Roscoe Tanner

American Born 1951 183 cm Left handed
Head to heads vs Jimmy Connors (21)vs Raul Ramirez (16)vs Bjorn Borg (16)vs Brian Teacher (14)vs Dick Stockton (13)vs Arthur Ashe (13)

Match log

1985

MemphisCarpet, January
R64LZoltan Kuharszky5-7 7-6 4-6

1984

Tel AvivHard, September
R32LAmos Mansdorf4-6 6-7
US OpenHard, August
R128LMatt Doyle2-6 2-6 4-6
CincinnatiHard, August
R64LJimmy Connors1-6 3-6
ColumbusHard, August
R32LTim Gullikson7-5 2-6 1-6
ClevelandHard, August
R32LJaromir Becka4-6 5-7
LivingstonHard, July
R32LBob Green2-6 0-1 RET
BostonClay, July
R32LFernando Luna4-6 6-4 2-6
R64WCharles Buzz Strode6-3 3-6 7-6
Boca WestHard, March
R32LBrian Teacher4-6 3-6
RotterdamCarpet, March
R32LBrian Gottfried5-7 2-6
La QuintaHard, February
R32LBob Lutz6-7 3-6
R64WThierry Tulasne6-3 6-2
MemphisCarpet, February
R32LTim Mayotte3-6 2-6
R64WChip Hooper4-6 6-3 6-4

1983

Australian OpenGrass, November
R32LMats Wilander4-6 7-6 3-6 1-6
R64WMike Bauer7-6 3-6 4-6 6-3 14-12
R128WKim Warwick7-6 6-2 3-6 6-3
WembleyCarpet, November
R32LBill Scanlon7-6 0-6 1-6
San FranciscoCarpet, September
R16LJohn McEnroe3-6 3-6
R32WMatt Mitchell7-6 3-6 6-1
DallasHard, September
R16LJohn Fitzgerald1-6 4-6
R32WJay Lapidus6-3 6-7 6-1
US OpenHard, August
R32LJohan Kriek7-6 6-3 6-7 6-7 6-7
R64WSandy Mayer7-6 6-4 2-6 4-6 7-6
R128WJimmy Brown7-6 7-6 6-1
CincinnatiHard, August
R64LSteve Denton5-7 6-3 6-7
ColumbusHard, August
QFLBill Scanlon4-6 4-6
R16WChristophe Roger-Vasselin6-1 6-4
R32WNduka Odizor6-3 6-4
Stuttgart OutdoorClay, July
R32LDrew Gitlin4-6 6-4 0-6
WimbledonGrass, June
QFLIvan Lendl5-7 6-7 3-6
R16WRobert Vant Hof6-2 6-3 6-3
R32WMats Wilander6-7 7-5 6-3 6-4
R64WJohn Alexander6-2 7-6 4-6 6-3
R128WJan Gunnarsson6-4 6-3 6-2
Queen's ClubGrass, June
R64LPaul Mcnamee3-6 3-6
TampaCarpet, April
R32LJohan Kriek5-7 7-5 3-6
Los AngelesHard, April
R16LSandy Mayer3-6 3-6
R32WVincent Van Patten6-3 6-3
R64WTom Gullikson4-6 7-5 6-4
Richmond WCTCarpet, February
QFLSteve Denton2-6 4-6
R16WJohn McEnroe6-3 5-7 6-2
R32WBruce Manson6-2 3-6 7-5

1982

Hartford WCTCarpet, December
R16LHans Gildemeister4-6 5-7
Chicago-2 WCTCarpet, November
R16LBalazs Taroczy7-6 3-6 4-6
JohannesburgHard, November
R32LJose Higueras6-7 0-6
WembleyCarpet, November
R32LColin Dowdeswell6-7 6-3 7-9
San FranciscoCarpet, September
R16LBrian Teacher3-6 5-7
R32WDick Stockton6-4 6-7 6-3

Roscoe Tanner

The fastest serve of the wooden-racquet era belonged to the Stanford lefty from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Roscoe Tanner tossed the ball barely above his head and struck it mid-lunge; at Palm Springs in February 1978 it was clocked at 153 mph, a tournament record that stood until Andy Roddick passed it in 2004. It carried the 1972 NCAA doubles champion to his 1 major at the January 1977 Australian Open, beating Guillermo Vilas 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in a final of left-handers, and it underpinned 17 career titles.

His best chance at a second came at Wimbledon in 1979. Tanner took the opening set of the final off Bjorn Borg in a tiebreak and pushed the three-time defending champion to 6-4 in the fifth, live on NBC's first Breakfast at Wimbledon broadcast. He reached his career-high No. 4 that July, beat Borg again at the US Open two months later, then fell to Vitas Gerulaitis in a five-set semifinal, as close as the low toss and the lunge ever came again.