Van Winitsky

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]

Van Winitsky
Country (sports) United States
Born (1959-03-12) March 12, 1959
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)

Early and personal life

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

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

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

See also

References
  1. "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. Editor, Dave Heeren, West Sports. "INJURIES FORCE FATHER, SON TO GIVE UP TENNIS CAREERS". Sun-Sentinel.com.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. "Van Winitsky | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  5. Google Books. books.google.com.
  6. Association, National Collegiate Athletic (1976). National Collegiate Championships Records Book. National Collegiate Athletic Association. – via Google Books.
  7. "Van Winitsky Pro Tennis Career | ATP Doubles Tournaments".
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