| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bradenton, Florida |
| Born | April 24, 1981 Newport Beach, California |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Turned pro | 1998 |
| Retired | November 8, 2010 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Career prize money | $2,504,287 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 148–137 (at ATP Tour-level, Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 4 |
| Highest ranking | No. 21 (August 8, 2005) |
| Grand Slam results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2002, 2004, 2005) |
| French Open | 2R (2010) |
| Wimbledon | 4R (2005) |
| US Open | 4R (2003) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 16–37 (at ATP Tour-level, Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | 170 (August 20, 2001) |
| Last updated on: August 31, 2010. | |
Taylor Phillip Dent (born April 24, 1981) is a retired professional tennis player from the United States.
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He won 4 ATP singles titles during his career: 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 comprehensibly beat future world #1 Andy Roddick in the final.
Dent played with distinction at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he made a push all the way to the semifinals, where he was defeated by eventual gold medalist Nicolás Massú of Chile. He went on to lose the bronze medal match 16-14 in the 3rd set against Fernando González of Chile.
Dent, paired with Lisa Raymond, won the 2006 Hopman Cup, defeating the Netherlands two sets to one in the final.
In 2006 Dent did not play very 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 to Cecil 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 against Frédéric Niemeyer 6–3 7–6(3). He followed this win up by defeating number 2 seed and fellow American Robert Kendrick. In the third round Dent had to withdraw against Sam Warburg.
Using his protected ranking of 56, Dent played the 2009 Australian Open, where he was eliminated in the first round by Amer Delic.
As a qualifier, he reached the fourth round of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, defeating Nicolás Almagro and Tommy Robredo in the process. He lost to Roger 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 8 break point opportunities. He had a poor run of form following this, but reversed the poor form by qualifying for Wimbledon, having entered the qualifying via a wildcard. He won his way through to the main draw, where he lost to Daniel 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, upsetting Feliciano López 4–6, 7–6, 6–3, 7–5. He advanced to the third round after upsetting Iván Navarro in the second round 6–4, 5–7, 6–7, 7–5, 7–6. Following the match, he took the umpire microphone and thank the crowd for support, following it with a victory lap around the stadium. In the third round, he was beaten by Andy Murray 6–3, 6–2, 6–2.
Following the US Open, Dent won the USTA Challenger of Oklahoma in Tulsa.
In his opening event of the 2010 season, he entered the main draw at the 2010 Australian Open. He defeated Fabio Fognini 6–1, 6–2, 6–2 in the first round and moved onto face the ten seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, to whom he lost.
On May 25, 2010, in Roland Garros, against Nicolás Lapentti, Dent served at 240 km/h and set a new tournament record that Fernando Verdasco and Andy Roddick had held before him (with 232 km/h). Additionally, at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships on June 23, 2010, Dent set a record with the fastest serve ever recorded at the Wimbledon tournament at 148 mph.
On Monday 8 November 2010, Taylor Dent announced his retirement from professional tennis.[1]
Unusual for a contemporary tennis player, Dent favors a pure serve-and-volley style of play. He possesses a powerful serve and strong volleys. He is the owner of the fourth fastest serve in the world, at a velocity of 243 km/h. Andy Roddick, Ivo Karlović, Roscoe Tanner and Joachim Johansson are the only four players to have served faster. At Wimbledon 2010 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 former ATP player and 1974 Australian Open finalist Phil Dent. Taylor's mother, Betty Ann (Grubb) Stuart, who has remarried, reached the U.S. Open doubles final in 1977 with Renée Richards. Grubb was a former Top 10 singles player in United States.
Dent's stepbrother, Brett Hansen-Dent (born July 2, 1972), played on ATP circuit for a short time after playing on the tennis team of the University of Southern California and reaching singles final of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship. Dent's godfather is the former top ten player, John 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 the top pro volleyball players in the world, and she and her teammates won the gold medals at both the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Dent appeared in a American TV commercial for the insurance company Genworth Financial as the opponent of a boy playing the role of Jaden Agassi, the young son of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.
Dent attended Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, Calif., and he was on the interscholastic tennis team there. Dent also attended the Monte Vista High School, in Northern California. From high school, Dent moved on to the University of Southern California, where he was also on the men's tennis team.
On December 8, 2006, Dent married the female WTA Tour player, Jennifer Hopkins. Their wedding party included Maria Sharapova, Nick Bollettieri, Jan-Michael Gambill, Tommy Haas, and Mashona Washington. Taylor and Jenny gave birth to a baby boy on January 26, 2010, named Declan.
Taylor was a color commentator on The Tennis Channel for the U.S. Open in 2006, along with the announcer Tim Ryan, and Dent was invited back to the U.S. Open in 2007 to do both commentating and to host the "Off-Court Spotlight with Taylor Dent" series of interviews. Taylor is again working with The Tennis Channel for the U.S. Open in 2011.
Dent has a tattoo of the American flag and of the Australian flag on his right shoulder.
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| Outcome | No. | Date (Final) | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 7 July 2002 | Newport, United States | Grass | James Blake | 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Winner | 2. | 17 February 2003 | Memphis, United States | Hard (i) | Andy Roddick | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Winner | 3. | 22 September 2003 | Bangkok, Thailand | Hard (i) | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 6–3, 7–6(5) |
| Winner | 4. | 29 September 2003 | Moscow, Russia | Carpet (i) | Sargis Sargsian | 7–6(5), 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 10 October 2004 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Jiří Novák | 7–5, 1–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 9 January 2005 | Adelaide, Australia | Hard | Joachim Johansson | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 24 July 2005 | Indianapolis, United States | Hard | Robby Ginepri | 6–4, 3–6, 0–3, ret. |
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| Outcome | No. | Date (Final) | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 19 September 2004 | Beijing, China | Hard | Alex Bogomolov Jr. | Justin Gimelstob Graydon Oliver |
6–4, 4–6, (6)6–7 |
| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Career W-L | Career Win % | Career SR |
| Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | 3R | 3R | 1R | A | A | 1R | 2R | 7–6 | 57.14 | 0/6 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1–3 | 25.00 | 0/3 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 4R | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 9–8 | 52.94 | 0/8 |
| US Open | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 2R | 3R | A | A | A | 3R | 2R | 11–10 | 52.38 | 0/10 |
| Win-Loss | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 4–4 | 28–27 | 50.90 | N/A |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 | ||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | 4R | 4R | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 7–7 | 50.00 | 0/7 |
| Miami | A | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | 2R | QF | A | A | A | 4R | 2R | 10–6 | 62.50 | 0/6 |
| Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1–2 | 33.33 | 0/2 |
| Rome | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | 00.00 | 0/0 |
| Madrid | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 3–2 | 60.00 | 0/2 |
| Hamburg | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NMS | 0–0 | 00.00 | 0/0 | |
| Toronto / Montreal | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 3–2 | 60.00 | 0/2 |
| Cincinnati | A | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 2R | 4–6 | 40.00 | 0/6 |
| Shanghai | NMS | YEC | NMS | YEC | A | 0–0 | 00.00 | 0/0 | ||||||||
| Paris | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | 1–2 | 33.33 | 0/2 | |
| Career Statistics | ||||||||||||||||
| Year | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Total | ||
| ATP Finals Reached | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Runner-ups | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Year End Ranking | 410 | 227 | 181 | 124 | 57 | 33 | 32 | 29 | 574 | N/A | 865 | 76 | N/A | |||
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