Jim Grabb

Jim Grabb (born April 14, 1964) is an American former professional tennis player.

Grabb was twice ranked the World No. 1 doubles player, in 1989 and in 1993. A right-handed serve-and-volleyer, Grabb's best singles ranking was World No. 24, a ranking he achieved in February 1990.

Tennis career

College

Grabb is Jewish, and was born in Tucson, Arizona.^[1] Grabb was from 1984 to 1986 a 3-time doubles and 2-time singles All-American, helping Stanford University win the NCAA title in 1986 and finish runner-up in 1984. He was an economics major at Stanford, and credited going to college with helping him become a better doubles players: "When you take it seriously, you work on some things. You polish some skills. I think you come out with a little bit of an advantage."^[2]

In 1986 he won the Rafael Osuna Award, given annually by college coaches to the player who most embodies the qualities of competitiveness and sportsmanship, and who has made a significant contribution to the game.^[3]

Professional career

Grabb nabbed his first career singles title in 1987 by defeating Andre Agassi at a tournament in Seoul, Korea.

He won two doubles Grand Slam events, the 1989 French Open (with Patrick McEnroe) and the 1992 U.S. Open (with Richey Reneberg). In total, he captured 23 doubles tour titles (out of 26 finals).

He won two tour singles titles, the 1987 Seoul and the 1992 Taipei Grand Prix events. His best showing in a Grand Slam event was 4th round appearance in the 1989 U.S. Open. He had career singles wins over Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, and Mats Wilander.

Grabb won the Men's 35 Senior Doubles with his tennis partner, Richey Reneberg, at the 2002 and 2003 U.S. Open.^[4][5]

Davis Cup

He was a member of the 1993 United States Davis Cup team.^[6]

Hall of Fame

The Northern California section of the USTA inducted Grabb into its Hall of Fame in 2006.^[3]

Grand Slam men's doubles finals (3)

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1989	French Open	Patrick McEnroe	Mansour Bahrami Eric Winogradsky	6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(5)
1992	U.S. Open	Richey Reneberg	Kelly Jones Rick Leach	3–6, 7–6(2), 6–3, 6–3

Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1992	Wimbledon	Richey Reneberg	John McEnroe Michael Stich	7–5, 6–7(5), 6–3, 6–7(5), 17–19

Grand Prix, ATP Tour, and Grand Slam doubles finals (50)

