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Roscoe Tanner




Roscoe Tanner (born October 15 , 1951 ) is a former professional American male Tennis player and World No. 4 in 1979 . He was born in Chattanooga and with Sandy Mayer helped to lead Stanford University 's rise to the number 1 spot in collegiate tennis in 1973 . Tanner played number one singles, with Mayer playing number two. The team also featured Rick Fisher, Stanley Pasarell, Jim Delaney, James "Chico" Hagey, Gery Groslimond, Pat DuPre, and Paul Sidone. Tanner is best remembered for his devastating left-handed serve, his victory at the 1977 Australian Open (January) and 5-set loss to Björn Borg in the 1979 Wimbledon finals.

Of the winning 1973 Stanford tennis team, Tanner, Mayer and DuPre were all brothers in the Zeta Psi fraternity.

Since retiring from the ATP Tour, Tanner has run into a fair amount of legal trouble with women as well as financial problems, he moved to Germany (Ettlingen) with his wife and daughters:

  • Divorcing his wife.

  • Divorcing his second wife.

  • Impregnating a woman from an escort service.

  • Marrying a third wife.

  • Writing a bad cheque to buy a $35,595 boat then getting a $10,000 loan with the boat as collateral. The boat was later repossessed after being returned to the owner.

  • Spending ten months in jail in Germany, Florida and New Jersey for failing to pay child support and an outstanding debt.


He was arrested while on the court of a tennis tournament in Germany ; and then, he was extradited to Florida on charges of passing a bad check, and was wanted in New Jersey due to owing $500,000 in back child support. In 2005, Orange County (CA) authorities put out a warrant for his arrest after he failed to show up for a Child Support hearing.

In 2005 he co-wrote his autobiography, "Double Fault: My Rise And Fall, And My Road Back".

On January 17, 2006, Tanner was sentenced to two years in prison for violating terms of his probation related to his grand theft conviction for failing to pay the $35,595 check he used to buy a 32-foot boat in 2000. {Link without Title}

After serving one year of his two year sentence in a Florida prison, Tanner was released February 1, 2007 after credit for "good behavior". He was then transferred to the Orange County, California jail where he was booked on February 8, 2007 on Criminal Contempt of Court and Failure to Pay Court Ordered Child Support charges. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} The California warrants were issued in mid-1995, and the authorities there had tracked Tanner through several states and European countries before his arrest.

On March 1, 2007, Tanner was convicted and sentenced to 43 days in the Orange County Jail, and put on probation until March 1, 2012. {Link without Title}


GRAND SLAM SINGLES FINALS


Wins (1)



Runner-ups (1)



SINGLES TITLES (16)


  • 1974 - Christchurch, Denver WCT

  • 1975 - Chicago, Las Vegas

  • 1976 - Cincinnati , Columbus, San Francisco, Tokyo Outdoor

  • 1977 - Australian Open {Link without Title} (Grass), Sydney

  • 1978 - New Orleans, Palm Springs

  • 1979 - Rancho Mirage, Washington Indoor

  • 1980 - Manchester

  • 1981 - Philadelphia



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TRIVIA

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'Roscoe Tanner', or 'Roscoe', is obscure South of England rhyming slang for the word 'scanner'.