Taylor Dent

Full name is Taylor Phillip Dent...Began playing tennis at age 10...Son of former Aussie great Phil Dent, a former Top 20 player who reached Australian Open final in 1974 (l. to Connors)...Also a SF at Roland Garros and QF at Wimbledon...Mother, Betty Ann (Grubb) Stuart, who has remarried, reached US Open doubles final in 1977 (w/Renee Richards) and was a former Top 10 player in U.S. ...Step-brother, Brett Hansen-Dent (born July 2, 1972), played on ATP circuit briefly after reaching NCAA singles final while playing at Univ. of Southern California...His godfather is former Aussie player John Alexander...Cousin Misty May is one of top pro volleyball players in world and won a gold medal at Athens Olympics.

Attended Monte Vista High School in California... Ranked as No. 7 junior in U.S. 18s in 1997, reaching SF at U.S. Boys’ 18s in Kalamazoo...Reached QF at Roland Garros juniors (d. Coria) and Australian Open juniors in 1998...Coached by his father Phil throughout his early career and end of 2003 season...In early 2005, completed two-year project of building a Ford Cobra kit car with friend Cameron Ball (son of former Aussie pro Syd Ball)...Has a tattoo of American and Aussie flags on his right shoulder...Wife, Jennifer Hopkins (married on Dec. 8, 2006) is a former WTA Tour pro.

1998 -- Made Grand Slam debut at US Open reaching 2nd RD (l. to Safin)...

1999 -- Claimed one Futures title...

2000 -- Captured second Futures title...Reached 3rd RD at Indianapolis...Won Challenger doubles title (w/Fish)...

2001 -- Won first Challenger title at Surbiton (d. Godwin) and reaching 2nd RD at Wimbledon after qualifying, losing to Hewitt in five sets...Advanced to first ATP QF in July in Los Angeles, defeating Moya and Mirnyi (l. to Malisse)...Reinjured back en route to 2nd RD at US Open and missed two months...

2002 -- Won first ATP title in Newport (d. Blake)...Made history by becoming first father (Phil) and son duo to win an ATP title in Open Era (since 1968)...

2003 -- Captured a career-best three ATP indoor titles -- Memphis (d. Roddick) without dropping a set, Bangkok (d. No. 1 Ferrero) and Moscow (d. Sargsian)...Made Davis Cup debut and lost in 1st RD tie to Ancic...After 1st RD exit at Wimbledon, missed nearly two months with a pinched nerve in right wrist...Returned at US Open and advanced to a Grand Slam-best 4th RD (d. Gonzalez, retired with right hamstring vs. Agassi)...Earned a career-high $544,457...

2004 -- Finished a year-end best No. 32, highlighted by bronze medal match (l. to Gonzalez 16-14 in third set, held two M.P.) at Athens Olympics in August and lone ATP final of season in Tokyo (l. to Novak) in October...Opened year with SF in Adelaide and 3rd RD at Australian Open (l. to Roddick)...In March, advanced to 4th RD at AMS Indian Wells (d. Kuerten, l. to Blake)...Following month, posted best clay win of career over No. 16 Novak in AMS Monte-Carlo (l. 2nd RD)...In June, reached SF in Nottingham and followed with 3rd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Roddick)...Best AMS result was QF in Madrid (l. to Nalbandian)...In doubles, reached first ATP final in Beijing (w/Bogomolov)...

2005 -- Finished in Top 30 for first time and won a career-best 33 matches...Was runner-up in Adelaide (d. Hewitt in QF, l. to J. Johansson)...In July retired in final in Indianapolis (vs. Ginepri) due to heat exhaustion...Also a QF or better in five other ATP tournaments, including ATP Masters Series Miami (l. to Agassi)... Injured his right ankle in that match and missed clay court circuit before returning June 7 at Queen's where he lost to Murray in 2nd RD... Followed with SF in Nottingham (l. to Gasquet) and career-best 4th RD at Wimbledon (l. to Hewitt)... His best summer hard court finish was runner-up in Indianapolis and advanced to 3rd RD at US Open (l. to Hewitt in five sets)... Best finish rest of season was QF in Tokyo... Went 4-5 against Top 10 opponents, defeating Hewitt, Nalbandian, Safin and Coria... Compiled records of 24-15 on hard and 8-4 on grass...

2006 -- Recurring back injuries limited American serve-and-volleyer to just four tournaments...Opened season with 1st RD losses in Sydney (l. to Clement) and at Australian Open (l. to Garcia-Lopez)...Headed to Europe for indoor circuit and lost in 1st RD in Marseille (l. to Andreev)...Posted only win of season in Rotterdam over Berdych (l. to C. Rochus)...On May 10, underwent minor back surgery (risotomy), a procedure in which a hot electric needle is used to probe back nerves and remove ones causing pain.

2007 -- Missed entire season with back injury, undergoing surgeries in March and September
(spent six months in full body cast)…

2008 -- Played five tournaments (including three Challengers) with best result QF at Champaign Challenger in November…

2009

The American made biggest jump in Top 100 from previous year, climbing 803 ranking positions...Battled back from three years of back injuries to finish in Top 100 for first time since 2005…Compiled a 17-6 record in Challengers with two titles in three finals and went 12-15 in ATP World Tour play…Qualified in Miami* and reached 4th RD (d. Mello, Almagro, Robredo, l. to Federer)…Qualified at Wimbledon and lost in 1st RD to Gimeno-Traver in five sets…Came into US  Open at No. 195 and beat Spaniards Lopez and Navarro in five-set tie-breaker before fallling to No. 2 Murray in 3rd RD…In next outing at Tulsa Challenger, won title without dropping a set (d. Odesnik)…Closed season in November with title at Knoxville (d. Bozoljac) and runner-up at Champaign (l. to Russell) Challengers…Went 10-12 on hard, 1-2 on grass and 1-1 on clay.