Victor Amaya was an international tennis standout in the era of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl, but first he was high school state champion in Holland and a two-time Big Ten singles champion and three-time All-American at the University of Michigan.
In 1980 the 6-foot-7 towering lefthander earned his top world ranking at No. 15 in singles, and in the same year won the French Open doubles championship with Hank Pfister. He won six ATP titles and three singles titles in an 11-year playing career, highlighted by a win over Lendl in 1980 in Washington.
His other two singles titles were in 1977 in Australia against Brian Teacher, and 1979 in England against Mark Edmonson. He had a 186-173 career singles record and also reached the 1982 U.S. Open doubles finals with Pfister.
Amaya served two terms on the ATP Board of Directors and following his playing career was a popular adult and youth tennis instructor in Lansing and Grand Rapids.
In 2016 he was inducted in the United States Tennis Association’s Midwest Section Hall of Fame.