Taylor Dent

PERSONAL

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)...Considers himself a home handy-man thanks to his mother and calls himself "Mr. Fix It"...Hobbies include politics, religion and computer games...Has a tattoo of American and Aussie flags on his right shoulder...Was sidelined for three years due to two back surgeries...Married former WTA Tour player Jennifer Hopkins (on Dec. 8, 2006), who reached a career-high ranking of No. 52.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

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.

2009 IN REVIEW

The California native won his first ATP World Tour match since 2006 Rotterdam when he reached Brisbane second round (d. Darcis, l. to Gasquet) in first week of season...Followed with first round loss at Australian Open (l. to Delic in five sets) in first Grand Slam appearance since 2006 Australian Open...Reached second round at San Jose (l. to Widom)...Moved from No. 865 at the start of the year to No. 593 in South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings...In March, qualified in Indian Wells and advanced to fourth round with Top 20 wins over Spaniards No. 20 Nicolas Almagro and No. 16 Tommy Robredo before losing to No. 2 Roger Federer... Afterwards, climbed from No. 467 to No. 313...Qualified at Wimbledon and lost to Gimeno-Traver in five sets in first round...At US Open, entered as a wild card and posted wins over Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Ivan Navarro in fifth set tie-break before losing to No. 2 Andy Murray in third round.