Titles (23)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	April 27, 1987	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Ken Flach	Eric Korita Mike Leach	7–6, 1–6, 5–7
Winner	1.	October 5, 1987	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Patrick McEnroe	Glenn Layendecker Todd Witsken	6–2, 0–6, 6–4
Runner-up	2.	October 26, 1987	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Sammy Giammalva Jr.	Broderick Dyke Tom Nijssen	3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	November 9, 1987	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Jim Pugh	Stefan Edberg Anders Järryd	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	4.	January 11, 1988	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Sammy Giammalva Jr.	Marty Davis Tim Pawsat	3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	April 25, 1988	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Gary Donnelly	Andrew Castle Roberto Saad	7–6, 4–6, 6–7
Runner-up	6.	August 22, 1988	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Patrick McEnroe	Rick Leach Jim Pugh	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	7.	September 26, 1988	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Peter Doohan	John McEnroe Mark Woodforde	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	8.	October 31, 1988	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet	Christo van Rensburg	Paul Annacone John Fitzgerald	2–6, 2–6
Winner	2.	November 7, 1988	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Kevin Curren	Paul Annacone John Fitzgerald	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	9.	April 3, 1989	Miami, U.S.	Hard	Patrick McEnroe	Jakob Hlasek Anders Järryd	3–6, ret.
Winner	3.	June 12, 1989	French Open, Paris	Clay	Patrick McEnroe	Mansour Bahrami Eric Winogradsky	6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6
Runner-up	10.	July 31, 1989	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Hard	Patrick McEnroe	Neil Broad Gary Muller	7–6, 6–7, 4–6
Winner	4.	December 10, 1989	Masters Doubles, London	Carpet	Patrick McEnroe	John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd	7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–3
Runner-up	11.	March 12, 1990	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Patrick McEnroe	Boris Becker Guy Forget	6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	12.	May 14, 1990	Kiawah Island, U.S.	Clay	Leonardo Lavalle	Scott Davis David Pate	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	13.	June 18, 1990	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Patrick McEnroe	Jakob Hlasek Michael Stich	6–7, 3–6
Runner-up	14.	October 22, 1990	Lyon, France	Carpet	David Pate	Patrick Galbraith Kelly Jones	6–7, 4–6
Winner	5.	November 12, 1990	Wembley, England	Carpet	Patrick McEnroe	Rick Leach Jim Pugh	7–6, 4–6, 6–3
Winner	6.	October 7, 1991	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Richey Reneberg	Luke Jensen Laurie Warder	6–4, 6–4
Winner	7.	October 14, 1991	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Richey Reneberg	Scott Davis David Pate	7–5, 2–6, 7–6
Winner	8.	January 13, 1992	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	Grant Connell Glenn Michibata	6–4, 6–3
Winner	9.	February 10, 1992	San Francisco, U.S.	Hard (i)	Richey Reneberg	Pieter Aldrich Danie Visser	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	15.	February 24, 1992	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Richey Reneberg	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	4–6, 6–7
Winner	10.	April 20, 1992	Hong Kong	Hard	Brad Gilbert	Byron Black Byron Talbot	6–2, 6–1
Winner	11.	June 15, 1992	Rosmalen, Netherlands	Grass	Richey Reneberg	John McEnroe Michael Stich	6–4, 6–7, 6–4
Runner-up	16.	July 6, 1992	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Richey Reneberg	John McEnroe Michael Stich	7–5, 6–7, 6–3, 6–7, 17–19
Winner	12.	August 24, 1992	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Richey Reneberg	Grant Connell Glenn Michibata	7–6, 6–2
Winner	13.	September 14, 1992	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Richey Reneberg	Kelly Jones Rick Leach	3–6, 7–6, 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	17.	October 12, 1992	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Richey Reneberg	Patrick McEnroe Jonathan Stark	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	18.	October 19, 1992	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Richey Reneberg	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–7, 4–6
Winner	14.	February 22, 1993	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Richey Reneberg	Marcos Ondruska Brad Pearce	6–7, 6–3, 6–0
Runner-up	19.	February 14, 1994	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Jared Palmer	Byron Black Jonathan Stark	6–7, 4–6
Runner-up	20.	February 21, 1994	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Jared Palmer	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	3–6, 4–6
Winner	15.	April 18, 1994	Hong Kong	Hard	Brett Steven	Jonas Björkman Patrick Rafter	W/O
Runner-up	21.	August 22, 1994	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Richey Reneberg	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	3–6, 4–6
Winner	16.	February 13, 1995	San Jose, U.S.	Hard (i)	Patrick McEnroe	Alex O'Brien Sandon Stolle	3–6, 7–5, 6–0
Winner	17.	February 27, 1995	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Jonathan Stark	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	7–6, 6–7, 6–3
Runner-up	22.	March 27, 1995	Miami, U.S.	Hard	Patrick McEnroe	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	3–6, 6–7
Winner	18.	October 16, 1995	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Jared Palmer	Kent Kinnear David Wheaton	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	23.	November 6, 1995	Paris, France	Carpet	Todd Martin	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	24.	February 5, 1996	Shanghai, China	Carpet	Michael Tebbutt	Mark Knowles Roger Smith	6–4, 2–6, 6–7
Winner	19.	August 19, 1996	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Richey Reneberg	Petr Korda Cyril Suk	7–6, 4–6, 6–4
Winner	20.	October 7, 1996	Lyon, France	Carpet	Richey Reneberg	Neil Broad Piet Norval	6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	25.	October 6, 1997	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet	Karsten Braasch	Tim Henman Marc Rosset	6–7, 7–6, 6–7
Winner	21.	March 2, 1998	London, England	Carpet	Martin Damm	Yevgeny Kafelnikov Daniel Vacek	6–4, 7–5
Winner	22.	May 25, 1998	St. Poelten, Austria	Clay	David Macpherson	David Adams Wayne Black	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	26.	July 27, 1998	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Joshua Eagle	Olivier Delaître Fabrice Santoro	1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner	23.	August 10, 1998	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Martin Damm	Ellis Ferreira Rick Leach	6–7, 6–2, 7–6
Runner-up	27.	February 21, 2000	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Richey Reneberg	Justin Gimelstob Sébastien Lareau	2–6, 4–6

Doubles performance timeline in major tournaments

A = did not attend tournament
NH = tournament not held

Grand Prix and ATP Tour singles finals (3)

Titles (2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	April 27, 1987	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Andre Agassi	1–6, 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	1.	July 23, 1990	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	1–6, 4–6
Winner	2.	October 26, 1992	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Jamie Morgan	6–3, 6–3

Miscellaneous

• In 2000, Sports Illustrated ranked Grabb 17th among Arizona's 50 Greatest Sports Figures of the 20th century.

Grabb was the Vice President of ATP Tour Player Council and doubles representative in 1998–99.

Grabb married Sarah Stenn in 2002 in California. While on tour he resided, at least for a time, in Hermosa Beach, California.^[7]

See also

• List of select Jewish tennis players

References

External links

• Jim Grabb at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Jim Grabb at the Davis Cup
• NWHC bio
• Jews in Sports bio