Stanley Roger "Stan" Smith (born December 14, 1946 in
Pasadena, California) is a former
world No. 1 American
tennis player and two-time
Grand Slam singles champion who also, with his partner
Bob Lutz, formed one of the most successful
doubles teams of all time. Together, they won many major titles all over the world. In 1970, Smith won the first year end championship
Masters Grand Prix title. Smith's two major singles titles were the
1971 US Open (over
Jan Kodeš in the final), and
1972 Wimbledon (over
Ilie Nastase in the final). In 1972, he was the year-ending
world No. 1 singles player. In 1973, he won his second and last year end championship title at the Dallas
WCT Finals. In addition, he won four
Grand Prix Championship Series titles. His name is also used in a popular brand of tennis shoes. In his early years he improved his tennis game through lessons from
Pancho Segura and the Pasadena Tennis Patrons.