Eric Van Dillen: what happened to him

[kiki]

Once a very promising US player, in the early 70´s, he was Smith´s doubles teammate at those memorable DC wins against Romania in 1971 and 1972.Smith couldn´t play with WCT pro Lutz so he played with this unexpert young player who kept himself very well on such a massive atmosphere.

Later on, in 78, he did beat John Mc Enroe at Wimbledon´s first round

But it seems nothing came in between and certainly nothing afterwards

What happened to Van Dillen?

 

[JCat]

The only thing I ever remember hearing about Erik Van Dillen is Jimmy Connors talking about playing Davis Cup in 1972, and the Davis Cup captain at the time(Dennis Ralston maybe?) choosing Van Dillen to play instead of Connors. Connors was an alternate. That was one of the things that soured him on Davis Cup, as well as his grandmother dying while he was away with the team.

 

[kiki]

Van Dillen played doubles
Smith and Gorman the singles and Stan himself also the doubles
I don' t recall who was the fourth guy

 

[navigator]

He joined a long list of other pros who did not enjoy playing Harold Solomon...

 

[kiki]

Good quote.Higueras and Barazutti enjoyed the picnic with Harold.None of them were never in a hurry to finish the meal.