- published: 27 Sep 2009
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Andrei Pavel (born January 27, 1974 in Constanţa) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Romania. He is currently coaching the world top-50 tennis player, Tamira Paszek.
Andrei began playing tennis at age eight, and moved to Germany at age sixteen.
Pavel has turned professional in 1995. He has won three singles titles, including the ATP Masters Series tournament in Montreal/Toronto in 2001. He has also won seven doubles titles, the latest title being the Open Seat Barcelona, in 2007.
Pavel played what John McEnroe considers to be the best first round match at a Grand Slam he has ever seen at the U.S Open in August 2006, where he lost to Andre Agassi in four sets; 6–7(4), 7–6(8), 7–6(6), 6–2; taking three and half hours. Had Pavel won, it would have been Agassi's last match in a professional tournament.
His best single result over the course of his career took place in 2001, when he captured the Masters Series title in Montreal. For his efforts during that week alone, Pavel earned $400,000. When playing Andy Murray in the Australian Open in 2009, Pavel was forced to retire from the game in the second set due to a recurring back injury. He had lost the previous set. Andrei entered the 2009 French Open, where he was defeated by Tommy Haas 6–1, 6–4, 6–4.
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the third highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish and John Isner.
He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 US Open, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the finals, which currently makes him the last North American male player to win a grand slam singles event. Roddick has reached four other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005 and 2009, and the US Open in 2006), losing to Roger Federer each time. He is married to Brooklyn Decker, a Sports Illustrated swimwear model and actress.
Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska to Jerry and Blanche Roddick. Roddick's father was a businessman and his mother was a school teacher. She now directs the Andy Roddick Foundation. Roddick has two older brothers, Lawrence and John (All-American tennis player at University of Georgia (1996–98) and head tennis coach at the University of Oklahoma), who were both promising tennis players at a young age.
Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE (born 6 September 1974) is a retired English professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship. Henman never reached the finals of any Grand Slam but having reached six Grand Slam semi-finals, won 15 career ATP titles (11 in singles and 4 in doubles), and been ranked number 4 in the world, Henman was one of Britain's most successful open era male tennis players. He retired after helping Great Britain defeat Croatia in a Davis Cup match played in September 2007. Nicknamed "Tiger Tim", Henman is worth £17 million and remains a celebrity among the public.
Tim Henman comes from a talented sporting family: his father Tony, a solicitor, was accomplished at various sports, including tennis and squash. His mother Jane, a dress designer, played Junior Wimbledon and introduced Tim and his older brothers Michael and Richard to tennis as soon as they could walk on the family's grass tennis court. His great grandfather played at Wimbledon. His maternal grandfather, Henry Billington, played at Wimbledon between 1948 and 1951, plus representing Britain in the Davis Cup in 1948, 1950 and 1951. In 1901 his maternal great-grandmother, Ellen Stanwell-Brown (or Ellen Mary Stowell-Brown), was reputedly the first woman to serve overarm at Wimbledon. His maternal grandmother, Susan Billington, appeared regularly at Wimbledon in the 1950s, playing mixed doubles on Centre Court with her husband Henry, reaching the third round of the ladies' doubles in 1951, 1955 and 1956.