Alex Kim
Alex Kim (born December 20, 1978) is a professional tennis player from the United States.[1]
| Country (sports) | United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Delray Beach, Florida |
| Born | December 20, 1978 Silver Spring, Maryland United States |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Turned pro | 2000 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Prize money | $281,041 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 8–26 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 106 (June 10, 2002) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2002) |
| French Open | 1R (2003) |
| US Open | 1R (2000, 2002, 2003) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 0–5 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 264 (October 20, 2003) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| US Open | 1R (2002, 2003) |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's tennis | ||
| Representing United States | ||
| Pan American Games | ||
| 2003 Santo Domingo | Men's singles | |
Early career
In the 1996 US Open, Kim and Mexico's Mariano Sánchez made the boys' doubles semi-finals, where they lost to the Bryan brothers.[2]
He began playing collegiate tennis in 1998, for Stanford University.[3] The American was a member of the championship winning Stanford sides of 1998 and 2000.[3] In the latter year, he also won the NCAA Division 1 singles title and was an All-American.[3] He and teammate Geoff Abrams formed the top-ranked doubles team in the nation in 2000, and were named the ITA National Doubles Team of the Year.[4] He was inducted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.[5]
ATP Tour
Given a wildcard entry, Kim made his first Grand Slam appearance in 2000, at the US Open.[3] He had the misfortune of being drawn against world number one Andre Agassi in the first round and lost in straight sets.[3] In June 2000, he won the doubles title with Geoff Abrams at the USTA Chandler Cup Futures.[6]
The next time that he played in a Grand Slam event, the 2002 Australian Open, he put in the best performance of his career, starting with an opening round win over Davide Sanguinetti.[3] Despite being ranked outside of the world's top 200, Kim managed to defeat fourth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the second round, without dropping a set.[7] In the third round, he was eliminated by the only other qualifier remaining in the draw, Fernando Gonzalez.[3]
He also played at the US Open in 2002, but lost in the first round to Greg Rusedski.[3] In Washington's Legg Mason Tennis Classic that year, he claimed a win over another big name player, 10th seed Todd Martin.[3] He was unable to get past Jarkko Nieminen in the round of 16.[3]
In 2003, he played in three Grand Slam tournaments, but lost in the opening round of each.[3] He was beaten by Scott Draper in the Australian Open, squandered a two set lead in losing to Mark Philippoussis in the French Open and was defeated by Younes El Aynaoui in the US Open.[3]
Kim was a joint bronze medalist in the men's singles event at the 2003 Pan American Games, which were held in the Dominican Republic. He lost in the semi-finals to Marcelo Rios, in a match decided by two tiebreaks.[8]
As a doubles player, Kim competed in the 2002 US Open with Kevin Kim (who is of no relation) and with Jeff Salzenstein in the 2003 US Open.[3] He and his partner lost in the first round of each.[3]
Challenger titles
Singles: (3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2001 | Kerrville, United States | Hard | Mardy Fish | 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 |
| 2. | 2002 | Birmingham, United States | Clay | Cecil Mamiit | 7–6(11–9), 6–2 |
| 3. | 2003 | Fresno, United States | Hard | Jeff Morrison | 7–5, 7–6(8–6) |
Doubles: (1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2003 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Hyung-Taik Lee | Alex Bogomolov, Jr. Jeff Salzenstein | 1–6, 6–1, 6–4 |
References
- ^ ITF Pro Circuit Profile
- ^ ITF Junior Profile
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n ATP World Tour Profile
- ^ "Cunha, Hemmeler Named ITA Doubles Team of the Year". GoDuke.com. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
- ^ "Alex Kim". Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. March 19, 2012. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.
- ^ Dasher, Anthony (May 19, 2001). "Soft-spoken standout". Online Athens. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
- ^ The Guardian, "Kafelnikov confounded by scattered seeds", January 16, 2002
- ^ "Marcelo Ríos va por el oro en Santo Domingo" [Marcelo Ríos is going for the gold at Santo Domingo] (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: El Mercurio. August 9, 2003. Retrieved November 1, 2019.