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***Eric Butorac***

17K views 94 replies 17 participants last post by  Cindy19 
#1 ·
Now ranked 33 (doubles ranking) he is such a nice guy, so i think he deserves to have his own cheering thread:worship:

PERSONAL
Began playing tennis at age five with his father, Tim, who is manager of Rochester Tennis Connection, a club in Rochester, Minn. Has one younger brother Jeff (born July 23, 1984) who played two years at St. John's Univ. in Minnesota...Mother, Jan, also manages at the club...Played collegiately at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., a Division III school, from 2001-03, capturing NCAA singles and doubles titles (w/Kevin Whipple) in '03...Earned All-American honors in singles and doubles three seasons...Played one season at Ball State in 2000 before transferring to Gustavus Adolphus...After finishing school, lived in Evreux, France, for one year and played in club level tennis and gained his first ATP Ranking on Oct. 6, 2003 after winning French Futures doubles title in Plaisir...A huge Minnesota pro sports fan, following Twins (baseball), Timberwolves (NBA) and Vikings (NFL)...Considers serve as strength and favorite surfaces are indoor hard courts and grass...Coached by Ryan Dussault (since 2003).~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from atptennis.com
 
#38 ·
Don't get me wrong, Mark is very very nice. I was basing it on the first time I met each. The two are equally nice. :D I was simply praising Eric for the way he handles himself, not being as known as some of the other doubles players. Mark is just as kind and sweet with the fans. A player can't get any nicer than guys like Mark or Eric ;)

And yes, the gift is very cool! I'll be wearing the next time I see him. :cool:
 
#40 ·
I had a chat with Booty yesterday then bumped into him again today - I've no time to upload all the photos I took of him during the match in Sydney yesterday, but here's a taster ;)

 
#41 ·
Eric is fun. Anytime you see him talking to young kids, go up to the kids and say 'Ask him what his nickname is'. Then the kids ask him, Eric tells them, and the kids all giggle. It never gets old.
 
#43 ·
Yep, he is really funny. last time in Beijing, i asked him for a pic, he turned to Ross and said :"do me a fav!"ahaha, and then i said:"can i have one with you guys?" then i tried to ask a staff there, but the staff refused, Eric said:"wooo Such a nice guy!"
He is super interesting.
 
#44 ·
Eric's awesome :lol: I was stuck in the middle of a bunch of French and Israeli supporters when he and Latisha played against Ram/Dechy and I kept yelling "COME ON ERIC!!" and those Frenchies/Israelis gave me mean stares.
 
#46 ·
Glad to hear Eric had someone supporting him there, though his college (Gustavus) had like 50 people there a couple days so that must have been a lot of fun. :wavey:
 
#45 ·
Cindy, your siggy's :yeah: :banana:
 
#47 ·
Didn't look like 50. It was more like 20 very, very loud college students - no surprise if it felt like fifty people...
 
#55 ·
:lol:

Kekasih = sweetheart
 
#58 ·
Malay is my native tongue :lol:
 
#63 ·
The pronounciation's different but not terribly so ;) Indonesians and Malaysians just stress their vowels differently.

Booty in Delray :rocker2:
 
#65 ·
That's a cute nickname :lol: my dad has a cousin nicknamed Montel, which means 'chubby' in Malay ;)
 
#68 ·
Interview from TennisWeek: Feb 12. 2008


He is one of the world's most well-traveled players, but when Eric Butorac is back home is means of transportation remains his parents car. Even without wheels he can all his own, the 26-year-old from Rochester, Minn. is still going places.

Butorac partnered Jamie Murray last year to win three tournament titles — San Jose, Memphis and Queen's Club — before Murray opted to end the partnership last year. Since then Butorac has played doubles with James Blake, Frank Dancevic, Kevin Ullyett and Todd Perry.

The third-seeded team of Butorac and Perry are scheduled to play Mardy Fish and Mark Knowles in the opening round of this week's International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach. Butorac's former partner, Murray (the Stretch to his Booty), is seeded second along with partner Max Mirnyi in Delray Beach.

Scoop Malinowski caught up with Butorac for this Biofile interview.

Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 180 pounds.

Born On: May 22, 1981 in Rochester, Minnesota

Tennis Inspirations: "My dad and my college coach, Steve Wilkinson — who also coached my father and taught him everything he knows [smiles].

Hobbies/Interests: "All sports...I love going to and playing all sports and learning French. Fantasy sports. Sightseeing."

