# Brian Teacher

Brian David Teacher (born December 23, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached career-high rankings of world No. 7 in singles and world No. 5 in doubles, both in 1981. Teacher is best remembered for being a major singles champion, triumphing at the 1980 Australian Open. He won eight career singles titles and 16 doubles titles.
Following his playing career, he became a touring coach on both the ATP Tour and WTA Tour. He currently runs the Brian Teacher Tennis Academy in South Pasadena, California.

## Early and personal life

Teacher was born in San Diego, California. He attended Crawford High School in San Diego, graduating in 1972. He later lived in Beverly Hills, California.
In 1979, he married fellow Californian player Kathy May, also a top 10 tennis player. They subsequently divorced. He later studied for his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business.

## Tennis career
### Junior, high school, and college

Teacher won a CIF singles title in 1972 while at Crawford High School.
In 1972, he won the boys' 18 singles and doubles titles. At the University of California-Los Angeles, where he studied economics, he won the Pacific-8 singles and doubles championship in 1974, was an All-American from 1973 to 1976, and was a member of the UCLA teams that won the NCAA championship in 1975 and 1976.

### Professional career

He reached the finals in the South Australian and New South Wales Opens in 1977. In 1978, at the Seiko World Super Tennis Tournament in Tokyo, Teacher upset UCLA graduates Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe before losing in the final to Björn Borg 6–3, 6–4.
In 1980, he won the Australian Open, becoming the second Jewish player to win a men's Grand Slam Singles event (after Dick Savitt). He won the final over Kim Warwick of Australia in straight sets. With his Grand Slam victory, Teacher is one of only five American male players in the Open era to have won a single Grand Slam event (along with Michael Chang, Vitas Gerulaitis, Andy Roddick, and Roscoe Tanner). Seven more Americans have more than one Slam (Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Jim Courier, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras).
His career-high world singles ranking was No. 7 and his world doubles ranking was No. 5, both in 1981.
He won 8 career singles titles, and 16 doubles titles.

### Halls of fame

Teacher was inducted in 2001 into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame, in 2008 into the San Diego Tennis Hall of Fame, and he is also a member of the NCAA Tennis Hall of Fame and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 2014 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 2015, Teacher was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame.

### Coach

Following his playing career, he became an ATP and WTA touring coach working with Andre Agassi and Greg Rusedski. Under his tutelage, Rusedski made a run from #85 in the world to the top ten and the U.S. Open finals. Teacher also coached world #1 doubles players Jim Grabb, Richey Reneberg, Daniel Nestor, and Max Mirnyi. On the women's side, he coached WTA tour player Marissa Irvin. He currently runs the Brian Teacher Tennis Academy in South Pasadena, California

## Grand Slam finals
### Singles (1 win)

| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1980 | Australian Open | Grass | Kim Warwick | 7–5, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–3 |

## Career finals
### Singles (8 titles, 15 runners-up)

* Legend
* Grand Slam tournaments (1)
* Tennis Masters Cup (0)
* Grand Prix (7)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (2)
* Grass (2)
* Clay (0)
* Carpet (4)
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 1976 | Newport, U.S. | Grass | Vijay Amritraj | 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Jan 1977 | Adelaide, Australia | Grass | Victor Amaya | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–2 | Apr 1977 | Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. | Carpet | Bill Scanlon | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Dec 1977 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Grass | Roscoe Tanner | 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–4 | Oct 1978 | Tokyo Indoor, Japan | Carpet | Björn Borg | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–4 | Nov 1978 | Taipei, Taiwan | Carpet | Tom Gorman | 6–3, 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–4 | Jul 1979 | Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. | Grass | Stan Smith | 1–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–5 | Apr 1980 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Hard | Gene Mayer | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 3–6 | Nov 1980 | Hong Kong | Hard | Ivan Lendl | 7–5, 6–7$^{(2–7)}$ , 3–6 |
| Loss | 3–7 | Nov 1980 | Taipei, Taiwan | Carpet | Ivan Lendl | 7–6, 3–6, 3–6, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |
| Loss | 3–8 | Nov 1980 | Bangkok, Thailand | Carpet | Vijay Amritraj | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 3–9 | Dec 1980 | Sydney Outdoor, Australia | Grass | Fritz Buehning | 3–6, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 6–7$^{(5–7)}$ |
| Win | 4–9 | Dec 1980 | Australian Open, Melbourne | Grass | Kim Warwick | 7–5, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$ , 6–3 |
| Win | 5–9 | Aug 1981 | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | Hard | John Austin | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 5–10 | Sep 1981 | San Francisco, U.S. | Carpet | Eliot Teltscher | 3–6, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Loss | 5–11 | Sep 1982 | Maui, Hawaii, U.S. | Hard | John Fitzgerald | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 6–11 | Dec 1982 | Dortmund WCT, West Germany | Carpet | Wojciech Fibak | 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 2–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 7–11 | Mar 1983 | Munich WCT, West Germany | Carpet | Mark Dickson | 1–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 8–11 | Aug 1983 | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | Hard | Bill Scanlon | 7–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 8–12 | Sep 1983 | Dallas, Texas, U.S. | Hard | Andrés Gómez | 7–6$^{(7–2)}$ , 1–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 8–13 | Jun 1984 | Bristol, U.K. | Grass | Johan Kriek | 7–6, 6–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 8–14 | Jul 1984 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Joakim Nyström | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 8–15 | Jul 1985 | Livingston, U.S. | Hard | Brad Gilbert | 6–4, 5–7, 0–6 |

