Gene Mayer

Gene Mayer

Gene Mayer at the 1979 ABN Tennis Tournament
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Mill Neck, New York, U.S.
Born	(1956-05-11) May 11, 1956 Flushing, Queens, New York, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Turned pro	1973
Retired	1986 (brief comeback in 2001)
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed both sides)
Prize money	$1,382,422
Singles
Career record	317–158
Career titles	14
Highest ranking	No. 4 (October 6, 1980)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	4R (1979)
Wimbledon	QF (1980, 1982)
US Open	QF (1982, 1984)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (1980)
WCT Finals	QF (1979)
Doubles
Career record	167–91
Career titles	15
Highest ranking	No. 5 (July 9, 1979)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	W (1978, 1979)

Gene Mayer (born May 11, 1956) is a former tennis player from the United States who won 14 professional singles titles during his career.

Mayer was born in Flushing, Queens, New York. He grew up in Wayne, New Jersey,^[1] and played tennis at Wayne Valley High School, where he went unbeaten in his two years on the tennis team.^[2][3] He was a double hander on both forehand and backhand.

The right-hander Mayer reached his highest ranking on the ATP Tour on October 6, 1980, when he reached the rank of World No. 4.

Mayer has been a resident of Woodmere, New York.^[4] In 2005, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.^[5]

Gene's older brother Sandy was also a tour player. He achieved the rank of World No. 7 in 1982. They met each other in the Stockholm Open final 1981 and won 5 doubles tournaments together, including 1979 French Open.

Career finals

Singles: 26 (14 wins, 12 losses)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	1976	Hamilton, Bermuda	Clay	Cliff Richey	6–7, 2–6
Win	1.	1978	Guadalajara, Mexico	Clay	John Newcombe	6–3, 6–4
Loss	2.	1979	Houston, U.S.	Clay	José Higueras	3–6, 6–2, 6–7
Win	2.	1979	Cologne, Germany	Hard (i)	Wojtek Fibak	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Loss	3.	1979	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	7–6, 3–6, 3–6
Win	3.	1980	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	Victor Amaya	6–2, 6–2
Loss	4.	1980	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Heinz Günthardt	2–6, 4–6
Win	4.	1980	Metz, France	Carpet	Gianni Ocleppo	6–3, 6–3, 6–0
Win	5.	1980	Los Angeles	Hard	Brian Teacher	6–3, 6–2
Loss	5.	1980	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Eddie Dibbs	2–6, 1–6
Win	6.	1980	Cleveland, U.S.	Hard	Victor Amaya	6–2, 6–1
Win	7.	1980	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Eliot Teltscher	6–2, 2–6, 6–1
Loss	6.	1980	Wembley, United Kingdom	Carpet	John McEnroe	4–6, 3–6, 3–6
Win	8.	1981	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Roscoe Tanner	6–2, 6–4
Win	9.	1981	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	John Sadri	6–4, 6–4
Loss	7.	1981	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	Jimmy Connors	1–6, 6–2, 2–6
Win	10.	1981	Cleveland, U.S.	Hard	Dave Siegler	6–1, 6–4
Win	11.	1981	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Sandy Mayer	6–4, 6–2
Loss	8.	1982	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	2–5, retired
Win	12.	1982	Munich, Germany	Clay	Peter Elter	3–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–1
Loss	9.	1982	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	John McEnroe	4–6, 1–6, 4–6
Loss	10.	1983	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	5–7, 0–6
Win	13.	1983	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	Guillermo Vilas	6–1, 7–6
Win	14.	1983	Los Angeles	Hard	Johan Kriek	7–6, 6–1
Loss	11.	1984	Munich, Germany	Clay	Libor Pimek	4–6, 6–4, 6–7, 4–6
Loss	12.	1984	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Henri Leconte	6–7, 0–6, 6–1, 1–6

