Van Winitsky
American tennis player
title: "Van Winitsky" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-male-tennis-players", "people-from-lauderhill,-florida", "sportspeople-from-delray-beach,-florida", "tennis-players-from-miami", "ucla-bruins-men's-tennis-players", "us-open-(tennis)-junior-champions", "wimbledon-junior-champions", "living-people", "jewish-american-tennis-players", "1959-births", "grand-slam-(tennis)-champions-in-boys'-singles", "21st-century-american-jews", "jews-from-florida", "20th-century-american-sportsmen"] description: "American tennis player" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Winitsky" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American tennis player ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox tennis biography"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Van Winitsky |
| country | United States |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Miami, USA |
| height | 1.83 m |
| turnedpro | 1978 |
| retired | 1985 |
| plays | Left-handed |
| careerprizemoney | $408,120 |
| singlesrecord | 106–133 |
| singlestitles | 3 |
| highestsinglesranking | No. 35 (February 8, 1982) |
| FrenchOpenresult | 3R (1980) |
| Wimbledonresult | 2R (1978) |
| USOpenresult | 3R (1980) |
| doublesrecord | 150–119 |
| doublestitles | 9 |
| highestdoublesranking | No. 7 (October 10, 1983) |
| FrenchOpenDoublesresult | 2R (1978, 1980) |
| WimbledonDoublesresult | 3R (1979) |
| USOpenDoublesresult | F (1983) |
| Mixed | yes |
| WimbledonMixedresult | 2R (1979, 1980) |
| :: |
|image= |name= Van Winitsky |fullname= |country=United States |residence= |birth_date= |birth_place=Miami, USA |death_date= |death_place= |height=1.83 m |turnedpro= 1978 |retired= 1985 |plays=Left-handed |careerprizemoney=$408,120 |singlesrecord=106–133 |singlestitles=3 |highestsinglesranking=No. 35 (February 8, 1982) |AustralianOpenresult = |FrenchOpenresult = 3R (1980) |Wimbledonresult = 2R (1978) |USOpenresult = 3R (1980) |doublesrecord=150–119 |doublestitles=9 |highestdoublesranking=No. 7 (October 10, 1983) |AustralianOpenDoublesresult = |FrenchOpenDoublesresult = 2R (1978, 1980) |WimbledonDoublesresult = 3R (1979) |USOpenDoublesresult = F (1983) |OthertournamentsDoubles = |MastersCupDoublesresult = |Mixed = yes |AustralianOpenMixedresult = |FrenchOpenMixedresult = |WimbledonMixedresult = 2R (1979, 1980) |USOpenMixedresult = 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.
Early and personal life
Winitsky was born in Miami, Florida, lived in Lauderhill, Florida, and is Jewish. His father Manny Winitsky was the best player of his age in Florida for 15 years, beginning at age 45. Van attended North Miami Beach Senior High School and won the Florida state high school singles tennis championships as a freshman in 1974.
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. He played on the 1978 U.S. Davis Cup team in with John McEnroe, Brian Gottfried, and Harold Solomon.
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. 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. In 1985, he retired from ATP Tour after winning the WTT conference championships for the Miami Beach Breakers.
