Gustavus Adolphus College alumnus and professional tennis player Eric Butorac ’03 has been elected by his peers to serve as the next President of the ATP Player Council. Butorac will succeed Roger Federer, who served as President of the Council since 2008.
The 12-member ATP Player Council meets several times a year to make recommendations to ATP management and the ATP Board of Directors. Besides Butorac, current Council members include Stan Wawrinka, Kevin Anderson, John Isner, Gilles Simon, Jurgen Melzer, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Raven Klassen, Bruno Soares, Andre Sa, Yves Allegro and Claudio Pistolesi.
Butorac was a three-time All-American at Gustavus who won the NCAA Division III singles and doubles titles in 2003. The Rochester, Minn., native compiled a 24-4 singles record and 23-5 mark in doubles during his senior year en route to the pair of national titles.
Since turning professional in 2003, Butorac has tallied a 215-197 career doubles record and has won 15 titles throughout his 12-year career on the ATP Tour. He has been ranked as high as No. 17 in the world, and is currently ranked No. 28. Butorac and his current playing partner, Raven Klassen of South Africa, advanced to the finals of this year’s Australian Open—one of four major tournaments on the ATP schedule. Butorac and Klassen are the No. 12 seed in the men’s doubles draw at the U.S. Open, which begins play today.
UPDATED 9/1:
Butorac’s election as President of the ATP Player Council was featured by The New York Times on Aug. 29 by reporter Ben Rothenberg.
Butorac and his doubles partner, Raven Klaasen of South Africa, are into the quarterfinals at this week’s U.S. Open–the fourth and final grand slam tournament of the 2014 season. Butorac and Klaasen will face the unseeded duo of Americans Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram in the quarterfinal round in a match that will likely be played on Tuesday, Sept. 2. If they can beat Lipsky and Ram, Butorac and Klaasen would likely face the top-seeded tandem of Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinals.
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