Jay Berger

Jay Berger (born November 26, 1966, in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He won three singles and one doubles title on the ATP Tour and reached his career-high singles ranking of World No. 7 in April 1990.

Tennis career

Berger was the USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion in 1985.. He also won the 1985 Florida State Junior Championship. He had the best finish of any reigning Boys’ 18s National Champion at the US Open during the Open Era when he reached the 4th round in 1985.

College career

Berger was an All-American at Clemson University in 1985 and 1986, where he recorded a 91–22 singles record in two seasons. His 80.5% career winning percentage in singles play places 3rd all-time at Clemson.

Pro tennis career

Berger turned professional in 1986. He played on the tour from 1986–91.

He won his first top-level singles title in 1986 at Buenos Aires. In 1988, he captured both the singles and doubles titles at São Paulo. In March he upset world # 2 Mats Wilander, 6–0, 7–5, in Orlando, Florida. In March 1989 Berger upset world # 3 Boris Becker, 6–1, 6–1, in Indian Wells. In May he upset world # 3 Mats Wilander, 6–3, 6–4, in Rome. In August Berger beat world # 3 Stefan Edberg, 6–4, 6–2, at Indianapolis.

In 1989, Berger reached the quarterfinals at both the French Open and the US Open. He also won the third tour singles title of his career that year at Charleston, South Carolina. Berger was runner-up at the Canadian Open in 1990.

He retired from the professional tour in 1991. Chronic knee injuries forced his retirement.

During his career, Berger won three top-level singles titles and one tour doubles title. He registered victories over Becker, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and Wilander.

Davis Cup

Berger represented the United States in Davis Cup play in 1988 and 1990, and went undefeated in two singles matches.^[1]

Halls of Fame and Awards

Berger was inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame in 1993. He was inducted into the Greater Miami-Dade Hall of Fame in 2001. He was also voted "Sportsman of the Year" by the Olympic Committee in 1985, and "Junior Player of the Year" by TENNIS Magazine in 1985.

Coaching career

Berger went on to become an assistant coach at Florida International University, where he resumed his studies and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Sports Management in 1994. Berger was the Head Men’s and Women’s tennis coach at the University of Miami, and a USTA National Coach. He was the Big East Coach of the Year for two consecutive years, after leading the Hurricanes to the tennis conference championships in 2000 and 2001.

Berger rejoined the USTA Player Development staff in January 2003 as a National Coach for men's tennis.^[2] He currently coaches Ryan Harrison.

Personal life

He and his wife Nadia reside on Key Biscayne, and have four children: daughter Alexandra, and sons Daniel, Jonathan, and Noah.

Grand Prix and ATP Tour finals (9)

Singles champion (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	November 10, 1986	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Franco Davín	6–3, 6–3
2.	October 31, 1988	São Paulo, Brazil	Hard	Horacio de la Peña	6–4, 6–4
3.	May 8, 1989	Charleston, USA	Clay	Duncan Lawson	6–4, 6–3

Singles finalist (4)

• 1987: Buenos Aires (lost to Guillermo Pérez Roldán)
• 1989: Indianapolis (lost to John McEnroe)
• 1989: Itaparica (lost to Martín Jaite)
• 1990: Toronto (lost to Michael Chang)

Doubles champion (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
2.	October 31, 1988	São Paulo, Brazil	Hard	Horacio de la Peña	Ricardo Acuña Javier Sánchez	5–7, 6–4, 6–3

Doubles finalist (1)

• 1987: Buenos Aires (with Horacio de la Peña, lost to Tomás Carbonell/Sergio Casal)

See also

• List of select Jewish tennis players

References

External links

• Jay Berger at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Jay Berger at the Davis Cup
• USTA bio
• Jews in Sports bio