 Dibbs playing in the final of an exhibition tournament in Rotterdam. | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
| Born | February 23, 1951 Brooklyn, New York |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Turned pro | 1972 (amateur from 1970) |
| Retired | 1984 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) [1] |
| Prize money | $2,016,426 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 604–264 |
| Career titles | 22 |
| Highest ranking | No. 5 (July 24, 1978) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | SF (1975, 1976) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (1974) |
| US Open | QF (1975, 1976, 1979) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | SF (1978) |
| WCT Finals | F (1978) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 77–106 |
| Career titles | 1 |
| Highest ranking | No. 4 (1976) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| French Open | QF (1975) |
| US Open | 4R (1972) |
Eddie Dibbs (born February 23, 1951) is a retired American tennis player also nicknamed "Fast Eddie". He attained a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 in July 1978, winning 22 titles and being a runner-up another 20 times.[2]
Dibbs holds the record number of ATP Tour career match wins for a player who never reached a Grand Slam final. He did reach two semifinals, both at Roland Garros, losing to Guillermo Vilas in 1975 and to Adriano Panatta in 1976. His most significant victory was defeating Jimmy Connors, 1–6, 6–1, 7–5 in London on carpet.
In 1976, only one other American player, Connors, had a better record than Dibbs.[3] In 1977, Dibbs was the 2nd highest ranked American in the tour.[3] In the 1978 season, he ended the year as the leading money winner on the professional tennis tour.[4]
Dibbs was consistently ranked in the top 10 tour rankings for five years from 1975 to 1979.[4] He is also the American tennis player with most singles victories in clay ever in the Open Era and ranks 7th all-time in overall singles victories on clay.[5]
Dibbs is credited with coining the tennis term "bagel" to describe a 6–0 set.[6][7][8] Dibbs played doubles with Harold Solomon. They were nicknamed "The Bagel Twins" by Bud Collins.[9] In 1976, they were ranked No. 4 worldwide, and they were among the top ten also in 1974, 1975 and 1976.[9]
A 2011 ranking system created at Northwestern University based on quality of performances and number of victories ranked Dibbs in the top 20 greatest players of all time.[10][11]
- ^ Eddie Dibbs Archived September 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. umsportshalloffame.com
- ^ "Eddie Dibbs". ATP. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
- ^ a b "Dibbss Racquet Booms, but Wheres Applause; Miamian Is Hardly Known Despite Steady Rise—Expects a Breakthrough Soon". New York Times. January 5, 1977.
- ^ a b "Glory Scarce for Dibbs But Not Success, Money". Washington Post.
- ^ "Rafael Nadal now one win away from 400 on clay, but still long way behind all-time leader". The National News (published 2018). April 28, 2018.
- ^ "The Big Apple: Tennis Bagel". Barrypopik. Archived from the original on January 31, 2007.
- ^ "Bagel. Definition of bagel in tennis". Macmillandictionary. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013.
- ^ "Sarasota Loves Tennis: Fun Facts to Know and Tell (by Jack & Sasha)". The Sarasota Salt. August 29, 2016. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016.
- ^ a b "Harold Solomon". International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ "Who's the best tennis player of all time? Ranking of top male tennis players produces some surprises". Sciencedaily. 2011. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011.
- ^ Radicchi, Filippo (2011). "Who Is the Best Player Ever? A Complex Network Analysis of the History of Professional Tennis". PLOS ONE. 6 (2): e17249. arXiv:1101.4028. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617249R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017249. PMC 3037277. PMID 21339809.