Word: lutz
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...foreigners. Olavi Suomalainen of Finland and Lutz Phillip of West Germany, are the favorites in a race which Americans rarely win these days. Olympic champion Frank Shorter is passing up the Boston event, apparently in deference to another Yale man, Erich Segal...
With his shag-style haircut and aquiline nose, 24-year-old Lutz looks like a cross between Actress Jane Fonda and former Baseball Swinger Ken ("The Hawk") Harrelson. His hazel eyes are as adept at staring soulfully at a pretty girl across a crowded room as they are at following a speeding ball across a net. Then there is the Lutz smile, or smirk, that has helped make him the idol of tennis "groupies." On court, he contends, the smile helps him relax. But it is the sort of constant expression that can get on an opponent's nerves...
Displaying a devastating assortment of backhand shots, unseeded Lutz vanquished some formidable opponents. He knocked out top-seeded John Newcombe of Australia in the first round, scoring the final point in a tense tie breaker with typically audacious anticipation of a cross-court drive. "Fortune favors daring," Lutz later explained. Lutz's other victims, in order, were New Zealander Brian Fairlie, Aussie Laver, South African Cliff Drysdale and Dutchman Tom Okker. Okker was out-hustled in the final by Lutz, who earned $10,000 for his 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph...
...Lutz has been playing tennis since his ninth birthday, when his father gave him a junior-size racket, a certificate for twelve lessons and a pat on the back. As a youngster in Southern California, he won regional and national singles titles. Then he entered the University of Southern California and became best known as Stan Smith's doubles partner. The pair won the national collegiate championships in 1967 and 1968; also in 1968 they took the U.S. Open and amateur titles and the first of three successive Davis Cup victories. Joining Texas Promoter Lamar Hunt...
...Lutz's real ability is his strength," says Rosewall, the master tactician and most durable of the pros. "He can play even the most difficult shots with simple strength. And he's got age on his side." Relaxing in Cleveland last week in a blue and pink striped Pierre Cardin shirt, blue velveteen blazer and color-coordinated bellbottoms, Lutz attributed his sudden rise to a newfound confidence. "Tennis is 70 to 80 percent psychological," he said. "After you beat Rosewall or Laver once, you say to yourself, 'I can do it again...