Doubles: 24 (15 wins, 9 losses)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	1976	La Costa, U.S.	Hard	Peter Fleming	Marty RiessenRoscoe Tanner	6–7, 6–7
Loss	2.	1976	Charlotte WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Vitas Gerulaitis	John NewcombeTony Roche	3–6, 5–7
Loss	3.	1977	Columbus, U.S.	Clay	Peter Fleming	Robert LutzStan Smith	6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Win	1.	1978	Mexico City WCT, Mexico	Hard	Sashi Menon	Marcello LaraRaúl Ramírez	6–3, 7–6
Win	2.	1978	Miami, Florida, U.S.	Carpet	Tom Gullikson	Bob CarmichaelBrian Teacher	7–6, 6–3
Loss	4.	1978	Guadalajara, Mexico	Clay	Sashi Menon	Sandy MayerSherwood Stewart	6–4, 6–7, 3–6
Win	3.	1978	San Jose, California, U.S.	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Hank PfisterBrad Rowe	6–3, 6–4
Win	4.	1978	French Open, Paris	Clay	Hank Pfister	Manuel OrantesJosé Higueras	6–3, 6–2, 6–2
Win	5.	1978	Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Ismail El ShafeiBrian Fairlie	6–3, 6–3
Win	6.	1978	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	Clay	Hank Pfister	Jeff BorowiakChris Lewis	6–3, 6–1
Win	7.	1979	Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.	Hard	Sandy Mayer	Cliff DrysdaleBruce Manson	6–4, 7–6
Win	8.	1979	Houston, U.S.	Clay	Sherwood Stewart	John AlexanderGeoff Masters	6–1, 5–7, 6–4
Win	9.	1979	French Open, Paris	Clay	Sandy Mayer	Ross CasePhil Dent	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	5.	1979	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Sandy Mayer	Peter FlemingJohn McEnroe	7–6, 6–7, 3–6
Win	10.	1979	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	Clay	John McEnroe	Jan KodešTomáš Šmíd	6–4, 7–6
Win	11.	1979	Cologne, Germany	Hard (i)	Stan Smith	Heinz GünthardtPavel Složil	6–3, 6–4
Win	12.	1980	Metz, France	Carpet	Colin Dibley	Chris DelaneyKim Warwick	7–6, 7–5
Loss	6.	1980	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Wojtek Fibak	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	2–6, 5–7
Win	13.	1980	Florence, Italy	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	Paolo BertolucciAdriano Panatta	6–1, 6–4
Win	14.	1980	Boston, U.S.	Clay	Sandy Mayer	Hans GildemeisterAndrés Gómez	1–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	7.	1980	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Clay	Sandy Mayer	Hans GildemeisterAndrés Gómez	4–6, 5–7
Loss	8.	1980	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	1–6, 4–6
Win	15.	1981	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Sandy Mayer	Mike CahillTom Gullikson	7–6, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	9.	1981	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	Sandy Mayer	Fritz BuehningFerdi Taygan	6–7, 6–1, 4–6

References

1. "Vilas Extended by Mayer", The New York Times, February 13, 1977. Accessed December 10, 2007. "Guillermo Vilas, the Argentine left hander, had unexpectedly strong opposition, but ousted young Gene Mayer of Wayne, N.J., 7–6, 7–6, 6–1, in the semifinals of the $50,000 Springfield International, a Grand Prix tennis tournament."
2. Best Boys Tennis Team of the Century, The Star-Ledger. Accessed December 10, 2007.
3. Martin, Rachel (April 11, 2016). "Happy Birthday To Wayne's Gene Mayer". South Passaic Daily Voice. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
4. Cavanaugh, Jack. "A TENNIS TOURNAMENT SERVES SOME ACES", The New York Times, August 23, 1987. Accessed September 16, 2008. "Most of what rooting interest developed focused on the closest thing to a homegrown product in the competition, Gene Mayer of Woodmere."
5. "NC Sports Commission Invites Athlete and Coach Nominations From Community"Archived September 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Three Village Times, January 28, 2005. Accessed December 22, 2007. "The NCSC is privileged to announce that four-time Track and Field Gold Medallist Al Oerter and former world ranked tennis professional Gene Mayer are scheduled, among others, to accept their induction into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame on April 11."

External links

• Gene Mayer at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Gene Mayer at the International Tennis Federation
• Gene Mayer at the Davis Cup (archived)