Longtime SMT worker Leo Levin, Director of Sports activities Analytics, suffered a deadly coronary heart assault on Dec. 19 at his dwelling in Jacksonville, FL. He was 62 and was part of the {industry}’s sports activities analytics panorama since 1983 when he was employed by CompuTennis to assist develop the primary computerized statistical system.
Leo Levin with Mary Carillo on the French Open in 2016.
Gerard J. Corridor, founder and CEO of SMT, says it’s unattainable to correctly account for the optimistic contributions that Leo made to SMT over his 33-year service to the corporate.
“Leo was an industry-recognized Titan on the earth of tennis, having offered analytical insights and in-person broadcast assist companies at effectively over 120 Grand Slam occasions,” he says. “On a private entrance, Leo’s infectious humorousness, good nature, intelligence, analytical acumen, and encyclopedic data of tennis had been his trademark, as was his popularity for baking and generously sharing across the globe, at all times with a twinkle in his eye, the world’s best – and certain heaviest – brownies.
Provides Corridor: “Leo famously as soon as quipped, “On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m a Levin.’ How acceptable that Leo offered us with such an insightful, succinct, and humorous account of who he was in simply 12 syllables.”
Leo Levin, SMT’s Director of Sports activities Analytics, died of a coronary heart assault on Dec. 19.
Levin’s love of tennis sprouted in Davis, CA, the place he was a ranked junior participant in Northern California and a member of Foothill School’s California State Championship group. It was in 1982 at Foothills School when Levin started to chart his teammates’ matches and supply statistical analyses that helped them conquer increased ranked opponents. Whereas monitoring these statistics, Levin conceived the idea of pressured vs. unforced errors, phrases broadly utilized in most sports activities immediately.
In 1983, Levin was employed by Palo Alto-based CompuTennis to assist develop the primary computerized statistical system. The quantitative tennis teaching software was initially utilized by high junior coaches, faculty groups and the USTA to chart matches for the 4 nationwide junior groups. Broadcasters at nearly each main event started counting on the system’s printouts to convey continuously up to date statistics to tv audiences.
Levin was quickly a well-known face within the TV sales space at main tennis occasions, sharing insights with sportscasters together with Cliff Drysdale, Fred Stolle, Dick Enberg, Bud Collins, Tony Trabert, John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Mary Carillo.
In 1987, Levin joined IDS (Info and Show Techniques), the primary rent for the Jacksonville, FL-based firm that turned recognized for growing the primary digital on-court graphic show boards in tennis. Named Director of Product Growth for the analytics and shows firm, Levin traveled the world, offering scoring, statistical and administrative companies to each Grand Slam and main tennis occasion. In 2012, IDS was acquired by SMT and Levin was named Director of Sports activities Analytics. SMT’s tennis portfolio grew to incorporate information integration, digital insertion know-how, and a wider providing of shows, together with ribbon boards and “superwall” shows.
“Leo was obsessed with tennis and desired to be the easiest at his occupation, and he clearly achieved this distinction,” says Rallis Pappas, co-founder of IDS and SMT company vice chairman. “Leo was in a position to present unmatched views and evaluation that made him one of many utmost revered authorities within the sport. He was a key a part of our historical past as an organization and was critically concerned in serving to SMT ship the very best services. Extra importantly, Leo was a terrific human being and fostered significant relationships with everybody he interacted with the world over. Leo taught us many classes and demonstrated valued management by means of his humor and generosity.”
Levin labored onsite at greater than 120 tennis majors, and was universally revered and favored by gamers, coaches, commentators, writers, producers and executives. He performed an integral function within the improvement of SMT’s statistical, tennis data and multi-media services, together with serve pace methods and the creation of the ATP Tour MatchFacts System.
“Leo belonged to a particular class of sport specialists who can outline a mode of play, analyze a efficiency, outline a method, describe a tactic, and put all of it collectively in a really simplistic perspective for anybody to grasp,” says longtime coworker and pal Olivier Lorin, SMT director of enterprise improvement. “He had a singular present that he gave freely to the world of tennis for nearly 40 years. Leo was happiest on a tennis courtroom, hitting balls with one the rackets in his ’80s-era assortment. I cherish my 28 years of working, joking, laughing, taking part in and sharing with Leo.”
It was sportscaster, former tennis skilled, and pal Carillo who nicknamed Levin “the Physician,” a moniker that Levin joked made his mother proud, as she at all times needed him to be a physician. Carillo and Levin shared the sales space on the U.S. Open and different main tennis occasions.
Since his dying, tributes from Levin’s colleagues within the tennis universe have described him as “a real champion” of tennis, “beneficiant along with his analysis,” and a “trailblazer.”
“Leo Levin was a real champion of our sport,” Billie Jean King wrote on Twitter. “He labored tirelessly behind the scenes, at all times had the solutions and made others look good. Our conversations at Wimbledon with Mary Carillo are a few of my fondest reminiscences.”
Chris Evert wrote: “Nobody liked the game as a lot as he did, nobody was as beneficiant along with his analysis as he was. I’ll miss his humor, his wit, and his smile.”
“Heartbreaking information,” Tracy Austin added. “Leo was THE trailblazer for stats within the tennis world. Leo’s understanding of the sport made him invaluable to TV networks and commentators. Sensible, form – RIP, Leo.”
Levin is survived by his spouse, Terri Coleman; his daughter, Anna; his mom, Marilyn Wells; his sister, Maureen Julin, her husband, Doug, and their son, Jeremy. Providers had been held Dec. 24 at New Heart Memorial Park Cemetery in Jacksonville, FL.
