American tennis player
Taylor Dent |
| Full name | Taylor Phillip Dent |
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| Country (sports) |  United States |
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| Residence | Grapevine, Texas, U.S. |
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| Born | (1981-04-24)April 24, 1981 (age 44)
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| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
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| Turned pro | 1998 |
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| Retired | 2010 |
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| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
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| Prize money | $2,563,378 |
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| Singles |
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| Career record | 151–140 (ATP Tour andGrand Slam-level, and inDavis Cup) |
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| Career titles | 4 |
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| Highest ranking | No. 21 (8 August 2005) |
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| Grand Slam singles results |
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| Australian Open | 3R (2002,2004,2005) |
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| French Open | 2R (2005) |
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| Wimbledon | 4R (2005) |
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| US Open | 4R (2003) |
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| Other tournaments |
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| Olympic Games | SF – 4th (2004) |
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| Doubles |
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| Career record | 16–37 (ATP Tour andGrand Slam-level, and inDavis Cup) |
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| Career titles | 0 |
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| Highest ranking | No. 170 (20 August 2001) |
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| Grand Slam doubles results |
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| French Open | 1R (2003,2004) |
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| US Open | 2R (2000) |
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| Last updated on: 20 June 2022. |
Taylor Phillip Dent (born April 24, 1981) is a retired professionaltennis player from the United States. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21, winning 4 singles titles.
Early career and back injury
[edit]Dent won ATP titles in Newport (2002),Bangkok (2003),Memphis (2003), and Moscow (2003), and reached the finals of three other events on tour. His victory in Memphis is still often referred to as his most impressive victory, as he beat future world No. 1Andy Roddick in the final.
Dent played with distinction at the2004 Summer Olympics, where he made a push all the way to the semi-finals, where he was defeated by eventual gold medalistNicolás Massú of Chile. He went on to lose the Bronze medal match 16–14 in the third set againstFernando González of Chile.
Dent, paired withLisa Raymond, won the2006 Hopman Cup, defeating the Netherlands two sets to one in the final.
In 2006 Dent did not play many competitive matches, due to a recurring back and groin problem. Dent had back surgery on March 19, 2007.
On May 26, 2008, Dent received a wild card and played at the Carson challenger in the United States. It was his first match since February 2006. He lost his first round match toCecil Mamiit. In July 2008 Dent took a wild card into his first ATP tour event for two seasons at the Hall of Fame tennis tournament in Newport, Rhode Island. He lost in three sets to Canada's Frank Dancevic.
On November 12, 2008, Dent won his first comeback match at the Champaign challenger againstFrédéric Niemeyer, 6–3, 7–6(3). He followed this win up by defeating second seed and fellow AmericanRobert Kendrick. In the third round, Dent had to withdraw againstSam Warburg. Using hisprotected ranking of 56, Dent played the 2009Australian Open, where he was eliminated in the first round byAmer Delić.
As a qualifier, he reached the fourth round of the2009 Miami Open, defeatingNicolás Almagro andTommy Robredo in the process. He lost toRoger Federer in the fourth round, 3–6, 2–6. Despite the scoreline, the first set was a very entertaining encounter, with Federer's longest service game lasting just short of a quarter of an hour; Dent had eight break point opportunities. He had a poor run of form following this, but reversed the poor form by qualifying forWimbledon, having entered the qualifying via a wildcard. He won his way through to the main draw, where he lost toDaniel Gimeno Traver in five sets in the first round.
He received a wild card for the 2009 US Open and won his first US Open match since 2005, upsettingFeliciano López in four sets. He advanced to the third round after beatingIván Navarro in the second round, in a five-set match. Following the match, he took the umpire microphone and thanked the crowd for support, following it with a victory lap around the stadium. In the third round, he was beaten byAndy Murray in straight sets. Following the US Open, Dent won the USTAChallenger of Oklahoma inTulsa.
In his opening event of the2010 season, he entered the main draw at the2010 Australian Open. He defeatedFabio Fognini, in the first round and moved on to face tenth seedJo-Wilfried Tsonga, to whom he lost.
On May 25, 2010, in Roland Garros, againstNicolás Lapentti, Dent served at 240 km/h and set a new tournament record thatFernando Verdasco andAndy Roddick had held before him (with 232 km/h). Additionally, at the2010 Wimbledon Championships on June 23, 2010, Dent set a record with the fastest serve ever recorded at the Wimbledon tournament at 148 mph until he was surpassed by Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the 2025 Wimbledon tournament.
On November 8, 2010, Taylor Dent announced his retirement from professional tennis.[1]
Unusual for a contemporary tennis player, Dent favored a pureserve-and-volley style of play. He possessed a powerful serve and strong volleys. He had the fourth fastest serve in the world, at a velocity of 243 km/h. At the2010 Wimbledon Championships he set the record for the fastest serve ever recorded at the event with a speed of 238 km/h. (148 mph)[2]
Dent is the son of formerATP player and 1974Australian Open finalistPhil Dent. Taylor's mother,Betty Ann Grubb Stuart, who has remarried, reached theUS Open doubles final in 1977 withRenée Richards. Grubb was a former top-10 singles player in the United States. Dent's half-brother,Brett Hansen-Dent, played on the ATP circuit for a short time after playing on the tennis team of theUniversity of Southern California and reaching the singles final of theNCAA Men's Tennis Championship.[3]
His godfather is the former top ten playerJohn Alexander, of Australia, who was Phil Dent's doubles partner when that duo won the 1975 Australian Open doubles title.
Dent's first cousin,Misty May-Treanor, was one of the top pro volleyball players in the world, and she and her teammates won the gold medals at the2004 Summer Olympics,2008 Summer Olympics and the2012 Summer Olympics.
Dent appeared in an AmericanTV commercial for the insurance companyGenworth Financial as the opponent of a boy playing the role of Jaden Agassi, the young son ofAndre Agassi andSteffi Graf.
Dent attendedCorona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California, and he was on the interscholastic tennis team there. Dent also attended theMonte Vista High School, inNorthern California.
On December 8, 2006, Dent married WTA Tour player,Jennifer Hopkins. Their wedding party included notable tennis champions. Jenny gave birth to a son in 2010 and a daughter in 2014.
Taylor has been a commentator onThe Tennis Channel for theUS Open in 2006, 2007, and 2011.
Dent currently resides in Grapevine, Texas, with wifeJennifer Hopkins and their four children. In 2020 the two along with Taylor's father,Phil Dent, openedThe Birch Racquet and Lawn Club, located in Keller, Texas.
Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)
[edit]| Legend |
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| Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) | | ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) | | ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0) | | ATP 500 Series (1–1) | | ATP 250 Series (3–2) |
| | Finals by surface |
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| Hard (2–3) | | Clay (0–1) | | Grass (1–0) | | Carpet (1–0) |
| | Finals by setting |
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| Outdoors (1–3) | | Indoors (3–0) |
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| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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| Win | 1–0 | Jul 2002 | Newport, United States | International Series | Grass | James Blake | 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 2–0 | Feb 2003 | Memphis, United States | Championship Series | Hard | Andy Roddick | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–0 | Sep 2003 | Bangkok, Thailand | International Series | Hard |  Juan Carlos Ferrero | 6–3, 7–6(7–5) |
| Win | 4–0 | Sep 2003 | Moscow, Russia | International Series | Carpet |  Sargis Sargsian | 7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–1 | Oct 2004 | Tokyo, Japan | Championship Series | Hard |  Jiří Novák | 7–5, 1–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 4–2 | Jan 2005 | Adelaide, Australia | International Series | Hard |  Joachim Johansson | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 4–3 | Jul 2005 | Indianapolis, United States | International Series | Hard | Robby Ginepri | 6–4, 3–6, 0–3, ret. |
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
[edit]| Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) | | ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) | | ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0) | | ATP 500 Series (0–0) | | ATP 250 Series (0–1) |
| | Finals by surface |
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| Hard (0–1) | | Clay (0–0) | | Grass (0–0) | | Carpet (0–0) |
| | Finals by setting |
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| Outdoors (0–1) | | Indoors (0–0) |
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ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
[edit]| Legend |
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| ATP Challenger (3–1) | | ITF Futures (2–1) |
| | Finals by surface |
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| Hard (4–2) | | Clay (0–0) | | Grass (1–0) | | Carpet (0–0) |
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| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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| Win | 1–0 | Jul 1999 | USA F9,Redding | Futures | Hard | Wade McGuire | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Dec 1999 | USA F21,Laguna Niguel | Futures | Hard |  Alexander Peya | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | Mar 2000 | USA F6,San Antonio | Futures | Hard |  Daniel Melo | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–1 | Jun 2001 | Surbiton, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass |  Neville Godwin | 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–2 |
| Win | 4–1 | Sep 2009 | Tulsa, United States | Challenger | Hard | Wayne Odesnik | 7–6(11–9), 7–6(7–4) |
| Win | 5–1 | Nov 2009 | Knoxville, United States | Challenger | Hard |  Ilija Bozoljac | 6–3, 7–6(8–6) |
| Loss | 5–2 | Nov 2009 | Champaign-Urbana, United States | Challenger | Hard | Michael Russell | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Legend |
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| ATP Challenger (1–0) | | ITF Futures (0–0) |
| | Finals by surface |
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| Hard (1–0) | | Clay (0–0) | | Grass (0–0) | | Carpet (0–0) |
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Performance timeline
[edit]Key| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Fernando González
Noam Behr
