Eric Butorac
Quick Facts
Biography
Eric "Booty" Butorac (born May 22, 1981 in Rochester, Minnesota) is an American tennis player. He is a doubles specialist, and has achieved success being the No. 3 ranked American doubles player for the bulk of the past six years. His biggest result has been reaching the 2014 Australian Open finals with partner Raven Klaasen. Their run to the final included a victory over the World No. 1 team of Bob and Mike Bryan.
He attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he played on the men's tennis team for one year before transferring to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, where he graduated in 2003.
Family
Eric's parents, Jan and Tim Butorac, are directors of the Rochester Tennis Connection (Indoor & Outdoor site) in Rochester, Minnesota. Eric's brother, Jeff Butorac, is a basketball coach at Century High School. Tim is a USPTA Professional, teaching tennis at the Rochester Indoor Tennis Club during the winter and at the Kutzky/Rochester Outdoor Tennis Center during the summer months.
College Career
Eric played at Ball State University for one year before transferring to Gustavus Adolphus College. Eric has a long history with Gustavus: his father played for coach Steve Wilkinson, and Eric attended tennis camp with Steve starting at age 5. Eric closed out his senior season of 2003 by winning both the NCAA Division III singles and doubles championships, with Kevin Whipple as his partner.
Recent Activity
In 2014, Butorac started his year with reaching the final of the Australian Open. He then went on to win titles in Memphis and Stockholm. All of these were with partner Raven Klaasen.
In 2013, Butorac made it to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open and won the doubles title in Kuala Lumpur with Raven Klaasen.
In 2012, Butorac made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and won the doubles title in São Paulo (with Bruno Soares).
In 2011, Butorac had his best season reaching a career-high ranking of no. 17, and finishing as the no. 9 team in the world with partner Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands. They won three titles and made the semifinals of the Australian Open.
In 2010, Butorac paired with Rajeev Ram to make the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He also won titles in Chennai (with Ram), Tokyo and Stockholm (with Rojer). He was on the 2010 roster of the Boston Lobsters in the World Team Tennis pro league.
In April, May, and June 2009, Butorac and American Scott Lipsky won the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger, the Estoril Open in Portugal, and a tournament in Nottingham, England.
In early February 2007, the US-Scots pair claimed their first doubles title in a Challenger event in Dallas, and a week later they won their first ATP title at the SAP Open. They continued their winning run the following week when the unseeded pair defeated second seeds Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer, 7–5, 6–3, to capture the doubles title of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships at the Racquet Club of Memphis.
In July 2006, Butorac and Jamie Murray reached their first ATP Tour doubles final, in Los Angeles, losing in straight sets to the Bryan brothers, who were the world's top-ranked doubles team.
Off court
Butorac is the president of the ATP Player's Council. He succeeded Roger Federer as president (whom he served under as VP for the previous term).
Starting in 2010, Butorac has been the volunteer assistant coach at Harvard University.
He is one of only three players from the NCAA Division III ranks to ever make a living on the tour.
In 2009 Butorac started the Minnesota Tennis Challenge, a charity event to benefit St. Paul Urban Tennis. Participants included Bob and Mike Bryan, Justin Gimblestob, Rajeev Ram, Melanie Oudin, and Somdev Devvarman.
Butorac is a regular speaker at coaching conventions and USTA showcases around the country.
