Tennis: 'Showman' Gerulaitis dies at age of 40: New York autopsy fails to reveal cause of death of former world No 3

VITAS GERULAITIS, one of the most flamboyant figures in the game, has been found dead at a friend's house in Southampton, New York. He was 40.

A former top 10 player and the winner of the 1977 Australian Open, Gerulaitis had withdrawn from an over-35 tournament in Seattle on Thursday and flown to the east coast.

Gerulaitis, who had a reputation for fast cars and beautiful women, had admitted cocaine use in the past but police said yesterday that there was no indication of suspicious circumstances. An autopsy failed to reveal the cause of death. His body was found in a beachside cottage by a servant on Sunday afternoon.

'Preliminary findings were inconclusive,' Stuart Dawson, the acting Chief Medical Officer of Suffolk County, said. 'No grossly identifiable disease or injury which could have caused death or contributed to death was present. We are conducting thorough toxicological studies in an effort to pinpoint the cause of death.'

In 1983 a federal grand jury voted against indicting Gerulaitis on a charge of conspiring to take part in a cocaine deal. The player later confessed to taking cocaine in the 1970s and admitted that drugs and late-night partying had affected his game.

Gerulaitis emerged from New York City public tennis courts to become the third- ranked player in the world when John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors were at their peak. He was never out of the top 10 from 1977 to 1983 before retiring in 1985.

He will probably be best remembered in Britain for a match he lost: an epic five-set battle with Borg in the 1977 Wimbledon semi-finals.

'I'm too distraught to talk about it,' his friend, McEnroe, said, while Tim Mayotte spoke of the 'heart and enthusiasm' Gerulaitis brought to life and tennis.

'You're not going to find a more giving person . . . he was always positive, upbeat,' Chris Evert, the former women's No 1, said.

Obituary, page 31