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Eddie Dibbs

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Eddie Dibbs
Dibbs playing in the final of an exhibition tournament in Rotterdam.
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceFort Lauderdale, Florida
Born (1951-02-23) February 23, 1951 (age 73)
Brooklyn, New York
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Turned pro1972 (amateur from 1970)
Retired1984
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand) [1]
Prize money$2,016,426
Singles
Career record604–264
Career titles22
Highest rankingNo. 5 (July 24, 1978)
Grand Slam singles results
French OpenSF (1975, 1976)
Wimbledon2R (1974)
US OpenQF (1975, 1976, 1979)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (1978)
WCT FinalsF (1978)
Doubles
Career record77–106
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 4 (1976)
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenQF (1975)
US Open4R (1972)

Eddie Dibbs (born February 23, 1951) is a retired American tennis player also nicknamed "Fast Eddie". He attained a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 in July 1978, winning 22 titles and being a runner-up another 20 times.[2]

Dibbs holds the record number of ATP Tour career match wins for a player who never reached a Grand Slam final. He did reach two semifinals, both at Roland Garros, losing to Guillermo Vilas in 1975 and to Adriano Panatta in 1976. His most significant victory was defeating Jimmy Connors, 1–6, 6–1, 7–5 in London on carpet.

In 1976, only one other American player, Connors, had a better record than Dibbs.[3] In 1977, Dibbs was the 2nd highest ranked American in the tour.[3] In the 1978 season, he ended the year as the leading money winner on the professional tennis tour.[4]

Dibbs was consistently ranked in the top 10 tour rankings for five years from 1975 to 1979.[4] He is also the American tennis player with most singles victories in clay ever in the Open Era and ranks 7th all-time in overall singles victories on clay.[5]

Dibbs is credited with coining the tennis term "bagel" to describe a 6–0 set.[6][7][8] Dibbs played doubles with Harold Solomon. They were nicknamed "The Bagel Twins" by Bud Collins.[9] In 1976, they were ranked No. 4 worldwide, and they were among the top ten also in 1974, 1975 and 1976.[9]

A 2011 ranking system created at Northwestern University based on quality of performances and number of victories ranked Dibbs in the top 20 greatest players of all time.[10][11]

Biography

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Dibbs was born in Brooklyn, New York to Lebanese parents.[3][12] His family moved to Miami when he was a youngster where he started playing at a young age. He was a two-time state singles champion for Miami Beach High School[13] and attended the University of Miami for three years before turning professional.[14] At the University of Miami he compiled a 93% winning record and was an NCAA All-American twice. He was inducted in the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.[14]

Career finals

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Singles: 42 (22 wins, 20 losses)