Major finals
Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 1 (runner-up)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 2014 | Australian Open | Hard | Raven Klaasen | Łukasz Kubot Robert Lindstedt | 3–6, 3–6 |
ATP career finals
Doubles: 29 (18 titles, 11 runners-up)
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Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | 1. | July 30, 2006 | LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, United States | Hard | Jamie Murray | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 2–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 1. | February 18, 2007 | SAP Open, San Jose, United States | Hard | Jamie Murray | Chris Haggard Rainer Schüttler | 7–5, 7–6(8–6) |
Winner | 2. | February 25, 2007 | Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, Memphis, United States | Hard | Jamie Murray | Julian Knowle Jürgen Melzer | 7–5, 6–3 |
Winner | 3. | June 23, 2007 | Nottingham Open, Nottingham, Great Britain | Grass | Jamie Murray | Joshua Goodall Ross Hutchins | 4–6, 6–3, [10–5] |
Winner | 4. | August 10, 2008 | LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, United States | Hard | Rohan Bopanna | Travis Parrott Dušan Vemić | 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–5) |
Winner | 5. | January 11, 2009 | Chennai Open, Chennai, India | Hard | Rajeev Ram | Jean-Claude Scherrer Stanislas Wawrinka | 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 6. | May 10, 2009 | Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal | Clay | Scott Lipsky | Martin Damm Robert Lindstedt | 6–3, 6–2 |
Winner | 7. | October 4, 2009 | PTT Thailand Open, Bangkok, Thailand | Hard | Rajeev Ram | Guillermo García-López Mischa Zverev | 7–6(7–4), 6–3 |
Runner-up | 2. | May 9, 2010 | BMW Open, Munich, Germany | Clay | Michael Kohlmann | Oliver Marach Santiago Ventura | 7–5, 3–6, [14–16] |
Runner-up | 3. | August 1, 2010 | Los Angeles Open, Los Angeles, United States | Hard | Jean-Julien Rojer | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 7–6(8–6), 2–6, [7–10] |
Winner | 8. | October 10, 2010 | Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Jean-Julien Rojer | Andreas Seppi Dmitry Tursunov | 6–3, 6–2 |
Winner | 9. | October 24, 2010 | If Stockholm Open, Stockholm, Sweden | Hard (i) | Jean-Julien Rojer | Johan Brunström Jarkko Nieminen | 6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 4. | February 20, 2011 | Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, Memphis, United States | Hard (i) | Jean-Julien Rojer | Max Mirnyi Daniel Nestor | 2–6, 7–6(8–6), [3–10] |
Winner | 10. | May 1, 2011 | Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal | Clay | Jean-Julien Rojer | Marc López David Marrero | 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 11. | May 21, 2011 | Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, Nice, France | Clay | Jean-Julien Rojer | Santiago González David Marrero | 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 12. | October 2, 2011 | Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Hard (i) | Jean-Julien Rojer | František Čermák Filip Polášek | 6–1, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 5. | November 6, 2011 | Valencia Open 500, Valencia, Spain | Hard (i) | Jean-Julien Rojer | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 6–4, 7–6(11–9) |
Winner | 13. | February 19, 2012 | Brasil Open, São Paulo, Brazil | Clay (i) | Bruno Soares | Michal Mertiňák André Sá | 3–6, 6–4, [10–8] |
Runner-up | 6. | September 30, 2012 | PTT Thailand Open, Bangkok, Thailand | Hard (i) | Paul Hanley | Lu Yen-hsun Danai Udomchoke | 3–6, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 7. | January 5, 2013 | Brisbane International, Brisbane, Australia | Hard | Paul Hanley | Marcelo Melo Tommy Robredo | 6–4, 1–6, [5–10] |
Runner-up | 8. | May 5, 2013 | BMW Open, Munich, Germany | Clay | Marcos Baghdatis | Jarkko Nieminen Dmitry Tursunov | 1–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 14. | September 29, 2013 | Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Hard (i) | Raven Klaasen | Pablo Cuevas Horacio Zeballos | 6–2, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 9. | January 25, 2014 | Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia | Hard | Raven Klaasen | Łukasz Kubot Robert Lindstedt | 3–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 15. | February 16, 2014 | U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, Memphis, United States | Hard (i) | Raven Klaasen | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 16. | October 19, 2014 | If Stockholm Open, Stockholm, Sweden | Hard (i) | Raven Klaasen | Treat Huey Jack Sock | 6-4, 6-3 |
Runner-up | 10. | August 29, 2015 | Winston-Salem Open, Winston-Salem, United States | Hard | Scott Lipsky | Dominic Inglot Robert Lindstedt | 2–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 17. | November 1, 2015 | Valencia Open, Valencia, Spain | Hard (i) | Scott Lipsky | Feliciano López Max Mirnyi | 7–6(7–4), 6–3 |
Runner-up | 11. | January 16, 2016 | ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | Scott Lipsky | Mate Pavić Michael Venus | 5–7, 4–6 |
Winner | 18. | May 1, 2016 | Estoril Open, Cascais, Portugal | Clay | Scott Lipsky | Łukasz Kubot Marcin Matkowski | 6–4, 3–6, [10–8] |
Doubles performance timeline
W | F | SF | QF | R# | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | NH |
Current till 2016 US Open.
Tournament | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | SR | W-L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||
Australian Open | 2R | 3R | 1R | QF | SF | QF | 3R | F | 3R | 2R | 0 / 10 | 23–10 |
French Open | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 10 | 6–10 |
Wimbledon | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | A | 0 / 9 | 9–9 |
US Open | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 1R | 0 / 10 | 9–10 |
Win–Loss | 4–4 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 7–4 | 4–4 | 11–4 | 5–4 | 3-3 | 0 / 39 | 47–39 |