Butch Walts

Butch Walts

Full name	Kenneth B. Walts
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Scottsdale, Arizona, US
Born	(1955-06-04) June 4, 1955 (age 69) Modesto, California, US
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Turned pro	1975
Retired	1984
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$454,343
Singles
Career record	137–134
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 30 (April 16, 1979)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	1R (1979)
Wimbledon	2R (1977)
US Open	QF (1978)
Doubles
Career record	172–146
Career titles	15
Highest ranking	No. 23 (June 18, 1984)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	1R (1984)
Wimbledon	2R (1977)
US Open	QF (1980)

Butch Walts (born June 4, 1955)^[1] is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

During his career, Walts won 4 singles titles and 15 doubles titles. He reached the quarter finals of the 1978 US Open, beating defending champion Guillermo Vilas before losing to John McEnroe. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 in 1979 and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 23 in 1984. In 1981 Walts overcame testicular cancer and had surgery and chemotherapy.^[2]

Career finals

Singles (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result	W-L	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	1976	Boca Raton, U.S.	Hard	Cliff Richey	3–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win	2–0	1977	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Brian Gottfried	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	3–0	1979	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet	Marty Riessen	6–3, 6–4
Win	4–0	1979	Bologna, Italy	Carpet	Gianni Ocleppo	6–3, 6–2
Loss	4–1	1983	Ferrara, Italy	Carpet	Thomas Högstedt	4–6, 4–6

Doubles (15 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	W-L	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	1976	Boca Raton, U.S.	Hard	Bruce Manson	Vitas Gerulaitis Clark Graebner	2–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	1976	Hong Kong	Hard	Hank Pfister	Anand Amritraj Ilie Năstase	6–4, 6–2
Win	2–1	1977	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet	Hank Pfister	Jeff Borowiak Andrew Pattison	6–4, 7–6
Loss	2–2	1978	Dayton, U.S.	Carpet	Hank Pfister	Brian Gottfried Geoff Masters	3–6, 4–6
Win	3–2	1978	Atlanta, U.S.	Hard	John Alexander	Mike Cahill Marcello Lara	3–6, 6–4, 7–6
Win	4–2	1978	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Sherwood Stewart	Mark Edmondson John Marks	6–2, 6–7, 7–6
Loss	4–3	1980	Frankfurt, West Germany	Carpet	Andrew Pattison	Vijay Amritraj Stan Smith	7–6, 2–6, 2–6
Loss	4–4	1980	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Andrew Pattison	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	2–6, 7–6, 2–6
Win	5–4	1980	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Brian Teacher	Anand Amritraj John Austin	6–2, 6–4
Loss	5–5	1980	Surbiton, U.K.	Grass	Andrew Pattison	Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick	6–7, 7–6, 7–6, 6–7, 13–15
Win	6–5	1980	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Andrew Pattison	Fritz Buehning Peter Rennert	7–6, 6–4
Win	7–5	1980	Atlanta, U.S.	Hard	Tom Gullikson	Anand Amritraj John Austin	6–7, 7–6, 7–5
Win	8–5	1980	Bologna, Italy	Carpet	Balázs Taróczy	Steve Denton Paul McNamee	2–6, 6–3, 6–0
Win	9–5	1981	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	Andrew Pattison	Mel Purcell Dick Stockton	6–3, 6–4
Win	10–5	1981	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Bernard Mitton	David Carter Paul Kronk	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Win	11–5	1981	Frankfurt, West Germany	Carpet	Brian Teacher	Vitas Gerulaitis John McEnroe	7–5, 6–7, 7–5
Win	12–5	1981	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Tom Gullikson	John McEnroe Ferdi Taygan	6–4, 6–4
Win	13–5	1983	Ferrara, Italy	Carpet	Bernard Mitton	Stanislav Birner Stefan Simonsson	7–6, 0–6, 6–3
Loss	13–6	1983	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Bernard Mitton	Heinz Günthardt Pavel Složil	7–5, 5–7, 4–6
Win	14–6	1984	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Bernard Mitton	Scott Davis Ferdi Taygan	5–7, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	14–7	1984	Florence, Italy	Clay	Bernard Mitton	Mark Dickson Chip Hooper	6–7, 6–4, 5–7
Loss	14–8	1984	London/Queen's Club, U.K.	Grass	Bernard Mitton	Pat Cash Paul McNamee	4–6, 3–6
Win	15–8	1984	Honolulu, U.S.	Hard	Gary Donnelly	Mark Dickson Mike Leach	7–6, 6–4

References

1. Images, Historic. "1975 Press Photo BUTCH WALTS TENNIS PLAYER GOLD MEDAL DEFEAT GONZALEZ". Historic Images. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
2. "Walts advances". The New York Times. February 2, 1983. Retrieved October 16, 2024.

External links

• Butch Walts at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Butch Walts at the International Tennis Federation