Roscoe Tanner

Leonard Roscoe Tanner (born October 15, 1951) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 on July 30, 1979. Tanner won 16 titles throughout his career.

Tanner was famous for his big left-handed serve, which was regarded as the fastest on the tour during his era. It was reportedly clocked at a then world record of at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California on February 19, 1978 during the 1978 American Airlines Tennis Games singles final against Raúl Ramírez.

He is also known for winning the men's singles title at the first of two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Tanner won the tournament held in January. Tanner reached the Wimbledon final in 1979, narrowly losing to Björn Borg in five sets.

After his retirement, Tanner received media attention in the 2000s for legal problems that included stretches of imprisonment, arrests for missing child support payments, allegations of financial misdeeds, and bankruptcy.

Early life Leonard Roscoe Tanner III was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on 15 October 1951. Tanner grew up in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee where he was introduced to tennis at the age of 6. He won his first Junior U.S. Nationals Tournament at 16-years-old. with honors, where he was captain of the tennis team and recipient of the Senior Tennis Award. He went on to help lead Stanford University's rise to national prominence in collegiate tennis with teammate, Sandy Mayer.Tanner played number one singles, with Mayer playing number two. In 1972, Tanner and Mayer won the NCAA doubles championship, and the Stanford team finished second in the NCAA tournament, behind Trinity (TX). The team also featured Chico Hagey, Rick Fisher, Jim Delaney, Gery Groslimond, Chip Fisher, Paul Sidone, and Tim Noonan.

Career Stanford tennis coach Gould holds the 1972 NCAA Championship trophy won by Roscoe Tanner and Sandy Mayer playing men's doubles.Tanner defeated Haroon Rahim 10–8 in the fifth set to win the 1970 United States Amateur Championships. While attending Stanford, Tanner began playing professional tennis tournaments throughout the U.S., which earned him a ranking in the top 20. That same year, the world no.1, Arthur Ashe, asked Tanner to be his doubles partner and Tanner says, "One of the biggest turning points for me was playing doubles with Arthur Ashe," in a 2020 interview. His first tournament on tour was the 1972 Wimbledon Championships, where he lost to Colin Dibley in the 3rd round. Tanner made it to the quarterfinals of the 1972 U.S. Open, where he lost to Tom Gorman in 5 sets. Tanner won his first professional tournament in doubles with Arthur Ashe in 1973 Denver WCT.

Peak years (1974–79)

Tanner claimed the singles and doubles titles at Denver WCT in 1974 where he defeated Arthur Ashe. Tanner lost in a 1975 Wimbledon semifinal to Jimmy Connors and lost in a 1976 Wimbledon semifinal to Björn Borg. In the round of 16 in the 1976 U.S. Open, Tanner lost to Ilie Nastase – where Tanner told the umpire to change the call on Nastase's ball from "out" to "in". Tanner defeated Guillermo Vilas in three straight sets in the 1977 Australian Open (January) final, to win his first and only Grand Slam title.

Tanner went on to clock a 153 mph serve at the 1978 Palm Springs Tournament where he defeated Raul Ramirez. His booming 153 mph serve was the fastest ever recorded in tournament competition from February 1978

Tanner lost a five set match to Björn Borg in the 1979 Wimbledon final, which was the first Wimbledon final to be broadcast live in the United States as part of NBC's Breakfast at Wimbledon. Tanner avenged this loss to Borg by beating him in four sets in the US Open quarterfinals two months later, a match where Tanner's 140 mph serve brought the net down during the fourth set. Tanner lost to Vitas Gerulaitis in a five-set thriller in the semifinals. Tanner described his 1979 US Open win over Borg and loss to Gerulaitis in his autobiography as "the highest of my highs and the lowest of my lows on a tennis court within two days of each other". He coached in Europe for a brief period and led clinics at tennis resorts in the United States. He played in the Over-50s tennis tournaments and was ranked 2nd in the world during that period.

Playing style

Tanner was known for his unorthodox, very strong left-handed serve that was tossed very low and struck with a lunge involving the whole body, earning him the nickname "The Rocket". His game consisted of a powerful serve with an approach to the net and strong volleys.

In a video for Jack Kramer, Tanner said, "The offensive style of game which is closest to my heart is basically the attacking style... that is a serve and volley type of game. That's really moving at the other player, picking out their weaknesses and attacking them, being aggressive." Tanner played with a PDP Open racket, which was the "stiffest" racket on tour at the time, which added speed and power to his strokes and volleys.

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

1The Australian Open was played twice in 1977, in January and December.

Grand Slam finals Singles: 2 (1 titles, 1 runner-up)

Career finals Singles (15 titles, 26 runner-ups)

Doubles titles (13 titles, 16 runner-ups)

Personal life Tanner has been married three times, first to Nancy, then Charlotte, and last to Margaret. He has five children, Omega Anne Romano, Tamara Tanner, Lauren Tanner, Anne Monique, and Lacey Tanner. He was arrested again in June 2003 on a fugitive warrant on charges related to passing a bad check.

In 2008, Tanner was again arrested for writing a bad check in Knoxville, Tennessee, but it was settled out of court. After being evicted from his home, Tanner was arrested in January 2012 for writing another bad check. In March 2013, Tanner was arrested in Florida for writing a bad check and grand theft, and in 2014, he served 10 days for driving with a suspended license. In 2015, Tanner was arrested for failure to appear in court on a previous warrant. and is the camp director at his own training camp. Tanner is passionate about helping underprivileged children gain access to the sport. The Roscoe Tanner Tennis Clinic has become a mainstay event in Tucson, Arizona and Houston, Texas. The clinic encompasses the mechanics of serving including stance, location, stroke, contact point, toss, and follow-through, creating weight transfer. Roscoe covers placement, types of serve (flat, slice, kick), and when to use it. He also has a section on volleys and net play.

Books Double Fault: My Rise And Fall, And My Road Back (2005) by Roscoe Tanner and Mike Yorkey, Foreword by Stan Smith.