Jason Goodall
| Country |
 Great Britain |
|---|---|
| Residence | London, Surrey |
| Born |
23 January 1967 Yorkshire, England |
| Height | 6'1" (185 cm) |
| Turned pro | 1984 |
| Retired | 1990 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Prize money | $28,921 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 0–5 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 240 (3 April 1989) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | Q2 (1985, 1987) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (1985, 1988) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 0–7 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 248 (3 April 1989) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 1R (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990) |
| Mixed Doubles | |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 1R (1989) |
Jason Goodall (born 23 January 1967) is a British former professional tennis player.[1]
Early years
Goodall started playing tennis in Zambia, Central Africa, when he was nine years old. Upon returning to the UK three years later he was chosen to represent Great Britain at under-12 level and continued to do so throughout his junior career up to, and including, under-21 level. He was a silver medalist in doubles at the under-14 European Championships and went on to compete in all of the junior Grand Slam events on several occasions in both singles and doubles.
Tour career
Goodall, aged 18, was given a wild card entry into the 1985 Wimbledon Championships, where he met seventh seed Joakim Nyström in the first round.[2] He was beaten by the Swede in four sets.[2] His only other appearance in the singles draw at Wimbledon was in 1988, when he lost in straight sets to Italian qualifier Diego Nargiso.[2] He participated in the Wimbledon men's doubles every year from 1986 to 1990.[2]
He and partner Peter Wright were doubles runner-up at the Dublin Challenger tournament in 1987.[2]
Goodall was ranked as high as British No. 2 as a senior and was also national senior doubles champion. He was also chosen as part of the British team in two Davis Cup ties in 1989; away against Finland which Britain won 4–1 and at home against Argentina, which the hosts lost 3–2.
Coaching
At the age of 21 he retired due to a chronic elbow injury and he turned to coaching (though he still played occasionally on the tour up until the 1990 Wimbledon Championships), working initially with 21-times Grand Slam doubles champion Pam Shriver. Whilst doing so, she made the final of the US Open doubles in 1989 with Mary Joe Fernandez, only to lose to Navratilova and Hana Mandlíková, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6. Then he worked with former World No. 4 Fernandez and was coaching her when she made the singles and doubles finals at the Australian Open in 1990. Fernandez was beaten, 3–6, 4–6, by Steffi Graf in the singles, and then she teamed up with American Patty Fendick in doubles, losing 6–7, 6–7 to top seeds Jana Novotná and Helena Suková in the final.
Goodall then worked with various other players on the WTA Tour including former World No. 25 Betsy Nagelsen and former World No. 1s Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Jennifer Capriati as both coach and hitting partner before taking a position as International Squad Coach at the Lawn Tennis Association in London. As a fully qualified coach, he then worked with the best juniors in the country, both male and female, and oversaw their transition from the junior ranks to senior professionals.
Goodall was selected as Great Britain Fed Cup coach in 1995.
He also worked with former World No. 4 Tim Henman in the off-seasons at various stages throughout Henman's career, and also travelled as his coach when his regular coach David Felgate was unavailable.
Media
In 2000 Goodall then started to pursue off-court work and began television commentary, writing and producing at various tennis events around the world and continues to do so. He has had articles published in various newspapers including The Times and the Wall Street Journal, and currently commentates (often as part of a commentating duo alongside Robbie Koenig) for various broadcasters including the BBC, International Eurosport, the Tennis Channel and Al Jazeera along with work for both the ATP and WTA Tours at various events throughout the tennis season.
Goodall is well known as a lead commentator, also known as the play-by-play commentator in North America, but he is also well-respected within the game as the colour commentator too or in the role of analyst, where his area of expertise is technical and tactical analysis, often using Hawk-eye as a tool with which to enlighten viewers as to what might prove crucial in determining the outcome of matches.
In 2015, Goodall joined ESPN to provide commentary during their tennis broadcasts, starting with the Australian Open.