Chris Woodruff

Last updated

Chris Woodruff
ChrisWoodruff - Headshot.jpg
Country (sports)Flag of the United States.svg United States
Residence Knoxville, Tennessee
Born (1973-01-02) January 2, 1973 (age 51)
Knoxville, Tennessee
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro1993
Retired2001
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,900,659
Singles
Career record109–104 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour-level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 29 (25 August 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open QF (2000)
French Open 3R (1996, 1997, 1999)
Wimbledon 2R (1999, 2001)
US Open 3R (1999)
Doubles
Career record38–61 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour-level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 73 (11 November 1996)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 3R (1997)
French Open 2R (1996)
Wimbledon 1R (1997)
US Open 2R (1996, 1997, 2000)
Last updated on: 6 September 2021.

Chris Woodruff (born January 3, 1973) is an American former professional tennis player and current head coach at the University of Tennessee. He won the 1997 Canada Masters, reached the quarterfinals of the 2000 Australian Open and attained a career-high ranking of world No. 29 in August 1997.

Contents

He hails from Knoxville, Tennessee and was trained at the Knoxville Racquet Club. Since 2002, he has served as an assistant coach with the University of Tennessee men's tennis program, before being named the head coach on May 19, 2017.

College career

Woodruff attended the hometown University of Tennessee where in 1993 he won the NCAA single's title by defeating Wade McGuire of Georgia. He remains the only individual champion the school has ever had. He was also an All-American in 1992.

After winning the collegiate crown, [1] Woodruff began his professional career.

Professional career

Woodruff won two singles titles during his career, and his first was also his biggest: The Canadian Open in 1997, an ATP Masters Series event. [1] After winning that title he posted the highest ranking of his career: World No. 29 on August 25, 1997. He also won the 1999 Newport, Rhode Island event at the Tennis Hall of Fame. [2]

He was named to the United States Davis Cup team in 2000, joining Andre Agassi after Pete Sampras and Todd Martin both were forced to drop out, and won his match against Wayne Black to help erase a 2–1 deficit and advance to the second round. He reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in the year 2000 before losing to Pete Sampras in straight sets. [3]

Coaching career

In the summer of 2002, Woodruff returned to the University of Tennessee as a volunteer assistant coach. [4] He served first as an assistant tennis coach before being promoted to associate head coach in 2006 when Sam Winterbotham was hired as head coach. Since Woodruff has been back at Tennessee, the Vols have had 18 All-America and 29 All-Southeastern Conference selections.

Tennessee has steadily improved their record and ranking since Woodruff and Winterbotham began coaching together. The Vols have won 178 dual matches in their first eight seasons and have ended the year ranked in the top 10 nationally five of those years. [5] In 2010, the Vols won the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles and also reached the NCAA Tennis Championship final for the third time in program history. The team finished with 31 victories, the second-most in a season in Tennessee history. [6]

Woodruff was named the 2013 National Assistant Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for his track record of player development and keeping the Vols ranked in the top 10 for five of the last six seasons. Since 2008, he has been responsible for coaching three players to the No. 1 national singles ranking: John-Patrick Smith (2010), Rhyne Williams (2011) and Miķelis Lībietis (2013). [7]

In 2014, Woodruff served as the on-court coach for the Vols' first NCAA doubles title in 34 years. Libietis and Hunter Reese defeated Ohio State's Peter Kobelt and Kevin Metka in the final. [8]

Career finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0-0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0-0)
ATP Masters Series (1-0)
ATP Tour (1-2)
ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1 Mar 1996 Philadelphia Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Jim Courier 4–6, 3–6
Loss0–2 May 1996 Coral Springs Clay Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Stoltenberg 6–7(4–7), 6–2, 5–7
Win1–2 Jul 1997 Montreal Hard Flag of Brazil.svg Gustavo Kuerten 7–5, 4–6, 6–3
Win2–2 Jul 1999 Newport Grass Flag of Denmark.svg Kenneth Carlsen 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–4

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0-0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0-0)
ATP Masters Series (0-0)
ATP Tour (0-3)
ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1 Jul 1996 Washington Hard Flag of the United States.svg Doug Flach Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Grant Connell
Flag of the United States.svg Scott Davis 		6–7, 6–3, 3–6
Loss0–2 Nov 1996 Stockholm Hard (i) Flag of the United States.svg Todd Martin Flag of the United States.svg Patrick Galbraith
Flag of the United States.svg Jonathan Stark 		6–7, 4–6
Loss0–3 Jul 1999 Newport Grass Flag of Armenia.svg Sargis Sargsian Flag of Australia (converted).svg Wayne Arthurs
Flag of India.svg Leander Paes 		7–6(8–6), 6–7(7–9), 3–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 4 (2–2)

Legend
ATP Challenger (2–2)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Aug 1994 Bronx, United StatesChallengerHard Flag of Spain.svg Alejo Mancisidor 2–6, 4–6
Loss0–2Jul 1995 Aptos, United StatesChallengerHard Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Daniel Nestor 3–6, 7–5, 2–6
Win1–2Sep 1995 Aruba, ArubaChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Jim Pugh 6–4, 6–2
Win2–2Jan 1996 Heilbronn, GermanyChallengerCarpet Flag of Italy.svg Gianluca Pozzi 6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 9 (4–5)

