Stan Smith

Stan Smith

Stanley Roger "Stan" Smith (born December 14, 1946 in Pasadena, California) is a former World No. 1 American tennis player and two time Grand Slam singles champion who also, with his partner Bob Lutz, formed one of the most successful doubles teams of all time. Together, they won many major titles all over the world. In 1970, Smith won the first year end championship Masters Grand Prix title. Smith's two major singles titles were the 1971 US Open (over Jan Kodeš in the final), and 1972 Wimbledon (over Ilie Năstase in the final). In 1972, he was the year-ending World No. 1 singles player. In 1973, he won his second and last year end championship title at the Dallas WCT Finals. In addition, he won four Grand Prix Championship Series titles. His name is also used in a popular brand of tennis shoes. In his early years he improved his tennis game through lessons from Pancho Segura and the Pasadena Tennis Patrons.