Career finals
Doubles (11 titles, 9 runner-ups)
::data[format=table]
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1. | 1978 | Tulsa, U.S. | Hard (i) | NZL Russell Simpson | BRA Carlos Kirmayr | |
| ECU Ricardo Ycaza | 4–6, 7–6, 6–2 | ||||||
| Win | 2. | 1978 | North Conway, U.S. | Clay | GBR Robin Drysdale | USA Mike Fishbach | |
| RSA Bernard Mitton | 4–6, 7–6, 6–3 | ||||||
| Loss | 1. | 1978 | Boston, U.S. | Clay | SUI Heinz Günthardt | PAR Víctor Pecci | |
| HUN Balázs Taróczy | 3–6, 6–3, 1–6 | ||||||
| Loss | 2. | 1978 | Hartford, U.S. | Carpet | AUS Mark Edmondson | USA John McEnroe | |
| USA Bill Maze | 3–6, 6–3, 5–7 | ||||||
| Win | 3. | 1978 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Clay | NZL Chris Lewis | ARG José Luis Clerc | |
| CHI Belus Prajoux | 6–4, 3–6, 6–0 | ||||||
| Loss | 3. | 1980 | Tulsa, U.S. | Hard (i) | PAR Francisco González | USA Robert Lutz | |
| USA Dick Stockton | 6–2, 6–7, 2–6 | ||||||
| Loss | 4. | 1980 | South Orange, U.S. | Clay | USA Fritz Buehning | USA Bill Maze | |
| USA John McEnroe | 6–7, 4–6 | ||||||
| Win | 4. | 1981 | Washington, D.C., U.S. | Clay | MEX Raúl Ramírez | TCH Pavel Složil | |
| USA Ferdi Taygan | 5–7, 7–6, 7–6 | ||||||
| Loss | 5. | 1981 | Indianapolis, U.S. | Clay | MEX Raúl Ramírez | RSA Kevin Curren | |
| USA Steve Denton | 3–6, 7–5, 5–7 | ||||||
| Win | 5. | 1981 | Cleveland, U.S. | Hard | USA Erik van Dillen | AUS Syd Ball | |
| AUS Ross Case | 6–4, 5–7, 7–5 | ||||||
| Win | 6. | 1981 | Tel Aviv, Israel | Hard | USA Steve Meister | GBR John Feaver | |
| USA Steve Krulevitz | 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 | ||||||
| Loss | 6. | 1981 | Bangkok, Thailand | Carpet | USA Lloyd Bourne | USA John Austin | |
| USA Mike Cahill | 3–6, 6–7 | ||||||
| Loss | 7. | 1982 | Las Vegas, U.S. | Hard | BRA Carlos Kirmayr | USA Sherwood Stewart | |
| USA Ferdi Taygan | 6–7, 4–6 | ||||||
| Loss | 8. | 1982 | Hilton Head WCT, U.S. | Clay | USA Alan Waldman | AUS Mark Edmondson | |
| AUS Rod Frawley | 1–6, 5–7 | ||||||
| Win | 7. | 1982 | Washington, D.C., U.S. | Clay | MEX Raúl Ramírez | CHI Hans Gildemeister | |
| ECU Andrés Gómez | 7–5, 7–6 | ||||||
| Win | 8. | 1982 | South Orange, U.S. | Clay | MEX Raúl Ramírez | USA Jai DiLouie | |
| USA Blaine Willenborg | 3–6, 6–4, 6–1 | ||||||
| Loss | 9. | 1982 | Hong Kong | Hard | AUS Kim Warwick | USA Charles Buzz Strode | |
| USA Morris Skip Strode | 4–6, 6–3, 2–6 | ||||||
| Loss | 10. | 1983 | Guarujá, Brazil | Hard | ISR Shlomo Glickstein | USA Tim Gullikson | |
| TCH Tomáš Šmíd | 7–5, 6–7, 3–6 | ||||||
| Loss | 11. | 1983 | U.S. Open | Hard | USA Fritz Buehning | USA Peter Fleming | |
| USA John McEnroe | 3–6, 4–6, 2–6 | ||||||
| Win | 9. | 1983 | Dallas, U.S. | Hard | NGR Nduka Odizor | USA Steve Denton | |
| USA Sherwood Stewart | 6–3, 7–5 | ||||||
| :: |
References
References
- "Van Winitsky | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- "Jewish Post 12 March 1982 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program".
- Heeren, Dave. "INJURIES FORCE FATHER, SON TO GIVE UP TENNIS CAREERS".
- "Van Winitsky | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis".
- "Van Winitsky Pro Tennis Career | ATP Doubles Tournaments".
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