Roy Barth

{{Infobox tennis biography

| name = Roy Barth

| image =

| fullname = Roy Barth

| country_represented = {{flagu|United States}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|3|30}}

| birth_place = San Diego, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| plays =

| turnedpro = 1969

| retired = 1975

| careerprizemoney =

| singlesrecord = 29–118

| singlestitles = 0

| highestsinglesranking =

| currentsinglesranking =

| AustralianOpenresult = 1R (1971)

| FrenchOpenresult = 1R (1970)

| Wimbledonresult = 1R (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971)

| USOpenresult = 4R (1969)

| doublesrecord = 45–94

| doublestitles = 1

| highestdoublesranking =

| currentdoublesranking =

| AustralianOpenDoublesresult = 1R (1971)

| FrenchOpenDoublesresult = 2R (1970)

| WimbledonDoublesresult = 2R (1969)

| USOpenDoublesresult = 3R (1974)

| website=[http://www.roybarth.com www.roybarth.com]

}}

Roy Barth (born March 30, 1947) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

Biography

Barth, born and raised in San Diego, was a good enough junior tennis player to be selected for America's Junior Davis Cup team.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19660711&id=HHhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VBEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4813,2109786&hl=en|title=Bleckingers Gain Clay Court Berths|date=July 11, 1966|work=The Milwaukee Sentinel|page=6|accessdate=10 January 2016}} He played varsity tennis while attending UCLA in the late 1960s and had success in doubles with Steve Tidball. The pair were runners-up to Bob Lutz and Stan Smith for the NCAA Division 1 doubles title in 1968. He twice earned All-American honours, in 1968 and 1969.{{cite web|url=http://www.uclabruins.com/fls/30500/old_site/pdf/m-tennis/History_MTN.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=30500|title=Bruin History|publisher=uclabruins.com|accessdate=10 January 2016}}

After coming back from two sets down to defeat Miguel Olvera in the first round of the 1969 US Open, Barth made it to the fourth round, which would remain his best Grand Slam performance. Barth, who reached a highest ranking of 8th nationally, competed in all four Grand Slam tournaments, but all of his nine singles matches won were on home soil.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1873&dat=19701210&id=pk0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mNEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4693,3110838&hl=en|title=Top Ranked Tennis Pros Here Monday|last=Tucker|first=Tommy|date=December 10, 1970|work=Daytona Beach Morning Journal|page=41|accessdate=10 January 2016}}

Competing professionally from 1969, Barth went on to make two Grand Prix finals, both in doubles. He was runner-up in the doubles at the Pacific Coast Championships in 1970, then in 1974 won the Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championships in Merion with Humphrey Hose.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110464432 |title=Ashe, Ricliey win Pacific international. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=6 October 1970 |accessdate=10 January 2016 |page=22 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite web|url=http://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1010002807|title=ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - Merion - 19 August - 25 August 1974|publisher=International Tennis Federation|accessdate=10 January 2016}}

A finalist at the Wimbledon All England Plate in 1970, Barth also had noted performances at the US Open in the 1970s. He won the first two sets of his match against Björn Borg at the 1973 US Open, before the Swede came back to win in five.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19730830&id=zJVMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=avoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6796,7816447&hl=en|title=Women Netters Begin Play in U.S. Open|date=August 30, 1973|work=Lakeland Ledger|page=2B|accessdate=10 January 2016}} The following year at the 1974 US Open he also took former champion Ilie Năstase to five sets.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=MDQ-9Oe3GGUC&dat=19740902&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|title=Brothers Amritraj in upsets|date=September 2, 1974|work=The Age|page=21|accessdate=10 January 2016}}

In 1975, Barth played on the World Team Tennis Tour as a member of the Indiana Loves.{{Cite web|title=All out of Love: Remembering Indiana's World Team Tennis franchise|url=https://www.heraldbulletin.com/sports/all-out-of-love-remembering-indianas-world-team-tennis-franchise/article_01bae656-a332-11e9-9be3-d7f19d67c1e1.html|last=Bulletin|first=Dax Lowery {{!}} For The Herald|website=Herald Bulletin|access-date=2020-05-27}}

