Todd Witsken

Todd Witsken

Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1963-11-04)November 4, 1963 Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Died	May 25, 1998(1998-05-25) (aged 34) Zionsville, Indiana, US
Turned pro	1985
Retired	1993
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
College	University of Southern California
Prize money	$1,420,910
Singles
Career record	115–135
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 43 (November 13, 1989)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1988)
French Open	2R (1988, 1989)
Wimbledon	2R (1986, 1989)
US Open	4R (1986)
Doubles
Career record	222–148
Career titles	12
Highest ranking	No. 4 (August 29, 1988)

Todd Witsken (November 4, 1963 – May 25, 1998) was an American tennis player.

Biography

He was one of eight children born to Marilyn and Henry Witsken in Carmel, Indiana.

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.

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.

Witsken retired just before the 1993 US Open and died from brain cancer on May 25, 1998, at the age of 34.

Personal life

Witsken had four children. His nephew is professional tennis player Ben Shelton.

ATP career finals

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

Doubles: 21 (12 wins, 9 losses)

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

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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

External links

• Todd Witsken at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Todd Witsken at the International Tennis Federation