Damien Roberts

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Damien Roberts
Full nameDamien Roberts
Country (sports)Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Born (1978-01-26) 26 January 1978 (age 47)
Prize money$56,811
Singles
Career record0–0
Highest rankingNo. 273 (2 August 1999)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open Q1 (1999)
Wimbledon Q1 (1998, 1999)
US Open Q1 (1998, 1999)
Doubles
Career record0–2
Highest rankingNo. 152 (18 September 2000)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon 1R (1999)
US Open Q1 (1998)

Damien Roberts (born 26 January 1978) is a South African former professional tennis player.

Contents

Biography

Roberts went to Kearsney College until 1994, when he moved to the United States to train at the John Newcombe Tennis Academy in Texas. [1] [2] He attended New Braunfels High School. [2]

As a junior, he was ranked as high as 11 in the world in doubles and was a finalist in the 1996 Wimbledon Championships with countryman Wesley Whitehouse. [3]

From 1996 to 2001, Roberts competed professionally on the international tennis circuit, mostly in ATP Challenger tournaments. He won a total of five Challenger titles during his career, all in doubles.

Most notably he competed in the main draw of the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. He was eliminated in the opening round of qualifying in the singles and only narrowly missed qualification in the men's doubles, he and partner Amir Hadad lost the final qualifier in five sets. [4] However the pair received a lucky loser entry into the main draw, where they lost in the first round to South Africans David Adams and John-Laffnie de Jager. [5]

He appeared in the main draw of one ATP Tour event, the doubles at the 2001 Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. Partnering Marcus Hilpert, they lost to Julian Knowle and Lorenzo Manta in the first round. [6]

For many years after retiring he worked at the Lawn Tennis Association in England as the head of physical training and a national tennis coach. [7] Due to his role with the Great Britain Fed Cup team and as national women's coach, he was also involved the development of Laura Robson and Heather Watson. [8] He is now the Director of Performance Tennis at TennisGear in Brisbane, Australia. [8]

Challenger titles

Doubles: (5)

No.YearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
1.1998 Gramado, BrazilHard Flag of South Africa.svg Jeff Coetzee Flag of Brazil.svg Francisco Costa
Flag of Japan.svg Gouichi Motomura
7–5, 6–3
2.1999 Singapore Hard Flag of South Africa.svg Jeff Coetzee Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Oleg Ogorodov
Flag of Israel.svg Eyal Ran
7–5, 6–3
3.2000 Bristol, Great BritainGrass Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jordan Kerr Flag of Israel.svg Noam Behr
Flag of Israel.svg Eyal Erlich
6–3, 1–6, 6–3
4.2000 Bressanone, ItalyClay Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jordan Kerr Flag of Argentina.svg Diego del Río
Flag of Argentina.svg Marcelo Charpentier
7–63, 7–5
5.2000 Manerbio, ItalyClay Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jordan Kerr Flag of Portugal.svg Bernardo Mota
Flag of Slovakia.svg Ladislav Švarc
7–61, 6–4

References

  1. "Notable Alumni". kearsney.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Wimbledon on the Horizon". New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung . 9 June 1995. p. 5. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  3. "ITF Tennis – Juniors – Player Profile – Roberts, Damien (RSA)". International Tennis Federation . Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  4. "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – Wimbledon – 21 June – 04 July 1999". International Tennis Federation . Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  5. Bricker, Charles (24 June 1999). "Highlights". Sun-Sentinel . Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  6. "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – Stuttgart Outdoor – 16 July – 22 July 2001". International Tennis Federation . Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  7. Gordon, Bryony (6 June 2005). "Getting into the fitness racket". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Tennis Gear Squad Coaching". Morningside Tennis Centre Brisbane. Retrieved 12 February 2016.