After retiring from professional tennis, Barth moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to become the Director of Tennis of the new Kiawah Island Golf and Tennis Resort, growing the program to earn the #1 Tennis Resort in the United States ranking by Tennis Magazine and the #1 Tennis Resort in the World twelve times between 2005 and 2019 by tennisresortsonline.com.{{Cite web|title=Tennis Resorts Online's Top 100 Tennis Resorts and Camps|url=https://www.tennisresortsonline.com/trofiles/top-100-tennis-resorts-and-camps.cfm|website=www.tennisresortsonline.com|access-date=2020-05-28}}

In 2006, to celebrate Barth's 30th year of employment, the owners of Kiawah renamed their East Beach Tennis Center the Roy Barth Tennis Center.{{Cite web|title=Roy Barth Makes Service Count At Award-Winning Kiawah Island – Tennis Industry|url=http://www.tennisindustrymag.com/articles/2006/07/roy_barth_makes_service_count.html|website=www.tennisindustrymag.com|access-date=2020-05-28}} In 2018, after 42 years as director of the tennis program, Barth stepped down, turning the program over to his son, Jonathan.{{Cite web|title=Kiawah tennis director Roy Barth stepping down|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/kiawah-tennis-director-roy-barth-stepping-down/article_1ae716d0-f61e-11e7-b9ad-9752f74a27aa.html|author=James Beck |website=Post and Courier|access-date=2020-05-28}} Barth is currently the Director of Tennis Emeritus and still works with tennis players at Kiawah.

As a volunteer, Barth served as President of the USTA South Carolina District, Captain of the USTA Italia Cup, Chairman of the USTA Davis Cup Committee, and President of the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR).{{Cite web|title=PTR elects new president & directors – Tennis Industry news|url=http://www.tennisindustrymag.com/news/2015/03/ptr_elects_new_president_board.html|website=www.tennisindustrymag.com|access-date=2020-05-28}}

Barth has been inducted into six Halls of Fame: Hoover High School Sports Hall of Fame in San Diego (1995),{{Cite web|title=Homecoming marks 80 years of Hoover history|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-homecoming-marks-80-years-hoover-history-2010oct08-htmlstory.html|date=2010-10-09|website=San Diego Union-Tribune|access-date=2020-05-28}} The South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame (1997),{{Cite web|title=South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame Inductees|url=http://beltontennis.com/halloffame/inductees.htm|website=beltontennis.com|access-date=2020-05-28}} The Southern Tennis Hall of Fame (1999),{{Cite web|title=Roy R. Barth, South Carolina, 1999|url=http://southerntennisfoundation.com/southern-tennis-hall-of-fame/roy-r-barth-south-carolina-1999/|date=2015-12-10|website=Southern Tennis Foundation|access-date=2020-05-28}} The San Diego Tennis Hall of Fame (2012),{{Cite web|title=Kiawah's Roy Barth inducted into his fourth tennis hall of fame|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/kiawahs-roy-barth-inducted-into-his-fourth-tennis-hall-of-fame/article_d1d26456-7c0c-11e9-b241-43a75eb95666.html|last=Courier|first=James Beck Special to The Post and|website=Post and Courier|access-date=2020-05-28}} The Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame (2019),{{Cite web|title=2019 ITA Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame induction class|url=https://www.itatennis.com/ITA/Media/News_2019/ITA_Men_s_Collegiate_Tennis_Hall_of_Fame_induction_class.aspx?WebsiteKey=eb58e146-6a42-4310-ac1b-6985bca5fc9b|website=www.itatennis.com|access-date=2020-05-28}} and the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Hall of Fame (2020).{{Cite web|title=Roy Barth Inducted to PTR Hall of Fame|url=https://www.ptrtennis.org/PTRTennis/About/Press-Releases/2020/200213-Barth.aspx|website=www.ptrtennis.org|access-date=2020-05-28}}

In October 2020, Barth published Point of Impact, his personal story woven though the history of tennis and a series of life lessons. In it, he suggests that tennis lessons are life lessons. He channeled the lessons he learned on the court into tools for managing the challenges he faced off the court. Billie Jean King agrees. "Roy's perspective is right on target," she wrote in the book's foreword.