Honestly, if you saw a guy today who was a famous child actor, the son of a Hollywood legend, and then suddenly decided to become a top-30 tennis pro, you’d think it was a PR stunt. It sounds like the plot of a bad Netflix movie. But for Vincent Van Patten, it was just Tuesday.
Most people know him now as the voice of the World Poker Tour, sitting next to the late Mike Sexton and calling high-stakes bluffs with that signature gravelly enthusiasm. Before the cards and the "7 Days to Vegas" bets, though, he was a legit threat on the ATP Tour. We’re talking about a guy who didn't just play; he beat the absolute best in the world during the sport's most cutthroat era.
The Week He Became a Giant Killer
In 1981, the tennis world was centered around names like McEnroe, Borg, and Connors. Then came the Seiko World Super Tennis tournament in Tokyo. This wasn't some minor exhibition. It was a serious indoor carpet event with a massive purse for the time.
Vincent Van Patten arrived in Tokyo unseeded. He left as the champion.
To get that trophy, he had to go through a gauntlet that would make most modern players sweat. He took down Jose Luis Clerc. He beat Vitas Gerulaitis. And then, in the semifinals, he did the unthinkable: he beat John McEnroe in straight sets.
Yeah, that McEnroe. The one who was basically untouchable at the time.
🔗 Read more: College Football Top 10: What Most People Get Wrong About the 2026 Rankings
Van Patten didn't just luck into a win because McEnroe had a bad day or a meltdown. He outplayed him. He eventually beat Mark Edmondson in the final to take the title. It was his only career singles title, but if you're going to win just one, doing it by taking out the world number one is a hell of a way to do it.
Beating Ivan Lendl (Before the Trophies)
People forget that in 1979, Van Patten was named the ATP Newcomer of the Year. Want to know who he beat for that award? A guy named Ivan Lendl.
Lendl went on to win eight Grand Slams and redefined the modern power game. But in '79, it was the kid from Malibu with the Hollywood pedigree who the pros thought had the higher ceiling. He reached a career-high ranking of world number 26 in November 1981.
He was incredibly fast. He had that "California" serve-and-volley style that worked beautifully on the fast carpet and grass courts of the 80s. While he never made it past the third round of a Grand Slam in singles (he reached that stage at both Wimbledon and the US Open), he was a nightmare draw for anyone in the top ten.
The Double Life of a Pro
What’s wild is that he never really stopped being an actor. While he was grinding on the tour, he was still appearing in films like Rock 'n' Roll High School.
💡 You might also like: Cleveland Guardians vs Atlanta Braves Matches: Why This Interleague Rivalry Hits Different
Most pro athletes talk about "focus" and "eliminating distractions." Van Patten basically did the opposite. He’d be at a tournament in Europe one week and on a film set the next. Maybe that’s why he burned out relatively early, retiring from the full-time tour in 1986.
The lifestyle of a traveling pro is brutal. Living out of suitcases, the constant pressure to defend points, the nagging injuries—it’s a lot. Van Patten has admitted in interviews that the grind eventually wore him down. He’d had his fun, he proved he could play with the legends, and then he just... went back to the other stuff he loved.
The Transition to Pickleball and Beyond
Fast forward to 2026, and you’ll still find him on a court, just a slightly smaller one. Like many former tennis pros, Van Patten has pivoted hard into professional pickleball.
He isn't just playing for fun at the local park, either. He's been competing on the senior pro circuits, even winning gold in Sacramento on the APP tour. He's even working on a book about the sport, because apparently, he hasn't done enough yet.
The thing about Vincent Van Patten’s tennis career is that it wasn't a fluke. You don't get to number 26 in the world by accident. You don't beat John McEnroe twice—yes, he did it twice—just by being "crafty." He had world-class hands and a competitive engine that most people overlook because he makes everything look so easy.
📖 Related: Cincinnati vs Oklahoma State Basketball: What Most People Get Wrong About This Big 12 Grind
Lessons from the Van Patten Playbook
If you’re a competitive athlete or just someone trying to juggle two passions, there’s a lot to learn from how he handled his career:
- Don't Box Yourself In: You can be an actor and a world-class athlete. You don't have to choose one identity.
- Confidence is a Weapon: He played with a "nothing to lose" attitude that unnerved guys who took the game much more seriously than he did.
- Pivot When the Joy Fades: When the ATP tour stopped being fun, he left. He didn't hang on until his ranking was 800; he moved on to poker and writing.
If you want to understand the modern "multi-hyphenate" athlete, look at Vince. He was the prototype. He showed that you could be a "Hollywood kid" and still have enough grit to stare down John McEnroe across a net and come out on top.
To really appreciate his impact, you should look up the old footage of that 1981 Tokyo final. Watch the way he moves. It’s a reminder that before he was the guy telling you who went "all in" on the river, he was the guy going all in on every second serve.
Check out the ATP archives for his match history if you want to see the sheer variety of legends he faced. You might be surprised at how many names in the Hall of Fame have a "loss" next to Van Patten's name.