Roscoe Tanner (born October 15, 1951) was a professional American male tennis player and World No. 4 in 1979. He was born in Chattanooga and with Sandy Mayer helped to lead Stanford University's rise to the number 1 spot in collegiate tennis in 1973. He is best remembered for his devastating left-handed serve, his victory at the 1977 Australian Open (January) and 5 set loss to Bjorn Borg in the 1979 Wimbledon finals. Since retiring from the ATP Tour, Tanner has run into a fair amount of legal trouble with women as well as financial problems:
Divorcing his wife. Divorcing his second wife. Impregnating a woman from an escort service. Marrying a third wife. Writing a bad check to buy a $35,595 boat then getting a $10,000 loan with the boat as collateral. The boat was later repossessed after being returned to the owner. Spending ten months in jail in Germany, Florida and New Jersey for failing to pay child support and an outstanding debt. He was arrested while on the court of a tennis tournament in Germany; and then, he was extradited to Florida on charges of passing a bad check, and was wanted in New Jersey due to owing $500,000 in back child support. In 2005, Orange County (CA) authorities put out a warrant for his arrest after he failed to show up for a child support hearing.
In 2005 he co-wrote his autobiography, "Double Fault: My Rise And Fall, And My Road Back".
On January 17, 2006, Tanner was sentenced to two years in prison for violating terms of his probation related to his grand theft conviction for failing to pay the $35,595 check he used to buy a 32-foot boat in 2000.
Singles Titles (16) 1974 Christchurch; Denver WCT 1975 Chicago; Las Vegas; 1976 Cincinnati; Columbus; San Francisco; Tokyo Outdoor 1977 Australian Open; Melbourne 1978 New Orleans; Palm Springs 1979 Rancho Mirage; Washington Indoor 1980 Manchester 1981 Philadelphia
