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Butch Seewagen
George Lansing "Butch" Seewagen (born June 13, 1946) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. BiographyHe was born in New York City on June 13, 1946, to George and Clella Seewagen.[1] His father was the tennis coach at St. John’s University and a former player, who played against Don Budge at the 1936 U.S. National Championships.[1] An Orange Bowl winner in 1959, Seewagen was only 17 when he made his first appearance at the US National Championships.[1] He was a member of the United States Junior Davis Cup team from 1963 to 1965.[1] With Kathy Blake, he made the semi-finals of the mixed doubles at the 1966 US National Championships.[1] At Rice University he twice received NCAA All-American honours, in 1967 and 1968.[1] He won the 1969 United States Amateur Championships in a closely fought final against Zan Guerry, which he won 6–4 in the fifth set.[1] Seewagen, who turned professional in 1970, played against top seed Rod Laver in the first round at the 1970 Wimbledon Championships.[2] He defeated both Jimmy Connors and Jan Kodeš during the 1972 Grand Prix tennis season. His win over Connors came en route to a quarter-final appearance in the Tanglewood International Tennis Classic and he beat Kodeš in South Orange, where he also reached the quarter-finals.[3][4] As a doubles player he was runner-up at two Grand Prix tournaments, the Swedish Open in 1971 and Roanoke International Tennis Tournament in 1973.[5] In 1975 he suffered a groin injury which left him unable to walk for nine months.[1] During his professional career he was also the head coach at Columbia University, of teams that included Vitas Gerulaitis and Eric Fromm.[1] He was inducted into the USTA Eastern Hall of Fame in 2005.[1] Grand Prix career finalsDoubles: 2 (0–2)
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