Name Bob Lutz Retired 1982 Career titles 9 Turned pro 1970 | Career record 387-261 (Open era) Height 1.8 m Prize money $1,165,276 Role Tennis player Handed Right-handed | |
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Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand) Education University of Southern California | ||
Robert Lutz (born August 29, 1947) is a former 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. Bud Collins ranked Lutz as World No. 7 in 1972. Between 1967 and 1977 he was ranked among the top-10 American players 8 times, with his highest ranking being No. 5 in both 1968 and 1970.
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Career
Lutz won the 1967 NCAA singles title and, partnering Stan Smith, won the NCAA doubles crown in 1967 and 1968.
During his career he won nine singles titles, the most important being the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships in 1972 and the Paris Masters in 1978, and reached 15 other singles finals, including Cincinnati in 1974. He also won 43 doubles titles, 37 of which were won partnering Stan Smith, and reached 30 other doubles finals. With Smith he formed the only team to win the doubles title at U.S. Championships on four different surfaces (clay, grass, hard and indoor). His doubles titles include the US Open in 1980, 1978, 1974, and 1968, the Australian Open in 1970 and Cincinnati in 1969. In addition, he played on five winning Davis Cup teams between 1968 and 1981 and had a 14–2 record playing doubles. Lutz was nominated for the ITF Tennis Hall of Fame thanks to these achievements.
Honors and personal life
He was inducted into the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984. Lutz, a 1971 University of Southern California graduate, was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2009. He has been living in San Clemente since 1973 with his wife, Sharon, and their two daughters, Samantha and Allison.