Tim Smyczek

American tennis player

Tim Smyczek
Smyczek at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceDallas, Texas, U.S.
Born (1987-12-30) December 30, 1987 (age 36)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Turned pro2006
Retired2019
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$2,067,979
Singles
Career record43–85 (33.6%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 68 (April 6, 2015)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018)
French Open1R (2011, 2015)
Wimbledon1R (2015)
US Open3R (2013)
Doubles
Career record8–11 (42.1%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 160 (24 February 2014)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon1R (2013, 2015)
US Open3R (2014)

Timothy Smyczek (/ˈsmiːtʃɛk/ SMEE-chek; Polish pronunciation: [ˈsmɨtʂɛk]; born December 30, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player.[1] He made three quarterfinals on the main tour as well as the semi-finals of Newport in 2018. Additionally he won seven Challenger titles. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 68 in April 2015. Smyczek recorded wins over several notable players in his career including Kei Nishikori, John Isner, Ivo Karlović, Sam Querrey, Robby Ginepri, Gilles Müller, and Benjamin Becker.[2]

Personal life

Smyczek plays the violin and wants to be a lawyer when his tennis career is over. He is good friends with Mardy Fish. He is also a Roman Catholic and a cooperator of Opus Dei.[3] On November 21, 2015, Smyczek married Ana Pier.[4]

Tennis career

Juniors

As a junior, Smyczek reached as high as No. 14 in the world combined rankings in January 2005.

Pro tour

Smyczek reached the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in 2011, beating Kei Nishikori en route, but lost to Gaël Monfils. He qualified again in 2012, but lost to Mardy Fish in the first round.

In April 2012, he won his first Challenger title, defeating Frank Dancevic in the Tallahassee final, Dancevic retiring after losing the first set 5–7.

For the 2013 Australian Open, Smyczek earned entry as the last entry in the field and lucky loser, the highest-ranked player (ATP ranking of no. 128) who lost in the finals of qualifying. After beating Ivo Karlović in the first round, he lost to world no. 4 David Ferrer in the second round in four sets.

Tim lost the first round of the 2013 French Open qualifying. He fared better at Wimbledon; he made it to the third round of qualifying for the first time, losing to Matt Reid in four sets. Tim reached the doubles final of the 2013 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships with Rhyne Williams as his partner. In the final the American duo fell to Nicolas Mahut and his partner and fellow Frenchmen Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Tim made it to the third round of the Citi Open. He qualified for the Rogers Cup and made it to the second round.

At the 2015 Australian Open, Smyczek entered the main draw as a qualifier, and lost in a four-hour match that ended 7–5 in the fifth set against World No. 3 Rafael Nadal in the second round. In the final game of the match, he graciously allowed Nadal to repeat a crucial first serve when Nadal’s serve landed out, possibly due to a disturbance by a member of the crowd. Smyczek (not the chair umpire) initiated the decision for Nadal to repeat the first serve. Smyczek’s sportsmanship resulted in praise from Nadal and the crowd after the match.[5] He would go on to achieve his career high rank of 68 in April.

In 2016 Smyczek made the quarterfinals in Houston and Delray Beach.[6]

In 2018 Smyczek attained his best main tour result by reaching the semi-finals of Newport.[7]

In 2019 Smyczek announced his plans to retire after the U.S. Open but was not granted a wild card. His last match was at the Citi Open.[8][9]

ATP career finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–1)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2013 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, United States 250 Series Grass United States Rhyne Williams France Nicolas Mahut
France Édouard Roger-Vasselin 		7–6(7–4), 2–6, [5–10]

Challenger tournament finals

Singles (7–6)

Outcome W–L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 0–1 June 29, 2009 Winnetka, US Hard United States Alex Kuznetsov 4–6, 6–7(1–7)
Runner-up 0–2 March 22, 2010 Rimouski, Canada Hard South Africa Rik de Voest 0–6, 5–7
Runner-up 0–3 July 3, 2010 Winnetka, US Hard Argentina Brian Dabul 1–6, 6–1, 1–6
Winner 1–3 April 2, 2012 Tallahassee, US Hard Canada Frank Dancevic 7–5 RET
Winner 2–3 November 17, 2012 Champaign, US Hard(i) United States Jack Sock 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 7–5
Runner-up 2–4 September 30, 2013 Sacramento, US Hard United States Donald Young 5–7, 3–6
Winner 3–4 November 10, 2013 Knoxville, US Hard Canada Peter Polansky 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up 3–5 September 28, 2014 Napa, US Hard United States Sam Querrey 3–6, 1–6
Winner 4–5 February 7, 2015 Dallas, US Hard(i) United States Rajeev Ram 6–2, 4–1 RET
Runner-up 4–6 March 22, 2015 Irving, US Hard Slovenia Aljaž Bedene 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 3–6
Winner 5–6 October 4, 2015 Tiburon, US Hard United States Denis Kudla 1–6, 6–1, 7–6(9–7)
Winner 6–6 November 5, 2017 Charlottesville, US Hard United States Tennys Sandgren 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–2
Winner 7–6 November 19, 2017 Champaign, US Hard United States Bjorn Fratangelo 6–2, 6–4

Doubles (0–1)

Outcome W–L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 0–1 April 28, 2013 Savannah, US Clay United States Michael Russell Russia Teymuraz Gabashvili
Ukraine Denys Molchanov 		2–6, 5–7

Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A Q2 Q3 2R 1R 2R 2R Q3 2R Q3 0 / 4 4–5 44%
French Open A A A A A 1R Q1 Q1 Q3 1R Q1 Q2 Q1 Q1 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Wimbledon A A A A Q1 A Q2 Q3 Q3 1R Q2 Q2 A Q2 0 / 1 0–1 0%
US Open A A Q1 Q2 1R Q1 2R 3R 2R 1R Q2 1R 1R A 0 / 7 4–7 36%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 3–2 1–2 1–4 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 0 / 15 8–15 35%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R Q1 2R A 0 / 8 4–8 33%
Miami Open A A A A A Q2 Q1 1R Q1 2R 3R 1R Q1 A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
Canadian Open A A A A Q2 A A Q1 2R Q1 1R 1R Q1 A 0 / 3 1–3 33%
Cincinnati Masters A A A A Q2 Q1 A Q2 Q2 Q1 Q1 Q1 Q2 A 0 / 0 0–0 –
Shanghai Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A Q1 A 0 / 0 0–0 –
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–2 2–2 2–3 0–2 1–1 0–0 0 / 15 8–15 35%
Career statistics
Tournaments 0 0 1 0 4 6 6 11 12 13 10 7 12 3 Career total: 85
Overall win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–4 3–6 3–6 8–11 7–12 5–13 8–10 1–7 6–12 1–3 0 / 85 43–85 34%
Year-end ranking 581 714 349 280 171 273 128 89 115 109 140 130 164 355

References

  1. ^ "Smyczek, a consummate professional, to retire at 31".
  2. ^ "Tim Smyczek | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  3. ^ "A Gentleman's Guide to Pro Tennis (and Life) | Daily News | NCRegister.com". www.ncregister.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015.
  4. ^ "Smyczek Ties The Knot". ATP World Tour. November 21, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  5. ^ "Another Loss for Nice Guys; This One Wins Praise". New York Times. January 21, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  6. ^ "Tim Smyczek | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  7. ^ "Tim Smyczek | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  8. ^ "Smyczek, a consummate professional, to retire at 31".
  9. ^ "Tim Smyczek | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis".

External links