David Wheaton

David Wheaton

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, US
Born	(1969-06-02) June 2, 1969 (age 56) Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2001
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$5,238,401
Singles
Career record	232–191
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 12 (22 July 1991)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1990)
French Open	3R (1995)
Wimbledon	SF (1991)
US Open	QF (1990)
Other tournaments
Grand Slam Cup	W (1991)
Doubles
Career record	157–122
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 24 (24 June 1991)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1991)
French Open	SF (1995)
Wimbledon	2R (1990, 1993)
US Open	F (1990)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	2R (1990)
Wimbledon	QF (1989)
US Open	QF (1989)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	1–1
Hopman Cup	F (1991)
Last updated on: 29 November 2021.

David Wheaton (born June 2, 1969) is an American author, radio host, columnist, and former professional tennis player.

Early life

Wheaton was born in Minneapolis as the youngest of four children. He started playing tennis at age four and played in his first tournament aged eight. He won the Minnesota State High School tennis title in 1984 as a freshman. He trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for his last two-and-a-half years of high school and played one year at Stanford.^{[ citation needed ]}

Juniors

In 1987, Wheaton won the US Open junior title and was the No. 1 ranked junior player in the US. In 1988, he helped Stanford University's tennis team win the NCAA team title and received the Block S Award as the most outstanding freshman athlete at Stanford.

Pro tour

Wheaton turned professional on July 4, 1988 and won his first top-level singles title in 1990 at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. He was also runner-up in the men's doubles at the 1990 US Open, partnering with Paul Annacone.

The most significant highlights of his career came in 1991. He won the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, beating Michael Chang in straight sets in the final 7–5, 6–2, 6–4. He also reached the semifinals of singles at Wimbledon (beating Petr Korda, Cédric Pioline, Ivan Lendl, Jan Gunnarsson and Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals before being knocked-out by Boris Becker). He was a men's doubles runner-up at the Australian Open (partnering with his former Stanford teammate Patrick McEnroe). Wheaton reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in July 1991.

During his career, Wheaton won three top-level singles and three doubles titles, representing the US in Davis Cup (v. Australia, 1993) reached the semifinals or better in either singles or doubles of every Grand Slam tournament, and defeated highly ranked players such as Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, and Michael Chang.

He retired from the professional tour in 2001, following a series of injuries. Since then he has played in some senior tour events, winning the "Wimbledon Over 35 Doubles" championship in 2004 (with T.J. Middleton).

Personal life

During his tennis career, he dated tennis star Mary Joe Fernández around 1990–1992. Wheaton married in 2009 and has one son.^{[ citation needed ]}

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1987	US Open	Hard	Andrey Cherkasov	7–5, 6–0

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1986	US Open	Hard	Jeff Tarango	Tomas Carbonell Javier Sanchez	4–6, 6–1, 1–6

ATP career finals

Singles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (1–0) ATP Masters Series(0–1) ATP Championship Series (0–0) ATP World Series (2–3)

Finals by surface Hard (0–1) Clay (1–1) Grass (1–2) Carpet (1–0)

Finals by setting Outdoors (2–4) Indoors (1–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	May 1990	Kiawah Island, United States	World Series	Clay	Mark Kaplan	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Mar 1991	Miami, United States	Masters Series	Hard	Jim Courier	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	1–2	Jun 1991	Queen's, United Kingdom	World Series	Grass	Stefan Edberg	2–6, 3–6
Win	2–2	Dec 1991	Munich, Germany	Grand Slam Cup	Carpet	Michael Chang	7–5, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	2–3	May 1993	Coral Springs, United States	World Series	Clay	Todd Martin	3–6, 4–6
Win	3–3	Jul 1994	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	Todd Woodbridge	6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	3–4	Jul 1995	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	David Prinosil	6–7(3–7), 7–5, 2–6

Doubles: 15 (3 titles, 12 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–2) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP Masters Series (1–0) ATP Championship Series (0–0) ATP World Series (2–10)

Finals by surface Hard (2–6) Clay (1–3) Grass (0–3) Carpet (0–0)

Finals by setting Outdoors (3–12) Indoors (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 1990	Toronto, Canada	Masters Series	Hard	Paul Annacone	Broderick Dyke Peter Lundgren	6–1, 7–6
Loss	1–1	Aug 1990	New York, United States	Grand Slam	Hard	Paul Annacone	Pieter Aldrich Danie Visser	2–6, 6–7, 2–6
Loss	1–2	Jan 1991	Melbourne, Australia	Grand Slam	Hard	Patrick McEnroe	Scott Davis David Pate	7–6, 6–7, 3–6, 5–7
Loss	1–3	May 1991	Umag, Croatia	World Series	Clay	Richey Reneberg	Gilad Bloom Javier Sanchez	6–7, 6–2, 1–6
Loss	1–4	Jul 1992	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	Paul Annacone	Royce Deppe David Rikl	4–6, 4–6
Loss	1–5	Aug 1992	Los Angeles, United States	World Series	Hard	Francisco Montana	Patrick Galbraith Jim Pugh	6–7, 6–7
Win	2–5	Apr 1993	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	World Series	Hard	Todd Woodbridge	Sandon Stolle Jason Stoltenberg	6–1, 6–3
Loss	2–6	Jul 1994	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	Kent Kinnear	Alex Antonitsch Greg Rusedski	4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	2–7	Apr 1995	Nice, France	World Series	Clay	Luke Jensen	Cyril Suk Daniel Vacek	6–3, 6–7, 6–7
Loss	2–8	Oct 1995	Tel Aviv, Israel	World Series	Hard	Kent Kinnear	Jim Grabb Jared Palmer	4–6, 5–7
Win	3–8	May 1996	Atlanta, United States	World Series	Clay	Christo Van Rensburg	Bill Behrens Matt Lucena	7–6, 6–2
Loss	3–9	May 1996	Pinehurst, United States	World Series	Clay	Ken Flach	Pat Cash Patrick Rafter	2–6, 3–6
Loss	3–10	Mar 1998	Scottsdale, United States	International Series	Hard	Kent Kinnear	Cyril Suk Michael Tebbutt	6–4, 1–6, 6–7
Loss	3–11	Apr 1999	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	international Series	Hard	Andre Agassi	James Greenhalgh Grant Silcock	walkover
Loss	3–12	Jun 2001	Queen's, United Kingdom	international Series	Grass	Eric Taino	Mike Bryan Bob Bryan	3–6, 6–3, 1–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 2 (1–1)

