Mike Belkin

As a 16-year-old, Belkin lost to Briton Roger Taylor in straight sets in the opening round of the 1961 U.S. Championships. He again lost in the first round at the 1962 U.S. Championship, this time in five sets, to American James Farrin. And the year after, for a third consecutive time, Belkin lost in the first round of the same tournament, this time in straight sets to Norman Berry.

At the U.S. Clay Court Championships in 1962, Belkin defeated U.S. No. 1 Whitney Reed in the first round and Bob Perry in the second round before losing to Billy Lenoir in the third round.

Belkin won the Blue and Gray Invitation in Montgomery, Alabama at the Montgomery Country Club in June 1962 defeating Norman Perry in a close final.[8]

In November 1962 Belkin at age 17 won the Florida State Tennis Championship, defeating Frank Froehling in the semifinal and Gardnar Mulloy in the final. This would be his first tournament win against a strong field.

In 1964, Belkin played at the Wimbledon Championship for the first time, and fared well given his lack of experience on grass. He defeated Claude de Gronckel in the first round, and Cliff Drysdale in the second, both in four sets, before falling to Bob Hewitt in the third, in straight sets. At the 1964 U.S. Championships later that summer, Belkin defeated Rodney Susman in the first round before falling to Cliff Richey in the second in five sets.

In April 1965, Belkin defeated Richey on clay in the semifinal of the ILTF St. Petersburg Masters Invitational in three straight sets but lost the final to Ramanathan Krishnan in four sets.

Belkin won the Detroit Invitation, a strong field tournament, in early July 1965 defeating the USTA No. 3[9] Arthur Ashe in the quarterfinal, Dick Savitt in the semifinal, and the USTA No. 2 Chuck McKinley in the final.

Having not competed in singles in any main draws of grand slam tournaments in 1965, Belkin played in two in 1966. At Roland Garros he lost in the first round, to Pancho Guzmán in four sets. At Wimbledon, Belkin reached the second round. He defeated Australian Jim Moore in straight sets before falling to the eventual champion that year Manuel Santana.

In July 1966 Belkin won the Quebec Open, defeating seven-time winner of the event Robert Bédard in the marathon five-set final. "Bédard started strongly but the toil of the three-and-a-half hour final began to show in the final set when cramps completely immobilized him".[10] In 1967 he again did not compete in a grand slam event.

In early July 1967, Belkin won the Detroit Invitation tournament for the second time defeating Ron Holmberg in the semifinal and Chuck McKinley in the final.

Belkin won the ILTF Western Championships in Indianapolis on clay in July 1967, defeating twice-defending champion and USTA No. 3[11] Cliff Richey in the semifinal and Guzman in the final.

Belkin also defeated Richey in the quarterfinal of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Milwaukee, but lost to Marty Riessen in the semifinal.

At the 1968 Australian Championships, in addition to reaching the quarterfinals in singles, a run which saw victories over M. Marchment, Max Pettman, and Allan Stone before his loss to the eventual champion Bill Bowrey, Belkin reached the second round in doubles partnering Geoff Pollard.[12]

Belkin won the 1968 ILTF St. Petersburg Masters Invitational on clay in April, defeating Mike Sangster in the quarterfinal, Bowrey in the semifinal, and Jaime Fillol in the final.

Belkin played the 1969 French Open, but was forced to abandon his match against Georges Goven despite leading by two sets. He and partner Pancho Guzmán withdrew from their first round doubles match.

In the summer, Belkin played the Cincinnati Championships, defeating Phil Dent and Stan Smith in the later rounds to reach the semi-finals. In doubles, he and partner Luis Ayala lost in the second round, to Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell.

The following week Belkin played U.S. Clay Court Championships, reaching the quarters in both singles and doubles. In singles he defeated Franklin Robbins, Goven, and Jim Osborne before falling to Ashe in three sets. In doubles he played with Bob Carmichael.

Two weeks later, Belkin played the Canadian Open, reaching the semis in singles, where he lost a four-setter to the eventual champion Richey and the quarters in doubles, partnering compatriot Vic Rollins. Later in August, at the second ever U.S. Open, Belkin lost to Marty Riessen in the second round in singles, and the first round in doubles, partnering Frank Tutvin.

Belkin only played the main draw of only four professional circuit events in 1970, Cincinnati, the U.S. Clay Court Championships, Canadian Open, and U.S. Open, playing doubles in only the latter two events.

At Cincinnati, Belkin was soundly beaten by Jeff Borowiak in the first round. The following week in Indianapolis, he defeated Jean-Baptiste Chanfreau and G. Turner Howard before losing in three sets to Croat Željko Franulović.

In Toronto, Belkin had a bye into the second round where he lost handily to Andrés Gimeno. At Forest Hills, he also lost his first match in straight sets, in the first round to Frenchman player Pierre Barthès. In doubles at both tournaments, Belkin and partner John Sharpe lost in the first round.

More active on the tour in 1971, Belkin competed in main draws in a total of 11 events, all Pepsi-Cola Grand Prix events but one, but not in any grand slam tournaments. In mid-February he played the New York Grand Prix, losing in the first round in singles, to Manuel Orantes and doubles, partnering Richard Russell. The following week he competed in the Salisbury Grand Prix (in Salisbury, Maryland), and again lost handily in the first round in singles to Joaquín Loyo-Mayo. In doubles, he and partner Tom Edlefsen reached the second round.

The following week, Belkin played the Macon Outdoor and did even better. Having a first round bye, he beat Jan Kodeš, before falling to Tom Gorman. In doubles, he and partner Nikola Špear won two matches to reach the quarter-finals, where they lost to Kodeš and Željko Franulović. The following week at the Hampton Grand Prix, Belkin lost in the first round in both singles and doubles, falling in singles to Ion Țiriac and in doubles partnering Edlefsen for a second time.

In April, Belkin won the ILTF St. Petersburg Masters Invitational on clay for a second time defeating Harald Elschenbroich in the final.

Belkin reached the semi-finals of the Houston Outdoor, losing in five sets in that round to Clark Graebner. His next action was in July, at the Washington Star International, a WCT event. He scored easy wins over Roscoe Tanner and Patricio Cornejo before losing to Andrés Gimeno. In doubles, Belkin and Richard Russell reached the second round. The following week in singles, Belkin reached the semi-finals of the Tanglewood Grand Prix, losing to Franulovic. In the quarters he defeated rookie tour player Jimmy Connors.

One week later Belkin reached the third round of the Cincinnati Outdoor, beating Rudy Hernando and Brian Gottfried before succumbing to Jaime Fillol. In doubles, he again partnered Russell and the tandem reached the second round. The following week Belkin competed at the Canadian Open, losing in the first round in singles to Ray Ruffels, and in doubles partnering once again John Sharpe. The week after he lost to Ruffels again in Canada, and nearly by the identical score, at the Toronto WCT event. Belkin played one final time in 1971, singles at the Sacramento Outdoor, losing again in the first round, this time to Raymond Moore by default.

Belkin played four American winter indoor events. In early February, he lost handily in singles in the first round in Omaha and Kansas City in consecutive weeks, both times to Ilie Năstase. At the later tournament he also played doubles, with he and partner Tom Edlefsen losing in the second round. Two weeks later, Belkin reached the second round in singles in Salisbury defeating Milan Holeček before falling to Roscoe Tanner. In doubles, he and partner Hans Kary lost in the first round. The following week at the New York Indoor, Belkin lost in the first round to Alejandro Olmedo.

Belkin saw his next main draw action in August. At the Tanglewood Grand Prix, he lost to Dick Stockton. The following week at the U.S. Clay Court Championships, on Belkin's strongest surface, clay, he beat Jun Kuki and Adriano Panatta before falling to Bob Hewitt in the round of 16. The following week in Montreal he lost however in the first round, to Onny Parun. In doubles he and partner Eddie Dibbs reached the quarter-finals losing there to the famous doubles team of Hewitt and Frew McMillan. Two weeks later at the U.S. Open, Belkin was level with Cliff Drysdale in the first set 5 games when he retired from the match. Belkin was entered one more main draw, in mid-September, the Montreal WCT, but withdraw from his first round match in both singles and doubles (partnering compatriot Richard Legendre).

Belkin opened 1973 playing four indoor events in the U.S., winning one of them. He lost in the first round to Herb Fitzgibbon in singles and in doubles partnering Nicholas Kalogeropoulos at the Baltimore Indoor in early January. Two weeks later at the Birmingham Indoor, Belkin reached the second round in singles beating Szabolcs Baranyi before losing to Jürgen Fassbender. In doubles, he and partner Gavorielle Marcu lost in the first round. The following week, Belkin lost in the first round at the Omaha Indoor to Baranyi.

Belkin won the 1973 Buffalo Indoor Tennis Championships[13] in February, defeating Clark Graebner, a four-time champion at the event, in the semifinal and John Paish in the close final.

The final events Belkin played this year were ones held in Canada. In middle February, at the Calgary Indoor, Belkin defeated Hans Kary in three sets before falling to Paul Gerken. In doubles he and partner Pat Cramer lost in the opening round. In August at the Canadian Open, Belkin beat Adriano Panatta in the first round and lost to Iván Molina in the second. In October, Belkin appeared at the Quebec Grand Prix, losing in the first round to Haroon Rahim. In doubles, he and partner, veteran Quebecer Robert Bédard, lost in the first round to Onny Parun and Raymond Moore.

Belkin entered the first computer rankings, on September 13 at No. 145. Two weeks later, with the next rankings released, he stood at No. 128, his career high. In the final rankings released for the year, on December 14, Belkin was No. 161.

Belkin played one event in 1974, the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, where he lost in the first round to Guillermo Vilas 2–6, 2–6. On December 12, his singles ranking stood at World No. 318.

In 1975, Belkin competed in two events, also only in singles, both in Florida, his home state. These would be his last tour events to appear in. In early February, he lost in the first round to Jeff Borowiak at the St. Petersburg WCT. Two weeks later at the Boca Raton Grand Prix he completed his touring career with his best result in years, reaching the quarter-finals. He defeated Rolf Thung and Jan Kodeš before losing to Jürgen Fassbender. This saw his next ranking on March 5 rise to World No. 208. His final ranking, released on December 15 saw him rated at No. 222.