ATP as Eliot Teltscher. It was actually Brian Teacher as listed by the ITF.[22]

References
  1. "Brian Teacher". www.jewishsports.net.
  2. Robert Slater (2000). Great Jews in Sports
  3. Sandra Harwitt, The Greatest Jewish Tennis Players of All Time
  5. Jonge, Peter de (August 24, 2016). "The Making of America's Next Great Tennis Talent, in Two Very Different Labs". Intelligencer.
  6. "The Australian Open Champion Who Almost Wasn’t - Book Excerpt From 'The Greatest Jewish Tennis Players of All Time,'" World Tennis Magazine.
  7. "Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home". scjewishsportshof.com.
  8. "San Diego District Tennis Association: Brian Teacher (1954- )". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  9. Dan Magill, Magill: Teacher joins Californian Hall contingent, Athens Banner-Herald, May 19, 2001.
  10. "Brian David Teacher". Jews in Sports. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  11. "Brian Teacher Wins Crown in Australia". The New York Times. AP. January 5, 1981.
  12. Douglas Perry (January 18, 2015). "Australian Open 2015: Four words that forged an unexpected Grand Slam champion - 'I want a divorce'". The Oregonian.
  13. "ITA Men's Hall of Fame".
  14. "Archived Document". Archived from the original on November 4, 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-26.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. Memorable SCTA Hall Of Fame Induction | Southern California Tennis News, Adult Tennis, Junior, Tennis, Community Tennis
  17. "Teacher tries to keep Rusedski focused on semi-final". The Independent. September 5, 1997.
  18. "Rusedski is served by a new teacher". The Independent. May 19, 1996.
  19. "Brian Teacher | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  20. "Joplin Independent: World of tennis is introduced to young readers". www.joplinindependent.com.
  21. "Brian Teacher Tennis Academy". www.brianteacher.com.
  22. "Columbus Doubles 1980". itftennis.com. ITF. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


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