Brian Baker (tennis)
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Born | 30 April 1985 Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Turned pro | 2003 |
| Plays | Right-handed (2-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $272,727 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 8-13 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 141 (28 May 2012) |
| Current ranking | No. 141 (28 May 2012) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | 2R (2012) |
| US Open | 2R (2005) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 1-4 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 113 (25 October 2004) |
Brian Baker (born 30 April 1985) is a professionally ranked tennis player from Nashville, Tennessee.
Junior Career
Baker played in all the junior Grand Slams. His best showing was at the 2003 Boys French Open where he lost in the final to Stanislas Wawrinka.
Pro career
Baker's biggest win occurred on On August 29, 2005, when he scored an upset victory over ninth-seeded Gastón Gaudio in the 2005 US Open. This is Baker's only win in a Grand Slam event main draw after falling in the first round the previous two years.
Baker originally played on the tour for only a short time, from 2002 through 2005 and in a few autumn challengers in 2007. He won two Challenger events in this time and reached a career best singles ranking of world no. 172 on November 15, 2004. He was coached by Ricardo Acuna.
In 2007, he was sidelined for nearly six years after five surgeries—three on his hip, one on his elbow, and one sports hernia—and did not play on the tour again until 2011.[1]
Baker entered an ITF Futures tournament in Pittsburgh in July 2011 as an unranked qualifier, qualified, and won the tournament, all without dropping a set. In September, he entered the Canadian Futures 7 and reached the semifinals, again without dropping a set. He then lost in a walkover to Jesse Levine after withdrawing from the tournament[2].
After winning the Savannah Challenger in April 2012, he was awarded the USTA's discretionary wild card for the 2012 French Open. In response to this, Baker's good friend Amer Delić noted an inconvenient truth about the situation by tweeting, "Brian Baker... Same guy that USTA refused to give a WC for qualies of the clay court future last summer..."[3]. The statement was in reference to the USA F17 tournament that Baker went onto win.
Before the French Open, he qualified for the 2012 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in May. Brian battled to the final past Stakhovsky, Monfils, Kukushkin, and Davydenko. He lost to Nicolás Almagro, the repeat champion, in the final.
Personal life
Baker is currently serving as an assistant coach for the Belmont University men's tennis program.[4]
ATP Career Finals
Singles: 1 (0–1)
|
|
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | May 26, 2012 |  Nice, France
|
Clay |  Nicolás Almagro
|
3–6, 2–6 |
Challenger and Futures finals
Singles 10 (6–4)
| Legend (Singles) |
|---|
| ATP Challenger Tour (2-2) |
| ITF Futures (4-2) |
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 07 April 2003 |  U.S.A. F8 (Little Rock, Arkansas)
|
Hard |  Ignacio Hirigoyen
|
6–3, 5–7, 3–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 12 January 2004 | USA F1 (Tampa, Florida)
|
Hard | Todd Widom
|
6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 17 May 2004 | U.S.A. F12 (Tampa, Florida)
|
Hard | KJ Hippensteel
|
6–1, 6–7(5–7), 2–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 2 August 2004 | Denver Challenger (Denver, Colorado)
|
Hard | KJ Hippensteel
|
7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 5 February 2005 | Tunica Resorts Challenger (Tunica Resorts, Mississippi)
|
Clay | James Blake
|
2–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 6. | 4 July 2011 | USA F17 (Pennsylvania)
|
Clay | Bjorn Fratangelo
|
7–5, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 7 November 2011 | Knoxville Challenger (Knoxville, Tennessee)
|
Hard | Jesse Levine
|
2–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 8. | 23 January 2012 | USA F3 (Florida)
|
Clay |  Jason Kubler
|
7–5, 6–3 |
| Winner | 9. | 19 March 2012 | USA F8 (United States)
|
Hard | Greg Ouellette
|
6–1, 6–2 |
| Winner | 10. | 23 April 2012 | Savannah Challenger (Savannah, Georgia)
|
Clay | Augustin Gensse
|
6–4, 6–3 |
Singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006–2011 | 2012 | Career W–L | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournament | |||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | |||||||||||
| French Open | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | ||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | 0–0 | ||||||||||||
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 1–3 | ||||||||||||
References
- Brian Baker's ATP profile page
- Belmont Men's Tennis Profile
- NY Times Article detailing Brian Baker's career
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