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Todd Witsken

Todd Witsken
Country (sports) United States
Born(1963-11-04)November 4, 1963
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
DiedMay 25, 1998(1998-05-25) (aged 34)
Zionsville, Indiana, US
Turned pro1985
Retired1993
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CollegeUniversity of Southern California
Prize money$1,420,910
Singles
Career record115–135
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 43 (November 13, 1989)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQF (1988)
French Open2R (1988, 1989)
Wimbledon2R (1986, 1989)
US Open4R (1986)
Doubles
Career record222–148
Career titles12
Highest rankingNo. 4 (August 29, 1988)

Todd Witsken (November 4, 1963 – May 25, 1998) was an American tennis player. He specialized in playing doubles and began his professional career in 1985. He was a three-time all-American at the University of Southern California. His career-high rankings were world No. 43 in singles and No. 4 in doubles.[1] Witsken retired just before the 1993 US Open and died from brain cancer on May 25, 1998, at the age of 34.[1]

His biggest singles win was at the 1986 US Open, where he beat five-time US Open champion, Jimmy Connors, 6–2, 6–4, 7–5, in their third-round match. It was the first time since 1973 that Connors had failed to reach the US Open semifinals.

In 1989, Witsken lost to Greg Holmes 7–5, 4–6, 6–7(5), 6–4, 12–14, in the second round at Wimbledon, a match that was the longest men's singles match at Wimbledon, timed at 5 hours 28 minutes, until the record-breaking Isner-Mahut match in 2010.

He was one of eight children born to Marilyn and Henry Witsken. His hometown was Carmel, Indiana, where he left behind four children. His nephew is Ben Shelton.

ATP career finals

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Legend
Grand Slam (0)
ATP Masters Series (2)
ATP International Series Gold (0)
ATP Tour (10)

Doubles: 21 (12 wins, 9 losses)

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Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Oct 1987 San Francisco, US Carpet (i) United States Glenn Layendecker United States Jim Grabb
United States Patrick McEnroe
2–6, 6–0, 4–6
Loss 2. Mar 1988 Indian Wells, US Hard Mexico Jorge Lozano Germany Boris Becker
France Guy Forget
4–6, 4–6
Loss 3. May 1988 Charleston, US Clay Mexico Jorge Lozano South Africa Pieter Aldrich
South Africa Danie Visser
6–7, 3–6
Win 1. May 1988 Forest Hills, US Clay Mexico Jorge Lozano South Africa Pieter Aldrich
South Africa Danie Visser
6–3, 7–6
Win 2. May 1988 Rome, Italy Clay Mexico Jorge Lozano Sweden Anders Järryd
Czech Republic Tomáš Šmíd
6–3, 6–3
Win 3. Jul 1988 Boston, US Clay Mexico Jorge Lozano Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bruno Orešar
Peru Jaime Yzaga
6–2, 7–5
Loss 4. Jul 1988 Washington, US Hard Mexico Jorge Lozano United States Rick Leach
United States Jim Pugh
3–6, 7–6, 2–6
Win 4. Jul 1988 Stratton Mountain, US Hard Mexico Jorge Lozano South Africa Pieter Aldrich
South Africa Danie Visser
6–3, 7–6
Loss 5. Nov 1988 Itaparica, Brazil Hard Mexico Jorge Lozano Spain Sergio Casal
Spain Emilio Sánchez
6–7, 6–7
Win 5. Apr 1989 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Carpet (i) Mexico Jorge Lozano United States Patrick McEnroe
United States Tim Wilkison
2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win 6. Jul 1989 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Brazil Cássio Motta Czech Republic Petr Korda
Czech Republic Milan Šrejber
6–4, 6–3
Win 7. Aug 1989 Montreal, Canada Hard New Zealand Kelly Evernden United States Charles Beckman
United States Shelby Cannon
6–3, 6–3
Win 8. Nov 1989 Stockholm, Sweden Carpet (i) Mexico Jorge Lozano United States Rick Leach
United States Jim Pugh
6–3, 5–7, 6–3
Loss 6. Nov 1989 Itaparica, Brazil Hard Mexico Jorge Lozano United States Rick Leach
United States Jim Pugh
2–6, 6–7
Loss 7. Jul 1990 Washington, USA Hard Mexico Jorge Lozano Canada Grant Connell
Canada Glenn Michibata
3–6, 7–6, 2–6
Loss 8. Oct 1990 Vienna, Austria Carpet (i) Mexico Jorge Lozano Germany Udo Riglewski
Germany Michael Stich
4–6, 4–6
Win 9. Apr 1991 Hong Kong, UK Hard United States Patrick Galbraith Canada Glenn Michibata
United States Robert Van't Hof
6–2, 6–4
Win 10. May 1991 Munich, Germany Clay United States Patrick Galbraith Sweden Anders Järryd
South Africa Danie Visser
7–5, 6–4
Win 11. Jul 1991 Montreal, Canada Hard United States Patrick Galbraith Canada Grant Connell
Canada Glenn Michibata
6–4, 3–6, 6–1
Win 12. Mar 1992 Key Biscayne, US Hard United States Ken Flach United States Kent Kinnear
United States Sven Salumaa
6–4, 6–3
Loss 9. Jul 1992 Washington, USA Hard United States Ken Flach United States Bret Garnett
United States Jared Palmer
2–6, 3–6

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Feb 1990 San Francisco, US Hard (i) United States Andre Agassi 1–6, 3–6

References

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  1. ^ a b "Todd Witsken, 34, Champion in Tennis Doubles". New York Times. May 27, 1998. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
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