The Lithuanian Lion visits Adelaide

His long blond locks of hair and his fierce attitude on court earned Vitas Gerulaitis the nickname 'the Lithuanian lion'.  Born in Brooklyn, USA to Lithuanian parents, he followed his fathers talent on the tennis court.  Vitas senior had won the Lithuanian tennis championship in his youth.  By 1984, Vitas junior, had won 27 titles and was ranked no.4 in the world.

In 1980, he visited Adelaide, with his father, where they visited another former Lithuanian tennis champion, Alfonsas Remeikis.  Remeikis was living in Adelaide at that time.

Vitas accidental died in 1994, aged only 40.  While sleeping at a friends house, he was poisoned by carbon monoxide leaking from a faulty swimming pool heater.