Legend ATP Challenger (1–1) ITF Futures (0–0)

Finals by surface Hard (1–0) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–1) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 1989	Brasília, Brazil	Challenger	Hard	Dan Cassidy	6–1, 6–2
Loss	1–1	Jun 1996	Annenheim, Austria	Challenger	Grass	Alex Radulescu	4–6, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Legend ATP Challenger (1–0) ITF Futures (0–0)

Finals by surface Hard (1–0) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 1989	Itu, Brazil	Challenger	Hard	Kent Kinnear	Nelson Aerts Marcos Hocevar	6–3, 6–4

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(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.

Singles

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	1R	QF	1R	4R	3R	A	4R	2R	A	2R	A	A	A	0 / 8	14–8	64%
French Open	A	A	A	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	3R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 8	6–8	43%
Wimbledon	A	Q1	A	1R	4R	SF	3R	4R	1R	3R	3R	A	1R	Q2	A	A	0 / 9	17–9	65%
US Open	A	1R	A	2R	QF	4R	3R	1R	1R	2R	4R	1R	1R	A	Q2	A	0 / 11	14–11	56%
Win–loss	0–0	0–1	0–0	2–4	11–4	8–4	8–4	5–4	1–3	8–4	7–4	0–1	1–3	0–0	0–0	0–0	0 / 36	51–36	59%
Year-end Championships
Grand Slam Cup	Did not qualify				SF	W	Did not qualify								Not Held		1 / 2	6–1	86%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	A	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 4	4–4	50%
Miami	1R	A	A	A	A	F	2R	1R	3R	3R	A	A	1R	A	A	A	0 / 7	9–7	56%
Monte Carlo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	3–1	75%
Rome	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1	0%
Canada	A	A	A	A	3R	A	1R	2R	3R	1R	A	A	A	Q1	1R	A	0 / 6	5–6	45%
Cincinnati	A	A	A	A	2R	3R	QF	1R	SF	2R	A	2R	Q1	A	A	Q2	0 / 7	11–7	61%
Stuttgart	Not Held		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Paris	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	QF	2R	2R	2R	Q2	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 6	6–6	50%
Win–loss	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–4	7–4	7–5	3–5	9–4	8–6	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0 / 32	38–32	54%

Doubles

Tournament	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	1R	2R	F	A	1R	A	1R	1R	A	SF	A	A	A	0 / 7	10–7	59%
French Open	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	1R	A	SF	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 6	6–6	50%
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	A	A	2R	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	2–3	40%
US Open	1R	A	QF	F	A	1R	2R	1R	2R	3R	A	2R	A	A	A	0 / 9	13–9	59%
Win–loss	0–1	0–0	3–2	7–4	6–2	1–2	2–4	0–1	5–3	2–4	0–0	5–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	0 / 25	31–25	55%
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	2R	SF	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	5–3	63%
Miami	A	A	A	A	SF	1R	SF	3R	1R	A	A	1R	A	A	Q1	0 / 6	9–6	60%
Canada	A	A	A	W	A	2R	2R	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	1 / 4	9–3	75%
Cincinnati	A	A	A	A	2R	A	2R	Q1	1R	A	A	1R	A	A	A	0 / 4	2–4	33%
Stuttgart	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Paris	A	A	A	1R	QF	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	2–3	40%
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	5–1	7–4	4–3	6–3	2–2	3–4	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	1 / 20	27–19	59%

Mixed doubles

Tournament	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	1–1	50%
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	–
Wimbledon	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	0 / 2	3–2	60%
US Open	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	2–1	67%
Win–loss	5–2	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0 / 4	6–4	60%

Radio and writing career

In 2002, Wheaton embarked a new career in radio, writing, and speaking. He is the producer and host of The Christian Worldview, a live talk radio program that airs on 250 stations in the US. He is a tennis columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the author of two books, University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus (Bethany House, 2005) and My Boy, Ben—A Story of Love, Loss and Grace (Tristan Publishing, 2014).

Service and awards

Wheaton serves on the board of The Overcomer Foundation, a non-profit organization that directs his radio ministry. He also served on the board of directors of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) from 2003-2006. He is a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame (class of 2012) and the USTA Northern Section Hall of Fame (class of 2005). Wheaton received the Eugene L. Scott Renaissance Award in 2011—an award presented to a national/international tennis champion who demonstrates excellence in promoting and developing the sport of tennis in public parks.

External links and sources

• David Wheaton's Radio Show – The Christian Worldview
• David Wheaton at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• David Wheaton at the International Tennis Federation
• David Wheaton at the Davis Cup