Todd Witsken

Todd Witsken (November 4, 1963 – May 25, 1998) was an American tennis player.

Biography

He was one of eight children born to Marilyn and Henry Witsken in Carmel, Indiana.

He specialized in playing doubles and began his professional career in 1985. He was a three-time all-American at the University of Southern California. His career-high rankings were world No. 43 in singles and No. 4 in doubles.

His biggest singles win was at the 1986 US Open, where he beat five-time US Open champion, Jimmy Connors, 6–2, 6–4, 7–5, in their third-round match. It was the first time since 1973 that Connors had failed to reach the US Open semifinals.

In 1989, Witsken lost to Greg Holmes 7–5, 4–6, 6–7⁽⁵⁾, 6–4, 12–14, in the second round at Wimbledon, a match that was the longest men's singles match at Wimbledon, timed at 5 hours 28 minutes, until the record-breaking Isner-Mahut match in 2010.

He was known for using the MAD RAQ - an innovative, three-directionally-strung racket based on the weave of a snowshoe.

Witsken retired just before the 1993 US Open and died from brain cancer on May 25, 1998, at the age of 34.

Personal life

Witsken had four children. His nephew is professional tennis player Ben Shelton.

ATP career finals

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
ATP Masters Series (2)
ATP International Series Gold (0)
ATP Tour (10)

Doubles: 21 (12 wins, 9 losses)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Oct 1987	San Francisco, US	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Glenn Layendecker	Template:Flagicon Jim Grabb Template:Flagicon Patrick McEnroe	2–6, 6–0, 4–6
Loss	2.	Mar 1988	Indian Wells, US	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Boris Becker Template:Flagicon Guy Forget	4–6, 4–6
Loss	3.	May 1988	Charleston, US	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Pieter Aldrich Template:Flagicon Danie Visser	6–7, 3–6
Win	1.	May 1988	Forest Hills, US	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Pieter Aldrich Template:Flagicon Danie Visser	6–3, 7–6
Win	2.	May 1988	Rome, Italy	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Anders Järryd Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	6–3, 6–3
Win	3.	Jul 1988	Boston, US	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Bruno Orešar Template:Flagicon Jaime Yzaga	6–2, 7–5
Loss	4.	Jul 1988	Washington, US	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Rick Leach Template:Flagicon Jim Pugh	3–6, 7–6, 2–6
Win	4.	Jul 1988	Stratton Mountain, US	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Pieter Aldrich Template:Flagicon Danie Visser	6–3, 7–6
Loss	5.	Nov 1988	Itaparica, Brazil	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Sergio Casal Template:Flagicon Emilio Sánchez	6–7, 6–7
Win	5.	Apr 1989	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Patrick McEnroe Template:Flagicon Tim Wilkison	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win	6.	Jul 1989	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Template:Flagicon Cássio Motta	Template:Flagicon Petr Korda Template:Flagicon Milan Šrejber	6–4, 6–3
Win	7.	Aug 1989	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Template:Flagicon Kelly Evernden	Template:Flagicon Charles Beckman Template:Flagicon Shelby Cannon	6–3, 6–3
Win	8.	Nov 1989	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Rick Leach Template:Flagicon Jim Pugh	6–3, 5–7, 6–3
Loss	6.	Nov 1989	Itaparica, Brazil	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Rick Leach Template:Flagicon Jim Pugh	2–6, 6–7
Loss	7.	Jul 1990	Washington, USA	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Grant Connell Template:Flagicon Glenn Michibata	3–6, 7–6, 2–6
Loss	8.	Oct 1990	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Jorge Lozano	Template:Flagicon Udo Riglewski Template:Flagicon Michael Stich	4–6, 4–6
Win	9.	Apr 1991	Hong Kong, UK	Hard	Template:Flagicon Patrick Galbraith	Template:Flagicon Glenn Michibata Template:Flagicon Robert Van't Hof	6–2, 6–4
Win	10.	May 1991	Munich, Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Patrick Galbraith	Template:Flagicon Anders Järryd Template:Flagicon Danie Visser	7–5, 6–4
Win	11.	Jul 1991	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Template:Flagicon Patrick Galbraith	Template:Flagicon Grant Connell Template:Flagicon Glenn Michibata	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
Win	12.	Mar 1992	Key Biscayne, US	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ken Flach	Template:Flagicon Kent Kinnear Template:Flagicon Sven Salumaa	6–4, 6–3
Loss	9.	Jul 1992	Washington, USA	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ken Flach	Template:Flagicon Bret Garnett Template:Flagicon Jared Palmer	2–6, 3–6

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Feb 1990	San Francisco, US	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Andre Agassi	1–6, 3–6

External links

• Template:ATP
• Template:ITF

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