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John Whitlinger

American tennis player

John Whitlinger (born February 4, 1954) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

01Playing career

Whitlinger played in 10 majors in his career. He won one doubles title in his career and reached the round of 16 in singles at the Cincinnati Open in 1974. As a collegiate player at Stanford, he won the NCAA “triple crown” of tennis (singles, doubles, and team championships) in 1974.

02Career finals

Doubles (1-6)

Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0-1 Aug 1974 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard James Delaney Dick Dell
Sherwood Stewart
6-4, 6-7, 2-6
Loss 0-2 Jul 1975 Chicago, U.S. Carpet Mike Cahill John Alexander
Phil Dent
3-6, 4-6
Loss 0-3 Apr 1976 Sacramento, U.S. Carpet Mike Cahill Tom Gorman
Sherwood Stewart
6-3, 4-6, 4-6
Loss 0-4 Aug 1976 Boston, U.S. Clay Mike Cahill Ray Ruffels
Allan Stone
6-3, 3-6, 6-7
Win 1-4 Sep 1976 Bermuda Clay Mike Cahill Dick Crealy
Ray Ruffels
6-4, 4-6, 7-6
Loss 1-5 May 1977 Munich, Germany Clay Nikola Špear František Pala
Balázs Taróczy
3-6, 4-6
Loss 1-6 Oct 1977 Perth, Australia Hard Nick Saviano Ray Ruffels
Allan Stone
2-6, 1-6

03Coaching career

Whitlinger coached the Stanford men's tennis team as an associate from 1987 to 2004, and as head coach from 2005 until his retirement in 2014. He coached KC Corkery and Sam Warburg to the 2004 NCAA Doubles Championship and Bradley Klahn to the 2010 NCAA Singles Championship.

04Personal

Whitlinger married his wife, Jan Martin, in 1980. Whitlinger's son J.J. (John Jr.) Whitlinger is a men's tennis coach at Furman University. His daughter, Dr. Claire Whitlinger, is a Professor of Sociology at Furman University. He has two nieces who are professional tennis players, Teri and Tami Whitlinger, and he is the son of former professional basketball player Warren Whitlinger.

05Honors and awards

  • 1997 ITA National Associate Coach of the Year
  • Fox River Valley Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 1998
  • ITA Collegiate Hall of Fame Class of 1999
  • 2006 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
  • USTA Midwest Section Hall of Fame Class of 2010
  • Neenah High School Hall of Fame Class of 2015
  • Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame 1978
Watch videos about John WhitlingerExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article John Whitlinger, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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