Eric Butorac
Eric Butorac is an American retired professional tennis player. He was a doubles specialist, and for a period of approximately six years was the No. 3 ranked American doubles player. His best result was 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
Butorac is of Croatian descent. Butorac's parents, Jan and Tim Butorac, are directors of the Rochester Tennis Connection in Rochester, Minnesota. His brother, Jeff, is a basketball coach at Century High School. Tim Butorac 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.
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, Tokyo and Stockholm. 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 was the president of the ATP Player's Council. He succeeded Roger Federer as president. He was succeeded by Novak Djokovic on August 30 2016.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 Gimelstob, 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)
ATP career finals
Doubles: 29 (18 titles, 11 runners-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 2006 Countrywide Classic – Doubles| | Los Angeles Open, United States | International | Hard |  Jamie Murray |  Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | 2007 SAP Open – Doubles| | Pacific Coast Championships, United States | International | Hard | Jamie Murray |  Chris Haggard Rainer Schüttler | 7–5, 7–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | 2007 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Doubles| | U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, United States | Intl. Gold | Hard | Jamie Murray |  Jürgen Melzer Julian Knowle | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–1 | 2007 Nottingham Open – Doubles| | Nottingham Open, United Kingdom | International | Grass | Jamie Murray | Joshua Goodall Ross Hutchins | 4–6, 6–3, |
| Win | 4–1 | 2008 Countrywide Classic – Doubles| | Los Angeles Open, United States | International | Hard |  Rohan Bopanna | Travis Parrott Dušan Vemić | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Win | 5–1 | 2009 Chennai Open – Doubles| | Chennai Open, India | 250 Series | Hard | Rajeev Ram |  Jean-Claude Scherrer Stan Wawrinka | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 6–1 | 2009 Estoril Open – Men's Doubles| | Estoril Open, Portugal | 250 Series | Clay | Scott Lipsky |  Martin Damm Robert Lindstedt | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 7–1 | 2009 PTT Thailand Open – Doubles| | Thailand Open, Thailand | 250 Series | Hard | Rajeev Ram |  Guillermo García López Mischa Zverev | 7–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 7–2 | 2010 BMW Open – Doubles| | Bavarian International Tennis Championships, Germany | 250 Series | Clay | Michael Kohlmann | Oliver Marach Santiago Ventura | 7–5, 3–6, |
| Loss | 7–3 | 2010 Farmers Classic – Doubles| | Los Angeles Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard |  Jean-Julien Rojer | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 7–6, 2–6, |
| Win | 8–3 | 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Doubles| | Japan Open, Japan | 500 Series | Hard | Jean-Julien Rojer |  Andreas Seppi Dmitry Tursunov | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 9–3 | 2010 If Stockholm Open – Doubles| | Stockholm Open, Sweden | 250 Series | Hard |  Jean-Julien Rojer | Johan Brunström Jarkko Nieminen | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 9–4 | 2011 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Doubles| | U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, United States | 500 Series | Hard | Jean-Julien Rojer |  Max Mirnyi Daniel Nestor | 2–6, 7–6, |
| Win | 10–4 | 2011 Estoril Open – Men's Doubles| | Estoril Open, Portugal | 250 Series | Clay | Jean-Julien Rojer | Marc López David Marrero | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 11–4 | 2011 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur – Doubles| | Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, France | 250 Series | Clay | Jean-Julien Rojer |  Santiago González David Marrero | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 12–4 | 2011 Proton Malaysian Open – Doubles| | Malaysian Open, Malaysia | 250 Series | Hard | Jean-Julien Rojer | František Čermák Filip Polášek | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Loss | 12–5 | 2011 Valencia Open 500 – Doubles| | Valencia Open, Spain | 500 Series | Hard | Jean-Julien Rojer | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 4–6, 6–7 |
| Win | 13–5 | 2012 Brasil Open – Doubles| | Brasil Open, Brazil | 250 Series | Clay |  Bruno Soares | Michal Mertiňák André Sá | 3–6, 6–4, |
| Loss | 13–6 | 2012 PTT Thailand Open – Doubles| | Thailand Open, Thailand | 250 Series | Hard |  Paul Hanley |  Lu Yen-hsun Danai Udomchoke | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 13–7 | 2013 Brisbane International – Men's Doubles| | Brisbane International, Australia | 250 Series | Hard | Paul Hanley | Marcelo Melo Tommy Robredo | 6–4, 1–6, |
| Loss | 13–8 | 2013 BMW Open – Doubles| | Bavarian International Tennis Championships, Germany | 250 Series | Clay |  Marcos Baghdatis | Jarkko Nieminen Dmitry Tursunov | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 14–8 | 2013 Proton Malaysian Open – Doubles| | Malaysian Open, Malaysia | 250 Series | Hard | Raven Klaasen |  Pablo Cuevas Horacio Zeballos | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 14–9 | 2014 Australian Open – Men's Doubles| | Australian Open, Australia | Grand Slam | Hard | Raven Klaasen |  Łukasz Kubot Robert Lindstedt | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 15–9 | 2014 U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships – Doubles| | U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, United States | 250 Series | Hard | Raven Klaasen | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 16–9 | 2014 Stockholm Open – Doubles| | Stockholm Open, Sweden | 250 Series | Hard | Raven Klaasen |  Treat Huey Jack Sock | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 16–10 | 2015 Winston-Salem Open – Doubles| | Winston-Salem Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard | Scott Lipsky | Dominic Inglot Robert Lindstedt | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 17–10 | 2015 Valencia Open – Doubles| | Valencia Open, Spain | 250 Series | Hard | Scott Lipsky | Feliciano López Max Mirnyi | 7–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 17–11 | 2016 ASB Classic – Men's Doubles| | Auckland Open, New Zealand | 250 Series | Hard | Scott Lipsky |  Mate Pavić Michael Venus | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Win | 18–11 | 2016 Estoril Open – Doubles| | Estoril Open, Portugal | 250 Series | Clay | Scott Lipsky | Łukasz Kubot Marcin Matkowski | 6–4, 3–6, |