Dick Norman

Began playing tennis at age six...Father, Beni, who is an engineer; mother, Kris, who is an ex-tennis coach...Has two sisters, Inge and Ilse...Nicknamed “Big D” and stands as second-tallest player (6’8”, 2.03m) on circuit behind Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic (6’10”, 2.08m)...Speaks four languages (Dutch, French, English, German)...Player he admired growing up was John McEnroe...Enjoys playing squash and backgammon and going to movies... Favorite surface is (indoor) carpet...His biggest tennis moment came in 1995 when he defeated former No. 1 Stefan Edberg in 2nd RD at Wimbledon before losing to Boris Becker in 4th RD...Has a 5-5 career Davis Cup record (3-3 in singles) in six ties since 1995...Coached by Jan De Witt from Breakpoint Tennis Team in Halle, Germany.

1997--Qualified and reached Antwerp QF (l. to Korda)…Won Dresden Challenger title (d. Alonso) and followed by qualifying at Roland Garros…Reached 3rd RD in Paris before losing to Bruguera…Won Neumunster Challenger title (d. J. van Lottum)…

1998 --Lost to Gustafsson in the 1st RD at Sydney…Best result came by reaching 2nd RD at Cherbourg Challenger…

2000 -- Returned to court in June and won Poland F2 in his second tournament…Continued by winning Poland F3 to following week and also won Luxembourg F1 and France F19 during year…Reached finals at Brasov Challenger…In doubles, teamed with C. Kas to win Luxembourg F1 title.

2001 -- Won Antwerp Challenger title after defeating P. Wessels in final…Also won France F6 and F7 in successive weeks in March…Reached final of Luebeck Challenger (l. to Mlynarik)…

2002 -- First Top 100 finish of career…Won US Open debut in five sets (d. Ulihrach, l. to Henman)…Won career-best 37 Challenger matches (37-12)….Claimed four titles…Won two Challenger doubles titles…

2003 -- Posted best ATP result of the year at Queen’s Club by reaching 3rd RD (d. Fish and Sa, l. to Hewitt)…Reached three Challenger finals, winning his lone title of the year in San Luis Potosi…

2004 -- Reached 2nd RD of just one ATP event, coming in Kitzbuhel (d. Di Mauro, l. to Davydenko)…Won Challenger title at Ischgi (d. Bracciali)…Finalist at Andrezieux (l. to Benneteau)…Played doubles in World Group Play-off with Vliegen, falling to Croatian team of Ancic-Ljubicic…

2005 -- Finished year-end career-high No. 94... Won title at Belgrade Challenger (d. Masson)... Reached final at San Luis Potosi Challenger (l. to Vicente)... Entered Roland Garros main draw as a lucky loser and reached 2nd RD (d. Lisnard, l. to Robredo)... On grass, reached 2nd RD at Halle with a win over C. Rochus (l. to Schuettler)... Qualified into Wimbledon and lost to Dent in five sets... Ended year by claiming Dnepropetrovsk Challenger title with wins over Mertinak, Pavel, Dlouhy, El Aynaoui and Sluiter... Teamed with Vliegen for Davis Cup doubles win against Serbia & Montenegro (d. Vemic-Zimonjic)...

2006 -- Finished in Top 125 of ATP Rankings for second straight year and fifth time overall in his career...Compiled a 27-19 record in Challenger play...Reached 2nd RD at Australian Open for first time with a win over Fleishman before falling to Hrbaty 10-8 in fifth set...Played 12 straight Challenger events, reaching Leon final (l. to Simmonds) and two other SF...Reached Roland Garros 2nd RD for second year in a row with win over Massa (l. to Monfils)...Suffered four straight ATP first round losses...Returned to Challenger circuit and reached consecutive SF...Played Davis Cup dead rubber against Slovakia (l. to Lacko)...Had back-to-back Challenger QF in October that pushed him to career high ranking...Won Orleans Challenger doubles title (w/Carraz).

2006

The towering Belgian finished in Top 125 of ATP Rankings for second straight year and fifth time overall in his career...Compiled a 27-19 record in Challenger play...Reached 2nd RD at Australian Open for first time with a win over Fleishman before falling to Hrbaty 10-8 in fifth set...Played 12 straight Challenger events, reaching Leon final (l. to Simmonds) and two other SF...Reached Roland Garros 2nd RD for second year in a row with win over Massa (l. to Monfils)...Suffered four straight ATP first round losses...Returned to Challenger circuit and reached consecutive SF...Played Davis Cup dead rubber against Slovakia (l. to Lacko)...Had back-to-back Challenger QF in October that pushed him to career high ranking...Won Orleans Challenger doubles title (w/Carraz).