Full name | Wayne Sean Arthurs |
---|---|
Country (sports) | Australia |
Residence | Melbourne, Australia |
Born |
Adelaide, Australia |
18 March 1971
Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
Turned pro | 1990 |
Retired | 30 June 2007 |
Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $3,565,838 |
Singles | |
Career record | 131–158 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup) |
Career titles | 1 |
Highest ranking | No. 44 (9 July 2001) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (2001, 2007) |
French Open | 4R (2001) |
Wimbledon | 4R (1999, 2002) |
US Open | 4R (2000) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 310–249 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup) |
Career titles | 12 |
Highest ranking | No. 11 (3 November 2003) |
Wayne Arthurs (born 18 March 1971 in Adelaide, Australia) is a retired Australian professional tennis player.
His serve was his strongest weapon by far, and had been referred to as the "best in the world" by several of his fellow players, including Jim Courier,Andre Agassi and Thomas Johansson. He consistently had one of the highest ace counts on the ATP Tour and favours a serve-and-volley style of play. Because of this, his game is best suited to fast surfaces.
A doubles specialist, Arthurs has won 12 ATP doubles titles in his career. In February 2005 he achieved a belated breakthrough in singles by winning the ATP event in Scottsdale, United States, the Tennis Channel Open, in straight sets over Croat Mario Ančić. No other player in history had won his first ATP singles title at such an advanced age (Arthurs was almost 34 at the time). He also was a runner-up there for doubles with Paul Hanley, and lost to American team Bob and Mike Bryan. He is an Australian hero when it comes to Davis Cup, winning countless doubles rubbers for Australia. Throughout his singles career Arthurs experienced victory over no fewer than six players who have reached the number 1 world ranking: Pete Sampras, Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Patrick Rafter, Andy Roddick and Gustavo Kuerten. He also beat Stefan Edberg (another former number 1) in a money tournament in England on Grass - at the time, Arthurs' singles ranking was 1100 and Edberg's was 2, making for one of the biggest differences in ranking between winner and loser on the Tour that year.