Nicknames: "Booty, McBooty, the Boot, Boots — my brother then became Mini-Boots — so I became Full-Size Boots, Buddha, Puss and Boots, Buto and my favorite courtesy of Snoop Dogg — Bootylicious [smiles]."

Favorite Movies: "Pulp Fiction, Usual Suspects, Old School."

Favorite TV Shows: "Seinfeld, Entourage, The Office."

Musical Tastes: "Rock and a little hip-hop."

Last Book Read: "Playing For Pizza."

First Tennis Memory: "Winning a trophy when I was eight."

First Job: "Stringing racquets for my dad's pro shop."

First Car: "Oldsmobile Calais. It was a gem, think it cost about $800."

Current Car: "Borrow my parents' Accord."

Pre-Match Feeling: "Butterflies in my stomach, no matter the occasion."

Favorite Meal: "Chicken Tikka Masala."

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Cookies 'n Cream."

First Famous Tennis Player You Encountered: "That's a tough one, can't remember meeting anyone too famous when I was young. When I was in Tokyo in '06, my first year on Tour, I spent fifteen minutes in the training room talking to Federer, that was interesting."

Greatest Moment of Career: "Winning the '99 Minnesota state high school tournament."

Most Painful Moment of Career: "Losing in the NCAA D-III team semis in '02."

Favorite Tournaments: "Aussie Open, Stockholm, Queens, Indianapolis."

Favorite Players To Watch: "Federer, Nadal, Murray, Nieminen, Santoro, Dancevic, Edberg, Rafter."

Closest Friends on ATP Tour: "Ashley Fisher, Travis Parrott, Fredrik Nielsen, Dave Martin, Scott Lipsky, Ross Hutchins."

Funniest Players Encountered: "Andre Sa, the only guy I've seen who everyone on Tour loves. The Spanish speakers love him, the English speakers love him, obviously the Portugeese speakers. Singles players respect him, dubs players love him. He is the man."

Toughest Competitors: "This may surprise people, but I'd say Andy Roddick. The guy is so competitive. Whether it's U.S. Open or small tournament in France, the guy is always fighting it out. In doubles, its the Bryans. They show up to play every single week with high energy and the belief to win the tournament. Put Bjorkman and Mirnyi in there too."

Funny Tennis Memory: "Last year in Monte Carlo, the sun was very low and we were looking right into it. Jarkko Nieminen had a short forehand and ripped it right at me. It caught the tape and as it went up I lost it in the sun. I thought it went up over my head and I turned and ran like I was chasing a lob, when appearently the ball sat up right in front of me. Benny Becker, my partner, didn't even react because he expected me to hit an easy forehand winner and certainly didn't expect me to go running away from it!"

Embarrassing Tennis Memory: "Crying my eyes out on court my first day in France trying to play pro tennis cause I thought I couldn't play on clay."

Last Vacation: "Can't remember. It's tennis, tennis, tennis. All my vacations are going home to Minnesota!"

Best You Ever Felt On Court: "Memphis semis in '07. I fought off match points to Benneteau/Johannson and won 13-11 in the super-breaker. I had my parents, girlfriend and four of my best friends in the first row. To have them seeing me play my best tennis was one of the best feelings you can have....and we went on to win the title. The biggest of my career."

People Qualities Most Admired: "I'm pretty humble for a pro athlete...and I think people can relate to me pretty well cause I'm just a normal guy who happened to make it in tennis."
Visually, in this photo...he reminds me a little of Thomas Johansson and Nathan Healey. I'm totally won over by this interview alone :lol:
 
#70 ·
Too cute :lol: thanks Kristen :hatoff:
 
#71 ·
I AM SO EXCITED THAT ERIC IS PLAYING DOUBLES IN INDIAN WELLS WITH ANDY!

It'd be just like old times again - Butorac/Murray on the scoreboard :rolls: :rocker2:



They'll play Martin Damm/Pavel Vizner in the first round though :unsure:
 
#72 ·
Nobody cares that Booty/Andy Murray defeated fifth seeds Damm/Vizner 7-6(5) 6-3? :shrug: that happened right after Jamie/Mirnyi defeated Ljubicic/Robredo 6-4 7-6(5) on the same court in the previous match :spit:

Andy and Booty :rocker2:
 
#79 ·
Butorac and his doubles partner Ram just won Chennai title. Amazing start of the year for these guys!!! Does anybody have their photos?
 
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#80 ·
 
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