Legend
ATP Challenger (4–5)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–3)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Aug 1994 Binghamton, United StatesChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg David Di Lucia Flag of South Africa.svg Neville Godwin
Flag of the United States.svg Scott Sigerseth		4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss1–1Jun 1995 Eisenach, GermanyChallengerClay Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Sébastien Leblanc Flag of Germany.svg Dirk Dier
Flag of Germany.svg Lars Koslowski 		6–3, 3–6, 6–7
Win2–1Aug 1995 Lexington, United StatesChallengerHard Flag of the Netherlands.svg Fernon Wibier Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jamie Morgan
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Andrew Painter 		7–5, 6–2
Loss2–2Nov 1995 Nantes, FranceChallengerHard Flag of Italy.svg Nicola Bruno Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Sébastien Lareau
Flag of the United States.svg Kent Kinnear 		2–6, 6–3, 6–7
Loss2–3Nov 1995 Andorra la Vella, AndorraChallengerHard Flag of the Netherlands.svg Fernon Wibier Flag of the United States.svg Ken Flach
Flag of the United States.svg Kelly Jones 		4–6, 3–6
Win3–3Feb 1996 Lippstadt, GermanyChallengerCarpet Flag of the United States.svg T. J. Middleton Flag of the United States.svg Jeff Belloli
Flag of North Macedonia.svg Aleksandar Kitinov 		7–5, 7–5
Loss3–4Nov 1996 Aachen, GermanyChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Dave Randall Flag of South Africa.svg Robbie Koenig
Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Oleg Ogorodov 		4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss3–5Jan 1999 Heilbronn, GermanyChallengerCarpet Flag of the United States.svg Justin Gimelstob Flag of Germany.svg Michael Kohlmann
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Filippo Veglio 		4–6, 7–6, 5–7
Win4–5Nov 2001 Burbank, United StatesChallengerHard Flag of the United States.svg Scott Humphries Flag of South Africa.svg Jeff Coetzee
Flag of Finland.svg Tuomas Ketola 		7–5, 1–6, 6–4

Performance timelines

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 SRW–LWin%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open AAAA 3R AA QF 3R Q1 0 / 38–373%
French Open AAA 3R 3R A 3R 1R 1R A0 / 56–555%
Wimbledon AAA 1R 1R A 2R 1R 2R A0 / 52–529%
US Open 1R Q1 1R 1R 2R A 3R 2R 2R A0 / 75–742%
Win–loss0–10–00–12–35–30–05–35–44–40–00 / 2021–1953%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A Q1 AA 3R 1R SF 1R 1R A0 / 56–555%
Miami A Q2 A 1R 3R A 1R 1R 2R A0 / 53–538%
Monte Carlo AAAAAAA 1R AA0 / 10–10%
Hamburg AAAAAAA 1R AA0 / 10–10%
Rome AAAA 2R A 1R 1R AA0 / 31–325%
Canada AAA 2R W A 1R 1R 1R A1 / 57–464%
Cincinnati AAA 3R 2R A 3R 2R 1R A0 / 56–555%
Madrid/Stuttgart 1AAAA 2R A 2R AAA0 / 22–250%
Paris AAAA 1R AA 2R AA0 / 21–233%
Win–loss0–00–00–03–213–60–17–62–81–40–01 / 2926–2848%
Year-end ranking337300135433013245167118496

Doubles

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 SRW–LWin%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open AAAA 3R AAA 1R 0 / 22–250%
French Open AAA 2R 1R AAAA0 / 21–233%
Wimbledon AAAA 1R AAAA0 / 10–10%
US Open 1R Q2 1R 2R 2R A 1R 2R 1R 0 / 73–730%
Win–loss0–10–00–12–23–40–00–11–10–20 / 126–1233%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells AAAA 1R A 1R QF A0 / 32–340%
Miami AAA Q1 1R AA 2R 2R 0 / 32–340%
Rome AAAA Q1 AAAA0 / 00–0 – 
Canada AAA 2R Q2 AA QF A0 / 23–260%
Cincinnati AAA 2R 1R A 1R 2R 1R 0 / 50–529%
Paris AAAAAAA Q1 A0 / 00–0 – 
Win–loss0–00–00–02–20–30–00–26–41–20 / 139–1341%

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References

  1. 1 2 "Woodruff benefits from his hard work". The Independent . August 4, 1997. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Woodruff bags singles crown". Rediff On The NeT. July 12, 1999. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Agassi, Sampras To Renew Rivalry in Australian semis". Sun Journal (Lewiston) . January 24, 2000. p. 50.
  4. ↑ Associate head coach Chris Woodruff Biography Archived July 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine .
  5. ↑ "Sam Winterbotham Bio". University of Tennessee. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  6. ↑ It All Adds Up Archived May 26, 2016, at the Wayback Machine , Tennessee Tennis Athletics Site.
  7. ↑ "ITA Announces 2013 NCAA Division I National Award Winners". Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  8. ↑ Frierson, John. "UT's Hunter Reese and Mikelis Libietis have 'something special' in NCAA doubles championship". GoVolsXtra. Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
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