Robert Kendrick
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Robert Kendrick (born November 15, 1979 in Fresno, California) is an American tennis player. He turned professional in 1999.
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[edit] 2006
[edit] 2006 ATP Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
Kendrick got to the second round, playing fellow countrymen in both of his matches. He defeated Kevin Kim 6-4 7-5 in the first round, but lost to the eighth seed Vincent Spadea 6-4 6-1 in his second round match.
[edit] 2006 Wimbledon Championships
Kendrick went into the Gentlemen's Singles tournament ranked 237th in the world. His first match was on the second day of the Championships; Tuesday June 27. It was on Court 9, and he beat Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei 7-65 6-3 6-0.
The fourth day of the Championships (Thursday June 29) was one of the highlights of Kendrick's career. In the second round, he lost to the second seed, Rafael Nadal on Centre Court. The Spaniard had to come back for only the second time in his career from two sets down to beat Kendrick in five sets (6-74 3-6 7-62 7-5 6-4). This performance at SW19 commanded much respect. Kendrick played a serve and volley style of play, winning over several pundits and viewers alike. Many consider him to be unfortunate not to have won because at 5 games to 4 and 30-15 up in the 3rd set with Nadal serving, a dubious line call went against him which would have meant 40-15 and two match points. As it was, Nadal went on to win the set in a tie-break and then the match. Kendrick's serving impressed many, as he served twenty-eight aces, compared to Nadal's seven. After the match, a commentator for BBC Sport exclaimed that it was "the match of the tournament so far". Kendrick was the only player in the tournament to take sets off Nadal on the Spaniard's route to the final, where he lost to the number one seed; Switzerland's Roger Federer, who beat Nadal 6-0 7-65 6-72 6-3 in the final.
[edit] 2006 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tenis Championships
Shortly after his experience at the Grand Slam, Kendrick was back in action in his home country, to take part in the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tenis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. He made it to the quarter-final on Friday July 14, but was beaten convincingly by British sensation Andrew Murray 6-0 6-0.
He made amends for the defeat by winning the doubles title on Sunday July 16, with his Austrian playing partner Jürgen Melzer. In the final, the duo beat South African Jeff Coetzee and the unfortunate American Justin Gimelstob, who also lost the singles final on the same day.
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