Bob Lutz (tennis)

Robert ("Bob") Lutz (born August 29, 1947, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was a top amateur and professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s. He and his longtime partner Stan Smith were one of the best doubles teams of all time and won a number of major titles all over the world. In 1972 Lutz was briefly the 7th-ranked best male player in the world. Although mainly known as a doubles player, between 1967 and 1977 he was ranked among the top-10 American players eight times, with his highest ranking being number 5 in both 1968 and 1970.

Lutz grew up in the Los Angeles area of Southern California and began taking tennis lessons from Ray Casey, a prominent coach in Santa Monica, when he was 10 years old. After winning numerous junior tournaments, he attended Stanford for one year, then transferred to the University of Southern California, from which he graduated. While playing at USC, he was the NCAA singles champion in 1967. His teammate, and longtime doubles partner, Stan Smith was the champion the following year. Together, they won the doubles championship in both 1967 and 1968. Lutz was later inducted into the UCS Hall of Fame.

As a professional, Lutz won nine singles titles, the most important being the Paris Masters in 1978, and reached 15 other singles finals, including the Cincinnati Masters in 1974. He also won 43 doubles titles, many with Stan Smith, and reached 30 other doubles finals. His doubles titles include the U.S. Open in 1968 (when there were two separate tournaments, one amateur and one professional), 1974, 1978, and 1980, the Australian Open in 1970, and the Cincinnati Masters in 1969.

Career highlights

Career Singles Titles (9):

• 1971--Cologne WCT, Sacramento;
• 1972--Boston WCT;
• 1975--Tokyo Indoor;
• 1978--Paris Indoor;
• 1979--Taipei;
• 1980--Cologne, Colombus, Stowe

Career Singles Finals (15):

• 1971--Barcelona WCT;
• 1972--Essen WCT, Rome WCT;
• 1973--Philadelphia WCT;
• 1974--Cincinnati Masters;
• 1975--Columbus, Sydney Indoor;
• 1976--Maui, Rome WCT, Rotterdam WCT;
• 1977--Ocean City, Washington Indoor;
• 1978--Columbus;
• 1983--Tampa

Career Doubles Titles (43):

• 1982--Hartford WCT;
• 1980--US Open, Stowe, Johannesburg, Las Vegas, Vienna, Tulsa;
• 1979--Hong Kong, Columbus, Cleveland, Denver, Newport, Washington Indoor;
• 1978--US Open, Springfield, Washington Indoor;
• 1977--Columbus, Johannesburg WCT, Las Vegas, Maui, Washington Indoor;
• 1976--Barcelona WCT, Indianapolis WCT, Los Angeles, Rome WCT;
• 1975--Columbus, Fort Worth WCT, Houston, Tokyo Indoor, Washington;
• 1974--US Open, Atlanta WCT, Boston, New Orleans WCT, San Francisco;
• 1973--Brussels WCT, Johannesburg WCT, World Doubles WCT;
• 1972--Philadelphia WCT;
• 1970--Australian Open, Berkeley;
• 1969--Cincinnati Masters
• 1968--2 U.S. Opens, both amateur and professional tournaments

Career Doubles Finals (30):

• 1982--La Costa WCT;
• 1981--The Championships, Wimbledon, Cincinnati Masters, Stowe, Sawgrass Doubles;
• 1980--The Championships, Wimbledon, Sawgrass Doubles, Stockholm;
• 1979--U.S. Open, Cincinnati Masters, Taipei, New Orleans;
• 1978--Rotterdam WTC, San Francisco, Stockholm, World Doubles WCT;
• 1977--Los Angeles PSW, Memphis;
• 1976--World Doubles WCT, Las Vegas;
• 1974--The Championships, Wimbledon, French Open, Columbus, Nottingham;
• 1972--Boston WCT, Louisville WCT, Rotterdam WCT;
• 1971--Stockholm Open, Dallas WCT;
• 1970--Los Angeles

See also

• Famous tennis players