George Bastl

Full name is George Edward Bastl...Began playing tennis at age six with his father, George, who was a 10-year pro hockey player and now has a tennis school in their hometown of Villars-sur-Ollon...Father played forward in Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) minor league system in Flint, Mich. and Dallas...Mother, Libby, is a housewife...Has a younger brother, Marc, who is studying in U.S. at the University of Findlay, Ohio, where he plays ice hockey for the university team...Played 1995-96 seasons at University of South Florida in Tampa before transferring to University of Southern California for 1997-98 campaigns...Reached NCAA singles (l. to Luke Smith) and doubles finals (w/Kyle Spencer) in '97...Has two semesters left to complete his business degree...Prior to coming to U.S., reigned as the Swiss junior champion in 1993...Hobbies include snow boarding, skiing and hockey...Considers forehand as best shot and favorite surface is hard courts...Member of Swiss Davis Cup team and has a 2-5 record in six ties...Fluent in Czech, French and English.

1994-Finished third in Slovenia #2 Satellite (15 points)...

1995-Placed fourth at Turkey #1 Satellite (21 points)...

1996-Reached final in Geneva (w/Kratochvil)...

1997-Winner at Canada Satellite (50 points) and USTA #5 Satellite (43 points)...Reached QF at Amarillo Challenger...Won first ATP match in San Jose (d. Meligeni, l. to Chang) ...Advanced to doubles final at Burbank Challenger (w/Gottesleben)...

1998-Qualified and reached first Challenger final in Andorra (l. to Gimelstob in third-set breaker)...Also reached SF at Pribham and Nuembrecht Challengers...Made Davis Cup debut against Spain but lost to Corretja in a dead rubber...

1999-Qualified in Tashkent and reached first ATP final falling to Kiefer... Notched first career Challenger title in Eckental (d. Luxa)...

2000-Won a career-high 16 ATP matches, reaching SF in Tashkent (l. to Safin) and QF in Doha...Also reached 3rd RD at Ericsson Open Miami (l. to Enqvist)...Went 1-2 in Davis Cup singles, earning first career win against Mirnyi (Belarus) in July...Earned a career-high $232,127.

2001 - The Swiss No. 3 (behind No. 13 Federer, No. 45 Kratochvil) finished out of Top 100 but won one Challenger title...Opened season in Australia, reaching QF in Sydney (d. Moya, d. Clement, l. to Norman)...Went 0-3 in following matches before advancing to 2nd RD in Copenhagen (l. to Henman)...In U.S. reached 3rd RD in Memphis (l. to Tursunov) and qualified for TMS Miami, defeating Fromberg in 1st RD before losing to Hrbaty...In Davis Cup QF tie against France, led Escude 2-1 in sets in deciding fifth rubber before losing 8-6 in fifth set (held one match point)...After QF at Bermuda Challenger, went 1-9 from late April through August...Qualified for US Open and reached 2nd RD, losing to Kafelnikov in five sets (after winning first two)...In September, advanced to 2nd RD in Shanghai...Finished season strongly with third career Challenger title in Helsinki (d. Fukarek) and 3rd RD in native Basel (l. to Boutter in third-set tie-break)...In doubles, won Challenger title in Eckental (w/Godwin) and reached ATP SF in Houston (w/Labadze), Shanghai (w/Sa) and Basel (w/Heuberger)...Went 0-2 in Davis Cup singles play.