Bjorn Phau

Began playing at age four...Mother, Gisela, is German and a housewife; father, Awie (pronounced Arvie), is Indonesian and a chemist...Parents met at a German university in early 1970s...Has one sister, Aileen (two years younger)...His favorite soccer team 1. FC Koln is from Cologne and enjoys a variety of food such as Indonesian, Chinese (dim sum), Italian, Greek...At age 17, captured German national indoor junior championships and shortly after was invited with three other players to join Mercedes-Benz junior team...Now trains in Cologne with Austrian Alexander Peya...Considers quickness as his strength and best shot his crosscourt forehand (along with backhand down line)...Favorite surface is hard courts...Growing up he admired quickness of Michael Chang, groundstrokes of Andre Agassi and mental toughness of Boris Becker (used to practice with him)...Coached by countryman Klaus Langenbach (since 1997) and also works with former ATP pro Karsten Braasch.

1997 -- Played four German Challengers.

1998 -- Made ATP debut as a wild card entrant in Chennai (l. to Paes). Reached two Futures SFs with 11-8 record for the year.

1999 -- Earned first ATP win as wild card at Stuttgart Outdoor (d. Voinea, l. to Clavet). Qualified into Washington, D.C. and reached 3rd RD (d. Federer, Tieleman, l. to Agassi). Won Futures title at Decatur, Illinois (d. Chicoine). In doubles, won Futures title in Augsburg, Germany (w/Uebel). Futures finalist at Trier, Germany (w/Wislsperger).

2000 -- Played four ATP events, including Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros as qualifier (l. to Olihrach). Best Challenger result was Austin, Texas SF (l. to Malisse).

2001 -- Qualified at Adelaide and US Open, and reached 2nd RD at both. In Adelaide, d. Woodbridge, l. to Hewitt. At US Open, d. Enqvist, l. to Novak. Won Bronx Challenger (d. A. Ram).

2002 -- Won first career ATP Masters Series match in Hamburg (d. Portas, l. to Hewitt). Finalist at Challengers in Osake (l. to Suzuki) and Eckental (l. to Burgsmuller). Made ATP doubles debut at AMS Hamburg (w/Petzschner).

2003 -- Played first Australian Open as qualifier (l. to Santoro). Reached 2nd RD in Tokyo. Reached Challenger final in Weiden (l. to Behrend).

2004 -- Posted first ATP winning record by going 5-4. Best result was QF in Tokyo (d. Iwami, Pavel and Gambill, l. to Ulihrach). Also reached 2nd RD in Stuttgart and Delray Beach. Reached Ljubijana Challenger Final (l. to Vanek). Was 30-25 in Challengers. Won Istanbul Challenger doubles title (w/Bastl). 

2005 -- Finished a year-end best No. 82 after winning a personal-best 10 matches on ATP circuit. Season highlights included reaching first ATP SF in Tokyo (d. No. 21 Ginepri in QF, l. to Ancic). Qualified for Australian and US Opens, reaching 2nd RD in both. Also won one Challenger title. In Melbourne, defeated Costa in 1st RD before losing to Ancic. At US Open, defeated Popp in 1st RD before losing to Nieminen. Won Challenger title in Busan, Korea.

2006 -- Captured a personal-best 16 matches to finish with a year-end high ATP Ranking. Opened season with QF in Chennai (l. to eventual champion Moya). Reached QF at San Jose (l. to Roddick). In Dubai, earned first career win against a Top 10 player with 2nd RD victory over No. 9 Agassi (l. to countryman Schuettler in QF). Dubai started string of six tournaments in which he reached at least 2nd RD. On clay in April, reached second career SF at Casablanca (l. to Massu). Snapped 11-match losing streak with US Open 1st RD win over Morrison (l. to Malisse). Reached QF in Tokyo (l. to Berdych) and final at Seoul Challenger (l. to Lee). In doubles, reached final in Munich (w/Peya). Reached SF in Chennai (w/Lee) and QF at Roland Garros (w/Peya). Run in Paris included win over Top 10 team of (Santoro/Zimonjic). Earned a career-high $348,695.

2007 -- Reached final at one Challenger final and SF in two others…

2008 -- Compiled a 34-22 match record in Challengers, reaching two finals and four SFs…Best ATP result was SF in Beijing…

2009

The veteran German won 12 ATP World Tour matches and 12 Challenger matches…Ranked in Top 100 from Feb. 2 until Sept. 28…Opened season with QF in Chennai and followed by qualifying at Australian Open…In March, qualified at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami…Reached SF in Houston…Did not win back-to-back matches again until August when he reached 3rd RD in New Haven (l. to Querrey)…Closed season with QF in St. Petersburg (l. to Stakhovsky) and SF at Astana Challenger.