Tanner Sentenced to Two Years in Prison

Former tennis star Roscoe Tanner has been sentenced to two years in prison for violating probation on a grand theft conviction.

Tanner, 55, was sentenced Friday, Pinellas County court records show.

He was sentenced to 10 years’ probation in November 2003 in Florida for bouncing a $35,595 check he’d used to buy a 32-foot boat in 2000. Then he was arrested in Tennessee in October, accused of violating his probation by failing to make restitution payments.

In 2004, Tanner was sentenced to a year of probation for failing to pay more than $80,000 in child support for a daughter he fathered.

Tanner, a highly ranked player through the 1970s, won the 1977 Australian Open and was the Wimbledon runner-up in 1979. He won about $2 million in prize money and played on the U.S. Davis Cup team.