As the last day of 1977 began, 23-year-old Vitas Gerulaitis was eager to close out the finest tennis year of his life with an exclamation point. Twelve months earlier, Vitas Gerulaitis was ranked No.

This week on Tennis Channel, we're looking back some of the sport's most important players, personalities and moments throughout its colorful history. On Thursday, from 12-3 p.m. ET, Tennis Channel ...

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See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. By the look of the room, Vitas Gerulaitis never knew he was in danger.

This will come into play when the score has reached 6-6 and will offer victory to the first player to score 10 points and to be leading by at least two points. The Australian Open is thus now on the ...

Vitas Gerulaitis was a proud American citizen who was born and raised in the United States, lived and partied in New York and never visited his parents’ homeland of Lithuania. To this day, ...

Australian Open officials must have been relieved when Vitas Gerulaitis committed to their end-of-season tournament in 1977. The two best players in the world, Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors, were going ...

Vitas Gerulaitis was once the golden boy of tennis. It began with his hair, a golden mane that fell to and over his shoulders. It included the yellow Rolls Royce he drove to wherever his fast-lane ...

John McEnroe had a glittering tennis career that saw him win seven Grand Slam singles titles, among other accolades. The American's maiden Major singles title came at the 1979 US Open. Seeded third, ...