Vitas Gerulaitis
Fun Facts
Vitas had an excellent sense of humor. To this day, the tennis world is quick to recall his quip after beating Jimmy Connors in the semi-finals of the January 1980 Masters. Although Gerulaitis had won their first meeting indoors at New York in 1972, Connors had gone on to claim their next 16 matches. At the press conference, a reporter asked Gerulaitis how he had finally managed to beat Connors after losing 16 in a row. Gerulaitis grinned and said, “And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.” The room erupted with laughter.
Back at home, Gerulaitis was ‘Mr New York’. As a freshman at Columbia University, prior to turning pro one year later in 1971, he had owned a yellow Datsun 240-Z sports car. Later, in his native New York, he would leave his Long Island home for a night out in a yellow Rolls Royce with the personalized number plate ‘VITAS’. His non-stop reverie, whether it was dinner at the Playboy Club, drinks at Daisy, or discos like Annabel’s in London or Studio 54 in New York with his many friends, included artist Andy Warhol, his ‘fraternal twin’, Borg, and McEnroe. He earned the nickname, ‘Broadway Vitas’. Every New Yorker knew him… and loved him.
At his funeral, Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg, and John McEnroe carried him down. They were his blood brothers. To the end.
Cemetery Information:
Final Resting Place:
St. Charles Resurrection Cemeteries
2015 Wellwood Avenue
Farmingdale, New York, 11735
USA
North America
Map:
Grave Location:
Section 28, Plot 8, Range D, Grave 8269Grave Location Description
As you enter the cemetery make your way to the interment chapel in the center of the cemetery. Across from the chapel is Section 28. Within Section 28 you will walk towards the large monument called The Pieta. Tennis legend Vitas Gerulaitis is buried closest to the monument.
Grave Location GPS
40.732863, -73.4081454Photos:
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