Wayne Arthurs (tennis)

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Wayne Arthurs
Country Australia
Residence Melbourne, Australia
Date of birth March 18, 1971
Place of birth Adelaide, Australia
Height 6'3" (190 cm)
Weight 177 lbs (80 kg)
Turned Pro 1990
Plays Left, One-handed backhand
Career Prize Money $3,565,838
Singles
Career record: 129-157
Career titles: 1
Highest ranking: 44 (July 9, 2001)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 3rd (2001,2007)
French Open 4th (2001)
Wimbledon 4th (1999, 2002)
U.S. Open 4th (2000)
Doubles
Career record: 310-249
Career titles: 12
Highest ranking: 11 (November 3, 2003)

Wayne Arthurs (b. March 18, 1971 in Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian professional tennis player. He is currently 151st in the ATP rankings.

Arthurs is left-handed and uses a one-handed backhand.

Arthurs (left) with partner and compatriot Peter Luczak during their first round mens doubles match at the 2007 Australian Open.
Arthurs (left) with partner and compatriot Peter Luczak during their first round mens doubles match at the 2007 Australian Open.

His serve is his strongest weapon by far, and has been referred to as the "best in the world" by several of his fellow players, including Jim Courier [1], Andre Agassi [2], and Thomas Johansson [3]. He consistently has one of the highest ace counts on the ATP Tour and favors a serve-and-volley style of play. Because of this, his game is best suited to fast surfaces.

A doubles specialist, Arthurs has won 12 ATP doubles titles in his career. In February of 2005 he achieved a belated breakthrough in singles by winning the ATP event in Scottsdale, USA, the Tennis Channel Open, in straight sets over Croat Mario Ancic. No other player in history has won his first ATP singles title at such an advanced age (Arthurs was almost 34 at the time). He also was a runnner up there for doubles with Paul Hanley, and lost to American team Bob and Mike Bryan. He is an Australian hero when it comes to Davis Cup, winning countless doubles rubbers for Australia.

In his last ever Australian Open match the Aussie retired just 3 games into his third round match against American Mardy Fish due to a rare reaction to a local anaesthetic. In practice that morning he tried out a short term local anasthetic that worked well against his sore hip. Just before the match began, he took another shot that was supposed to last for the duration of the match. Unfortunately, the stronger dose deadened his leg and he could not coordinate his movements. He refused to blame his doctors who said that this adverse reaction happens to about 1 in 1000 patients. Arthurs became emotional during the match once he realized he couldn't compete. After the in between game break down 3-0 he waved to the crowd who thanked him for an outstanding career. It is unclear, but likely, that the match was the last of his career. At the time, he was the oldest participant in the Australian Open.

He was referred to as the The Wayne Train by Adam & Wil on Triple J during sports reports.

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