Eric Butorac
Butorac at the 2013 French Open | |
| Country (sports) | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Born | May 22, 1981 |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Turned pro | 2003 |
| Retired | 2016 |
| Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| College | Ball State Cardinals Gustavus Adolphus College |
| Prize money | $1,728,454 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 0–0 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 935 (January 16, 2006) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 269–242 (in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 18 |
| Highest ranking | No. 17 (August 29, 2011) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | F (2014) |
| French Open | 3R (2012, 2016) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (2007, 2014) |
| US Open | QF (2014) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2011, 2012, 2015) |
| French Open | SF (2014) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (2013, 2014) |
| US Open | 2R (2016) |
| Last updated on: December 13, 2016. | |
Eric Butorac (born May 22, 1981), nicknamed Booty,[1] 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.
Early life
[edit]This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (February 2017) |
Butorac is of Croatian descent. Butorac's parents, Jan and Tim Butorac, are directors of the Rochester Tennis Connection (Indoor & Outdoor site) 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.
Career
[edit]College career
[edit]Eric Butorac played at Ball State University for one year before transferring to Gustavus Adolphus College. He has a long history with Gustavus: his father played for coach Steve Wilkinson, and, at age five, Eric attended tennis camp with Wilkinson. He closed out his senior season of 2003 by winning both the NCAA Division III singles and doubles championships, with Kevin Whipple as his partner.[2]
Professional career
[edit]This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (July 2022) |
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.
In early February 2007, the US-Scots pair claimed their first doubles title in a Challenger event in Dallas,[3] and a week later they won their first ATP title at the SAP Open.[4] 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.[citation needed]
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.[5]
In 2010, Butorac paired with Rajeev Ram to make the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He also won titles in Chennai (with Ram), Tokyo and Stockholm (with Rojer). He was on the 2010 roster of the Boston Lobsters in the World Team Tennis pro league.
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 2012, Butorac made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and won the doubles title in São Paulo (with Bruno Soares).
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 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.
Off court
[edit]Butorac was elected to the ATP Player Council in 2008. He became vice president starting in 2012, then was elected president in 2014, succeeding Roger Federer.[6] He was later succeeded as president by Novak Djokovic on August 30, 2016.
In 2022, Butorac served as tournament director of the Cincinnati Open. In November 2025, he was announced as the US Open's new tournament director, replacing Stacey Allaster.[7]
Major finals
[edit]Grand Slam finals
[edit]Doubles: 1 (runner-up)
[edit]| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2014 | Australian Open | Hard | 3–6, 3–6 |
ATP career finals
[edit]Doubles: 29 (18 titles, 11 runners-up)
[edit]
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Jul 2006 | Los Angeles Open, United States | International | Hard | 2–6, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 1–1 | Feb 2007 | Pacific Coast Championships, United States | International | Hard (i) | 7–5, 7–6(8–6) | ||
| Win | 2–1 | Feb 2007 | U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, United States | Intl. Gold | Hard (i) | 7–5, 6–3 | ||
| Win | 3–1 | Jun 2007 | Nottingham Open, United Kingdom | International | Grass | 4–6, 6–3, [10–5] | ||
| Win | 4–1 | Aug 2008 | Los Angeles Open, United States | International | Hard | 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–5) | ||
| Win | 5–1 | Jan 2009 | Chennai Open, India | 250 Series | Hard | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
| Win | 6–1 | May 2009 | Estoril Open, Portugal | 250 Series | Clay | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
| Win | 7–1 | Oct 2009 | Thailand Open, Thailand | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 7–6(7–4), 6–3 | ||
| Loss | 7–2 | May 2010 | Bavarian International Tennis Championships, Germany | 250 Series | Clay | 7–5, 3–6, [14–16] | ||
| Loss | 7–3 | Aug 2010 | Los Angeles Open, United States (2) | 250 Series | Hard | 7–6(8–6), 2–6, [7–10] | ||
| Win | 8–3 | Oct 2010 | Japan Open, Japan | 500 Series | Hard | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
| Win | 9–3 | Oct 2010 | Stockholm Open, Sweden | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
| Loss | 9–4 | Feb 2011 | U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, United States | 500 Series | Hard (i) | 2–6, 7–6(8–6), [3–10] | ||
| Win | 10–4 | May 2011 | Estoril Open, Portugal (2) | 250 Series | Clay | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
| Win | 11–4 | May 2011 | Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, France | 250 Series | Clay | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
| Win | 12–4 | Oct 2011 | Malaysian Open, Malaysia | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–1, 6–3 | ||
| Loss | 12–5 | Nov 2011 | Valencia Open, Spain | 500 Series | Hard (i) | 4–6, 6–7(9–11) | ||
| Win | 13–5 | Feb 2012 | Brasil Open, Brazil | 250 Series | Clay | 3–6, 6–4, [10–8] | ||
| Loss | 13–6 | Oct 2012 | Thailand Open, Thailand | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 3–6, 4–6 | ||
| Loss | 13–7 | Jan 2013 | Brisbane International, Australia | 250 Series | Hard | 6–4, 1–6, [5–10] | ||
| Loss | 13–8 | May 2013 | Bavarian International Tennis Championships, Germany | 250 Series | Clay | 1–6, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 14–8 | Sep 2013 | Malaysian Open, Malaysia (2) | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–2, 6–4 | ||
| Loss | 14–9 | Jan 2014 | Australian Open, Australia | Grand Slam | Hard | 3–6, 3–6 | ||
| Win | 15–9 | Feb 2014 | U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, United States | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–4, 6–4 | ||
| Win | 16–9 | Oct 2014 | Stockholm Open, Sweden (2) | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 6–4, 6–3 | ||
| Loss | 16–10 | Aug 2015 | Winston-Salem Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard | 2–6, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 17–10 | Nov 2015 | Valencia Open, Spain | 250 Series | Hard (i) | 7–6(7–4), 6–3 | ||
| Loss | 17–11 | Jan 2016 | Auckland Open, New Zealand | 250 Series | Hard | 5–7, 4–6 | ||
| Win | 18–11 | May 2016 | Estoril Open, Portugal (3) | 250 Series | Clay | 6–4, 3–6, [10–8] |
Doubles performance timeline
[edit]| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Current till 2016 US Open.
| Tournament | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | SR | W-L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R | 3R | 1R | QF | SF | QF | 3R | F | 3R | 2R | 0 / 10 | 23–10 |
| French Open | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 10 | 6–10 |
| Wimbledon | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | A | 0 / 9 | 9–9 |
| US Open | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 1R | 0 / 10 | 9–10 |
| Win–loss | 4–4 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 7–4 | 4–4 | 11–4 | 5–4 | 3-3 | 0 / 39 | 47–39 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Tennis: Murray needs new partner after ending his stretch with Booty". TheGuardian.com. August 2007.
- ^ Patton, Mark. "Gustavus Adolphus, Division III Tennis the Right Choice for Eric Butorac".
- ^ "Jamie Murray wins doubles title"
- ^ "San Jose Continues To Be Kind To Murray" Archived March 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (last paragraph)
- ^ "Tennis Players – Scott Lipsky". ATP World Tour. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
- ^ Rothenberg, Ben (August 29, 2014). "Council Replaces President in Election That's More Than a Popularity Contest". The New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ "Butorac will replace Allaster as US Open tournament director". Associated Press. ESPN. November 17, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2026.