 Murray at 2017 Citi Open | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Born | 1980 (age 44) |
| Coaching career (2005–) | |
| Coaching achievements | |
| Coachee singles titles total | 5 |
| List of notable tournaments (with champion) US Open (Stephens) | |
| Last updated on: 7 April 2021. | |
Kamau Murray (born 1980) is an American tennis coach. He is best known for coaching Sloane Stephens to the US Open title in 2017.
Murray grew up on the South Side of Chicago. His father was an attorney and his mother was a high school assistant principal. Murray began playing tennis at age 7 during his summer break from school, as it was the first summer program his parents found where they could afford to send him. He continued to play during the school year in Chicago Public Schools after-school programs for many years. His parents also hoped he could earn a scholarship through playing tennis, as they did not expect to be able to pay for him to attend college. [1] [2]
Murray attended Whitney Young Magnet High School, the same high school as USTA president Katrina Adams. He was also classmates with future NBA player Quentin Richardson, who was and still is one of his best friends. [3] [4]
Murray played tennis at Florida A&M University, where he served as the team captain for two years. During his sophomore season, the team won the MEAC conference title. After finishing his undergraduate degree, he also served as an assistant coach for the team while completing an MBA degree. [1] [5]
Murray, side-by-side with Othmane Garma (“Coach OG”), has coached Sloane Stephens on the WTA Tour. [6]
Murray is the founder of the XS Tennis program in Chicago. Taylor Townsend was one of Murray's first five players at XS Tennis when he first launched the program. [7]
John Lloyd is a British former professional tennis player. Lloyd reached an ATP world ranking of 21 in July 1978, and was ranked as UK number 1 in 1984 and 1985. He now works as a tennis commentator.
Brad Gilbert is an American former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and tennis commentator and analyst for ESPN. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 18 four years prior. He won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics, and both a gold medal and a silver medal at the 1981 Maccabiah Games.
Paul Annacone is an American former touring professional tennis player and current tennis coach. He is the former coach of 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras, and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens. Annacone is currently a coach at ProTennisCoach.com, a commentator at Tennis Channel, and works with Taylor Fritz.
Jonas Lars Björkman is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup doubles championships. As of 2019, he was ranked in the top 40 on the all-time ATP prize money list with over $14.5 million. As of July 2024 he is still in the top 50 of the all-time ATP prize money list.
Darren Cahill is an Australian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. In addition, Cahill is a tennis analyst for the Grand Slam events on the US sports network ESPN and a coach with the Adidas Player Development Program and at ProTennisCoach.com.
The Philadelphia Freedoms is a tennis team currently competing in World TeamTennis.
Eric Butorac, nicknamed Booty, is an American retired professional tennis player. He was a doubles specialist, and for a period of approximately six years was the No. 3 ranked American doubles player. His best result was reaching the 2014 Australian Open finals with partner Raven Klaasen. Their run to the final included a victory over the World No. 1 team of Bob and Mike Bryan.
Steve "Lightning" Krulevitz is an American-Israeli former professional tennis player, and current coach. Playing for UCLA, he was an All-American. He won gold medals for the United States in singles and doubles at the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He played # 1 for the Israel Davis Cup team from 1978–80. His highest world singles ranking was No. 70. He was in the bottom of the top 100 on the men’s tour from 1974 to 1983.
The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Racers previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2021–22; and in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1947–48.
Chatsworth Charter High School is a charter secondary school located in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School is a public four-year magnet high school and middle school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Opened on September 3, 1975, Young was the city's first public magnet high school. Named after Whitney Young, a prominent African-American civil rights leader, the school is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district.
John Dale Powless was an American basketball and tennis player and coach at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a player on the international senior tennis circuit.
Madison Keys is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the WTA, achieved on 10 October 2016. Keys has contested a Grand Slam singles final at the 2017 US Open, competed at the 2016 WTA Finals, and was a semifinalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has won eight WTA Tour titles, six of which were at the Premier level, and also won the 2019 Cincinnati Open, a Premier 5 event.
Sloane Stephens is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3, after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles. She also has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 85 and has won one WTA title.
Taylor Townsend is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 46 in singles by the WTA on 19 August 2024, and in doubles as No. 5 on 12 June 2023. Townsend won her first Grand Slam title at the 2024 Wimbledon with Kateřina Siniaková. In addition, she has won six WTA Tour doubles titles and also reached two other major finals, the 2022 US Open and the 2023 French Open.
Katie Swan is a British tennis player. She has won 11 ITF singles titles and one in doubles. Her peak world ranking in singles is 118 and her highest in doubles is 293. When she made her debut, Swan was the youngest player to represent Great Britain in the Fed Cup.
The 2017 US Open was the 137th edition of tennis' US Open and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It was held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. Experimental rules featured in qualifying for the main draw as well as in the junior, wheelchair and exhibition events.
Sybil Smith is an American former collegiate swimmer. She is the first African-American female swimmer to be named a first-team Division I All-American, and the only All-American in Boston University women's swimming history. Her daughter Sloane Stephens is a Grand Slam champion tennis player.
The 2018 WTA Awards are a series of awards given by the Women's Tennis Association to players who have achieved something remarkable during the 2018 WTA Tour.
The Chicago Smash is a World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise founded in 2020, owned by the league. The team was the third expansion teams in two years to enter the league in 2020 following the addition of the Orlando Storm and Vegas Rollers during the 2019 season. The Chicago Smash will play their home matches at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois.