Brian Vahaly (born July 19, 1979) is anAmerican former professionaltennis player and a graduate ofUniversity of Virginia.[1] He reached the quarterfinals of the2003 Indian Wells Masters (defeating world no. 1Juan Carlos Ferrero en route) and achieved a career-high of world no. 57 in March 2003. He is currently the Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA.
He began playing tennis at the age of two with his parents Barry and Karen. As a junior, Brian Vahaly captured the Easter Bowl 18s title and reached the final of the Coffee Bowl inCosta Rica in 1997. His best junior Grand Slam result was reaching the quarterfinal atWimbledon that same year, where he finished 17th in the world junior rankings.
Vahaly proceeded to play four years of collegiate tennis at the University of Virginia from 1998 to 2001, where he was a three-time All-American and finished as the school's most successful player.[1] In 2000, he won theUnited States Amateur Championships (Men's Tennis). In 2001, Vahaly reached the singles final at theNCAA Championships, and lost in the doubles semifinal withHuntley Montgomery, but finished as the no. 1 player in doubles and no. 5 in singles (40-6).
Vahaly became UVA's first tennis All-American in 1999 and during the previous season was named theAtlantic Coast Conference Rookie of Year. In his last two seasons, he was a two-time ACC Player of Year, and as a senior, he was named the University of Virginia Male Athlete of Year. He graduated with two majors in Finance and Business Management, and finished his career at Virginia as an Academic All-American. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of University of Virginia Men's Tennis.
In 2002, Vahaly enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP circuit, advancing to the semifinals of Memphis (falling toAndy Roddick) and the quarterfinals ofIndian Wells. He defeated three top 10 ranked playersFernando González, (2003 French Open Champion and former world no. 1)Juan Carlos Ferrero, andTommy Robredo at Indian Wells and later teamed withAndy Roddick in Washington, D.C., to defeat the no. 1 ranked doubles team ofBob and Mike Bryan. During the year he also posted wins overMichael Chang andVince Spadea. Vahaly was the only college graduate in the top 100 in the world and was recognized byPeople magazine in its issue of the 25 Hottest Bachelors. In March 2003, he reached his career high singles ranking of world no. 57.
In 2004-2007, Vahaly spent most of the year on the ATP circuit playing events in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Newport, Houston, Indian Wells, San Jose, Adelaide, and theAustralian Open (losing to finalistMarat Safin).
Vahaly played his last tournament at the U.S. Open losing toJuan Martín del Potro. After the tournament, Vahaly revealed that the shoulder injury had plagued him for some time. On September 7, 2007, Brian underwent surgery to repair several tears to his rightrotator cuff. He had two additional surgeries later that year.
In November 2007, Vahaly announced his retirement from professional tennis on his website. He had three shoulder surgeries from 2006 to 2007. He moved to Washington, D.C., to work for a private equity fund. In 2013, Vahaly began serving on the USTA board of directors and then became the chief operating officer at two different venture capital firms, Venturehouse Group and NextGen Venture Partners.[2] Vahaly has recently elected to serve as the Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA and US Open for the 2025-2026 term.[citation needed]. He is also currently a Senior Advisor at Brown Advisory.
Vahaly came out asgay in 2017 in a podcast.[3] He is married to Bill Jones, with whom he is raising two twin boys.[4] He is one of very fewout male professional tennis players, and the first gay man to publicly come out after playing on the ATP Tour.[5]
United States
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