### Doubles (16 titles, 7 runners-up)

| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1. | 1976 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | William Brown | Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1. | 1978 | Miami, U.S. | Clay | Bob Carmichael | Tom Gullikson Gene Mayer | 6–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 2. | 1978 | Manila, Philippines | Clay | Sherwood Stewart | Ross Case Chris Kachel | 6–3, 7–6 |
| Loss | 2. | 1979 | Washington Indoor, U.S. | Carpet | Bob Carmichael | Robert Lutz Stan Smith | 4–6, 5–7, 6–3, 6–7 |
| Loss | 3. | 1979 | Stuttgart Indoor, West Germany | Hard (i) | Bob Carmichael | Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker | 3–6, 7–5, 6–7 |
| Win | 3. | 1980 | Washington-2, U.S. | Carpet | Ferdi Taygan | Kevin Curren Steve Denton | 4–6, 6–3, 7–6 |
| Loss | 4. | 1980 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Carpet | Bill Scanlon | Vijay Amritraj Stan Smith | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 4. | 1980 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Hard | Butch Walts | Anand Amritraj John Austin | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 5. | 1980 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Bruce Manson | Heinz Günthardt Sandy Mayer | 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 6. | 1980 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Hard | Bruce Manson | Wojciech Fibak Ivan Lendl | 6–7, 7–5, 6–4 |
| Loss | 5. | 1980 | Hong Kong | Hard | Bruce Manson | Peter Fleming Ferdi Taygan | 5–7, 2–6 |
| Win | 7. | 1980 | Taipei, Taiwan | Carpet | Bruce Manson | John Austin Ferdi Taygan | 6–4, 6–0 |
| Win | 8. | 1980 | Bangkok, Thailand | Carpet | Ferdi Taygan | Tom Okker Dick Stockton | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Win | 9. | 1981 | La Quinta, U.S. | Hard | Bruce Manson | Terry Moor Eliot Teltscher | 7–6, 6–2 |
| Win | 10. | 1981 | Frankfurt, West Germany | Carpet | Butch Walts | Vitas Gerulaitis John McEnroe | 7–5, 6–7, 7–5 |
| Win | 11. | 1981 | London/Queen's Club, U.K. | Grass | Pat DuPré | Kevin Curren Steve Denton | 3–6, 7–6, 11–9 |
| Win | 12. | 1981 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | Bruce Manson | Anand Amritraj Vijay Amritraj | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Loss | 6. | 1982 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Hard | Bruce Manson | Sherwood Stewart Ferdi Taygan | 1–6, 7–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 13. | 1982 | Stuttgart Outdoor, West Germany | Clay | Mark Edmondson | Andreas Maurer Wolfgang Popp | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 14. | 1982 | San Francisco, U.S. | Carpet | Fritz Buehning | Marty Davis Chris Dunk | 6–7, 6–2, 7–5 |
| Loss | 7. | 1983 | Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | Carpet | Fritz Buehning | Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 15. | 1983 | Columbus, U.S. | Hard | Scott Davis | Anand Amritraj John Fitzgerald | 6–1, 4–6, 7–6 |
| Win | 16. | 1983 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Hard | Steve Meister | Andrés Gómez Sherwood Stewart | 6–7, 7–6, 6–2 |

## Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | W | A | QF | 3R | A | 3R | NH | A | 1 / 6 | 12–5 | 70.6 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | 57.1 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 4R | 3R | 2R | QF | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | Q2 | 0 / 11 | 15–11 | 57.7 |
| US Open | PR* | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 4R | 1R | 4R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 0 / 15 | 14–15 | 48.3 |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–5 | 2–5 | 6–3 | 4–3 | 11–2 | 2–2 | 9–3 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1 / 35 | 45–34 | 57.0 |
* The 1972 US Open had a preliminary round before the 128 player draw began.

## Miscellaneous

* After he retired he completed his undergraduate economics degree and studied business at the University of Southern California.
* As a coach, he worked with Jim Grabb, Mark Knowles, Max Mirnyi, Daniel Nestor, Richey Reneberg, and Greg Rusedski.
* He is married and has two children.