Darren Long

Last updated

Darren Long
Full nameDarren Long
Country (sports) Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Residence Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Born (1988-09-26) 26 September 1988 (age 36)
PlaysRight-handed
Club Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club
Singles
Career titles0
Highest ranking10
Current ranking13
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open QF (2020, 2024)
British Open QF (2021)
French Open QF (2023, 2024)
US Open QF (2018, 2019, 2020)
Doubles
Career titles0
Highest ranking12
Current ranking12
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open SF (2024)
French Open QF (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
British Open QF (2015, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2023)
US Open SF (2018, 2024)

Darren Long (born 26 September 1988) is a British professional real tennis player, currently the head professional at the Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club. He is currently ranked thirteenth in the world at singles and twelfth in the world at doubles. [1] He has reached an Open doubles semi final on three occasions, most recently at the 2024 US Open and the 2024 Australian Open.

Contents

Career

Long grew up as a squash player and took a job as a squash coach at Canford School. There, he learned real tennis under the head professional Steve Ronaldson. Long improved quickly – after picking up the game in 2009, he won the Category B Open at Hyde Real Tennis Club in 2010. Later that year, he won the Taylor Cup – a tournament for new professionals – in Manchester, beating John Lumley in the final. Long started competing in the Opens in 2011, losing in the first round of the US Open, and failing to progress from qualifying in the French and British Opens. Long would reach the British Open main draw for the first time in 2012, and recorded his first Open match victory against Andrew Lyons in 2014. [2]

Long's playing career began in earnest when he moved to become the senior professional at the Manchester Tennis and Racquet Club in 2015. He began to play regular international tournaments, winning the IRTPA Satellite in 2015 against Claire Fahey. He also won the Category A Open in 2016, beating Peter Wright, who had beat him in the final the year before. Also in 2016, Long won the US Professional Singles Satellite, beating Leon Smart. [3]

In 2017, Long made his main draw debuts at the Australian and French Opens. He beat Zak Eadle at the French Open in five sets to reach his first singles quarter final, where he subsequently lost to World Champion Camden Riviere. [4] He also played in the first round of the 2017 World Doubles Championship at Prested Hall, partnered with Craig Greenhalgh, but lost in the first round to eventual champions Riviere and Tim Chisholm. He continued to collect minor tournament victories, including the Category A Open in 2017 and 2018.

The 2018 US Open would be Long's best tournament of his career thus far. He reached the quarter finals of the singles for the first time, comfortably beating Josh Dodgson in the first round. He partnered with Ben Taylor-Matthews in the doubles, beating Dodgson and Matthieu Sarlangue in the quarter finals in five sets, the last set ending 6/5. In his first Open doubles semi final, they lost to Robert Fahey and Nick Howell, winning just two games in the match. At the end of the season, Long broke into the world top 10 for the first time. [5] [6]

In 2019, Long again competed in the World Doubles Championships in Hobart. Partnered with Andrew Fowler, they lost in the first round to eventual champions Riviere and Chisholm again. He would later beat Fowler in the 2020 Australian Open to reach his first quarter final in that event.

Returning to play after the COVID-19 pandemic, Long's next accomplishment came at the 2022 Champions Trophy, where he reached the quarter final stage for the first time after a five set victory over Levi Gale. The remainder of the 2022 and 2023 seasons were a disappointment for Long, his only match victory coming in the first round of the 2023 British Open against lucky loser from qualifying Mark Hobbs, coming out of a ten year retirement. [7]

2024 would be more successful for Long on the doubles court, reaching the semi finals of the Australian Open for the first time alongside Ben Taylor-Matthews. A few months later he also reached the semi finals of the US Open with Robert Shenkman, upsetting the favoured seeds Taylor-Matthews and Bryn Sayers in the quarter finals in five sets. He would once again run into Riviere and Chisholm in the semi finals, losing in straight sets. Halfway through the season, Long moved to the Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club, becoming the head professional. [8]

Performance timeline

Singles

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.

Current through the 2024 French Open [9]

Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAAAAA 1R A 1R QF NHAA QF 0 / 42–433%
British Open A Q3 1R A 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R NH QF 2R 2R 0 / 107–1041%
French OpenA Q1 AAAAA QF 1R 1R NH 1R 1R A0 / 51–517%
US OpenA 1R AAA 1R A 2R QF QF QF A 1R 1R 1R 0 / 93–1023%
Win–loss0–00–10–10–01–11–20–13–42–31–52–20–11–31–31–20 / 2813–2931%
IRTPA Sanctioned Tournaments
Champions Trophy NH 1R RR 1R NH QF RR RR 0 / 41–420%
European Open NHAAQFNHQFNH0 / 20–20%
IRTPA Championship1R1R1RQF1R1RNH1RQFQFNH0 / 93–925%
US ProAAA1RAA1R1RQF1RNHAAA1R0 / 61–614%
Win–loss0–10–10–11–30–10–20–10–32–21–30–00–01–10–10–10 / 215–2119%
Career Statistics
201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024Career
Tournaments122324275721443Career total: 49
Titles000000000000000Career total: 0
Finals000000000000000Career total: 0
Overall win–loss0–10–20–21–31–21–40–23–74–52–82–20–12–41–41–318–5026%
Win %0%0%0%25%33%20%0%30%44%20%50%0%33%20%25%Career total: 26%

Doubles

Tournament20112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024SRW–LWin %
World Championship
World ChampionshipDNQNHDNQNHDNQNHQFNHQFNHDNQNHDNQ0 / 20–20%
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–10–00–10–00–00–00–00–00 / 20–20%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAAAAAA QF A QF QF NHAA SF 0 / 41–420%
British Open Q1 Q1 A Q2 QF QF 1R 1R QF NH 1R QF QF 0 / 83–827%
French OpenAANHAA QF QF QF QF NH QF QF A0 / 60–60%
US Open 1R AAA 1R A 1R SF QF QF A QF QF SF 0 / 94–931%
Win–loss0–10–00–00–00–21–20–41–31–40–20–12–30–33–20 / 278–2723%
IRTPA Sanctioned Tournaments
IRTPA ChampionshipNHSFSFQFNH0 / 34–267%
Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–01–12–01–10–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 34–267%
Career Statistics
20112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024Career
Tournaments10002364521332Career total: 32
Titles00000000000000Career total: 0
Finals00000000000000Career total: 0
Overall win–loss0–10–00–00–00–22–32–52–41–50–20–12–30–33–212–3128%
Win %0% –  –  – 0%40%29%33%17%0%0%40%0%60%Career total: 28%

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References

  1. ↑ "Player Profile - Darren Long". Royal Tennis Court. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  2. ↑ "Neptune British Open Singles and Doubles Championships 2014". Tennis and Rackets Association. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  3. ↑ "2016 US Pro Singles". United States Court Tennis Association. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  4. ↑ "Open de France 2017 au Jeu de Paume de Paris". Paume France. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  5. ↑ Bonnar, Neil (2 August 2018). "Darren Long proves he is the real thing as he reaches world top 10 in original form of tennis". Bury Times. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  6. ↑ Jones, Jason. "Bury squash coach makes bid for Real Tennis world top ten". No. May 10, 2018. Salford Now. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  7. ↑ "British Open Singles and Doubles Championships 2023". Tennis and Rackets Association. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  8. ↑ "Darren Long has been appointed as the new Head Professional at Moreton Morrell". Tennis and Rackets Association. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  9. ↑ "Player Profile – Darren Long". International Real Tennis Professionals Association. 6 February 2013.
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