South African tennis player
Neville Godwin (born 31 January 1975) is atennis coach and a former professional player from South Africa. He has won one singles title (2001Newport) in his career, and reached his highest individual ranking on theATP Tour in March 1997, when he became World No. 90. His highest ranking in doubles was World No. 57.
Professional career
[edit]Godwin turned professional in 1994.
At the1996 Wimbledon tournament, Godwin had his best finish at a Grand Slam, when he reached the fourth round as a qualifier, defeatingCristiano Caratti, compatriotGrant Stafford andBoris Becker before losing toAlex Rădulescu.
Godwin retired in 2003.
He now lives in his hometown of Johannesburg with his wife, Nicky and two sons, Oliver and James. He coached performance players out of the Wanderers Club for 5 years, before coaching South African playerKevin Anderson to a world top 10 ranking and a US Open final appearance in 2017. In 2017, he won ATP Coach of the Year award. On 12 November 2017, it was announced Godwin and Anderson had split.
He came into limelight again during the Australian Open 2018 whenHyeon Chung, who was being coached by Godwin became the first player from South Korea to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam slam.
He currently coachesAlexei Popyrin.
Junior Grand Slam finals
[edit]Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
[edit]Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
[edit]| Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) | | ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) | | ATP Masters Series (0–0) | | ATP Championship Series (0–0) | | ATP World Series (1–1) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (0–0) | | Clay (0–0) | | Grass (1–1) | | Carpet (0–0) |
| | Finals by setting |
|---|
| Outdoors (1–1) | | Indoors (0–0) |
|
Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)
[edit]| Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) | | ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) | | ATP Masters Series (0–0) | | ATP Championship Series (0–1) | | ATP World Series (0–2) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (0–2) | | Clay (0–1) | | Grass (0–0) | | Carpet (0–0) |
| | Finals by setting |
|---|
| Outdoors (0–3) | | Indoors (0–0) |
|
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
[edit]| Legend |
|---|
| ATP Challenger (2–7) | | ITF Futures (0–0) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (2–4) | | Clay (0–0) | | Grass (0–2) | | Carpet (0–1) |
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Dec 1997 | Eilat, Israel | Challenger | Hard | Tuomas Ketola | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | May 1998 | Jerusalem, Israel | Challenger | Hard | Gabriel Trifu | 6–4, 7–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | May 1999 | Jerusalem, Israel | Challenger | Hard | Lior Mor | 5–7, 7–5, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Jul 1999 | Manchester, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass | Igor Gaudi | 6–7, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1–4 | Aug 1999 | Istanbul, Turkey | Challenger | Hard | Vadim Kutsenko | 4–6, 6–7(3–7) |
| Win | 2–4 | Nov 2000 | Las Vegas, United States | Challenger | Hard | Cristiano Caratti | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–5 | Jun 2001 | Surbiton, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass | Taylor Dent | 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 2–6 |
| Loss | 2–6 | Mar 2002 | Hamburg, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Raemon Sluiter | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2–7 | Jan 2003 | Waikoloa, United States | Challenger | Hard | Robby Ginepri | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Legend |
|---|
| ATP Challenger (11–7) | | ITF Futures (0–0) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (7–7) | | Clay (1–0) | | Grass (1–0) | | Carpet (2–0) |
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Aug 1994 | Binghamton, United States | Challenger | Hard | Scott Sigerseth | David Di Lucia
Chris Woodruff | 6–4, 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | May 1995 | Bombay, India | Challenger | Hard | David Nainkin | Byron Black
Wayne Black | 2–6, 6–7 |
| Win | 1–2 | May 1996 | Jerusalem, Israel | Challenger | Hard | Leander Paes | Noam Behr
Eyal Ran | 7–6, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Jul 1996 | Aptos, United States | Challenger | Hard | Geoff Grant | Sébastien Leblanc
Jocelyn Robichaud | 6–7, 7–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 1–4 | May 1998 | Jerusalem, Israel | Challenger | Hard | David Nainkin | Noam Behr
Eyal Erlich | walkover |
| Win | 2–4 | Nov 1998 | Brest, France | Challenger | Hard | Marcos Ondruska | Justin Gimelstob
Brian Macphie | 6–4, 5–7, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–5 | May 1999 | Jerusalem, Israel | Challenger | Hard | Barry Cowan | Tuomas Ketola
Jeff Coetzee | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 3–5 | Jul 1999 | Manchester, United Kingdom | Challenger | Grass | Jeff Coetzee | Jamie Delgado
Martin Lee | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | 3–6 | Aug 1999 | Istanbul, Turkey | Challenger | Hard | Jeff Coetzee | Gouichi Motomura
Oleg Ogorodov | 2–6, 6–2, 2–6 |
| Win | 4–6 | Oct 1999 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong | Challenger | Hard | Michael Hill | Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan | 3–6, 7–5, 7–6 |
| Win | 5–6 | Feb 2000 | Hull, United Kingdom | Challenger | Carpet | Barry Cowan | Julian Knowle
Stefano Pescosolido | 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 6–6 | Mar 2000 | Singapore, Singapore | Challenger | Hard | Michael Hill | Nathan Healey
Paul Hanley | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 7–6 | Mar 2000 | Hamilton, New Zealand | Challenger | Hard | Michael Hill | Michael Joyce
Jim Thomas | 7–6(7–4), 6–4 |
| Win | 8–6 | May 2000 | Jerusalem, Israel | Challenger | Hard | Kevin Ullyett | Noam Behr
Eyal Ran | 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3) |
| Loss | 8–7 | Aug 2001 | Segovia, Spain | Challenger | Hard | Marcos Ondruska | Wesley Moodie
Shaun Rudman | 6–7(5–7), 3–6 |
| Win | 9–7 | Nov 2001 | Eckental, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | George Bastl | Yves Allegro
Marcus Hilpert | 6–4, 4–6, 7–5 |
| Win | 10–7 | Apr 2002 | Tarzana, United States | Challenger | Hard | George Bastl | Brandon Coupe
Kevin Kim | 6–3, 4–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 11–7 | Apr 2002 | Paget, Bermuda | Challenger | Clay | George Bastl | Ramón Delgado
Alexandre Simoni | 7–6(10–8), 6–3 |
Performance timelines
[edit](W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.