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Result No. Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 1973 Jackson, Mississippi, US Hard (i) South Africa Frew McMillan 5–7, 6–1, 7–5
Win 2. 1973 Hamburg, Germany Clay West Germany Karl Meiler 6–1, 3–6, 7–6, 6–3
Win 3. 1973 Fort Worth, US Hard United States Brian Gottfried 7–5, 6–2, 6–4
Win 4. 1974 Hamburg, Germany Clay West Germany Hans-Joachim Plötz 6–2, 6–2, 6–3
Loss 1. 1974 Paris Indoor, France Hard (i) United States Brian Gottfried 3–6, 7–5, 6–8, 0–6
Win 5. 1975 Tehran, Iran Clay Colombia Iván Molina 1–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
Win 6. 1975 London, UK Carpet (i) United States Jimmy Connors 1–6, 6–1, 7–5
Win 7. 1976 Monterrey WCT, Mexico Carpet United States Harold Solomon 7–6, 6–2
Win 8. 1976 Barcelona, Spain Clay South Africa Cliff Drysdale 6–1, 6–1
Loss 2. 1976 Mexico City, Mexico Clay Mexico Raúl Ramírez 6–7, 2–6
Win 9. 1976 Hamburg, Germany Clay Spain Manuel Orantes 6–4, 4–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–1
Loss 3. 1976 Cincinnati, US Clay United States Roscoe Tanner 6–7, 3–6
Loss 4. 1976 Madrid, Spain Clay Spain Manuel Orantes 6–7, 2–6, 1–6
Loss 5. 1976 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Manuel Orantes 1–6, 6–2, 6–2, 5–7, 4–6
Win 10. 1976 Paris Indoor, France Hard (i) Chile Jaime Fillol 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6
Win 11. 1977 Miami, US Clay Mexico Raúl Ramírez 6–0, 6–3
Win 12. 1977 London, UK Hard (i) United States Vitas Gerulaitis 7–6(7–2), 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Loss 6. 1977 Charlotte, US Clay Italy Corrado Barazzutti 6–7, 0–6
Loss 7. 1977 Louisville, US Hard Argentina Guillermo Vilas 6–1, 0–6, 1–6
Loss 8. 1977 Boston, US Clay Spain Manuel Orantes 6–7, 5–7, 4–6
Loss 9. 1977 Tehran, Iran Clay Argentina Guillermo Vilas 2–6, 4–6, 6–1, 1–6
Win 13. 1977 Oviedo, Spain Hard Mexico Raúl Ramírez 6–4, 6–1
Loss 10. 1978 St. Louis WCT, US Carpet (i) United States Sandy Mayer 6–7, 4–6
Loss 11. 1978 Dayton, US Carpet (i) United States Brian Gottfried 6–2, 4–6, 6–7
Win 14. 1978 Tulsa, US Hard (i) United States Pat DuPré 6–7, 6–2, 7–5
Loss 12. 1978 WCT Finals, Dallas Carpet (i) United States Vitas Gerulaitis 3–6, 2–6, 1–6
Win 15. 1978 Cincinnati, US Clay Mexico Raúl Ramírez 6–2, 6–3
Loss 13. 1978 Washington, US Clay United States Jimmy Connors 5–7, 5–7
Win 16. 1978 North Conway, US Clay Australia John Alexander 6–4, 6–4
Win 17. 1978 Toronto, Canada Clay Argentina José Luis Clerc 5–7, 6–4, 6–1
Loss 14. 1979 Birmingham, US Hard United States Jimmy Connors 2–6, 6–3, 5–7
Loss 15. 1979 Tulsa, US Hard (i) United States Jimmy Connors 7–6, 5–7, 1–6
Win 18. 1979 Forest Hills, US Clay United States Harold Solomon 7–6, 6–1
Loss 16. 1979 Columbus, US Clay United States Brian Gottfried 3–6, 0–6
Loss 17. 1979 Barcelona, Spain Clay Chile Hans Gildemeister 4–6, 3–6, 1–6
Win 19. 1980 Sarasota, US Clay Ecuador Andrés Gómez 6–1, 6–1
Loss 18. 1980 Houston, US Clay Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl 1–6, 3–6
Win 20. 1980 Boston, US Clay United States Gene Mayer 6–2, 6–1
Loss 19. 1980 North Conway, US Clay United States Jimmy Connors 3–6, 7–5, 1–6
Win 21. 1981 Forest Hills, US Clay Brazil Carlos Kirmayr 6–3, 6–2
Win 22. 1981 Quito, Ecuador Clay Australia David Carter 3–6, 6–0, 7–5
Loss 20. 1982 Forest Hills, US Clay Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl 1–6, 1–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 SR
Australian Open A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0
French Open A 1R 4R SF SF 2R QF QF 3R 3R 0 / 9
Wimbledon A A 2R A A A A A A A 0 / 1
US Open 2R 1R A QF QF 3R 3R QF 2R A 0 / 8
Win–loss 1–1 0–2 4–2 9–2 9–2 3–2 6–2 8–2 3–2 2–1 0 / 18

References

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  1. ^ Eddie Dibbs Archived September 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. umsportshalloffame.com
  2. ^ "Eddie Dibbs". ATP. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c "Dibbss Racquet Booms, but Wheres Applause; Miamian Is Hardly Known Despite Steady Rise—Expects a Breakthrough Soon". New York Times. January 5, 1977.
  4. ^ a b "Glory Scarce for Dibbs But Not Success, Money". Washington Post.
  5. ^ "Rafael Nadal now one win away from 400 on clay, but still long way behind all-time leader". The National News (published 2018). April 28, 2018.
  6. ^ "The Big Apple: Tennis Bagel". Barrypopik. Archived from the original on January 31, 2007.
  7. ^ "Bagel. Definition of bagel in tennis". Macmillandictionary. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013.
  8. ^ "Sarasota Loves Tennis: Fun Facts to Know and Tell (by Jack & Sasha)". The Sarasota Salt. August 29, 2016. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Harold Solomon". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  10. ^ "Who's the best tennis player of all time? Ranking of top male tennis players produces some surprises". Sciencedaily. 2011. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011.
  11. ^ Radicchi, Filippo (2011). "Who Is the Best Player Ever? A Complex Network Analysis of the History of Professional Tennis". PLOS ONE. 6 (2): e17249. arXiv:1101.4028. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617249R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017249. PMC 3037277. PMID 21339809.
  12. ^ Herman, Robin (September 2, 1975). "It's a Field Day for Tennis Fans". New York Times.
  13. ^ "Florida High School Athletic Association" (PDF).
  14. ^ a b "University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame: Eddie Dibbs 1970-1972". Umsportshalloffame. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016.
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