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Paul Wekesa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Wekesa
Country (sports) Kenya
ResidenceNairobi, Kenya
Born (1967-07-02) 2 July 1967 (age 57)
Nairobi, Kenya
Height1.87 m (6 ft 1+12 in)
Turned pro1987
Retired1996
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$448,114
Singles
Career record27–43 (at ATP, Grand Prix and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 100 (1 May 1995)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1989)
French Open1R (1995)
Wimbledon1R (1995)
US Open1R (1995)
Doubles
Career record60–77 (at ATP, Grand Prix and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 66 (23 March 1992)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenQF (1992)
French Open2R (1991)
Wimbledon1R (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995)
US Open3R (1991)

Paul Wekesa (born 2 July 1967) is a former professional tennis player from Kenya. He won 3 doubles titles, achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 100 and reached two tour-level quarterfinals at Auckland in 1989 and Seoul in 1995.

Tennis career

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Prior to turning professional, he won the doubles tournament at the 1987 Division II NCAA Men's Tennis Championships while attending Chapman University.[1] During his career, Wekesa won 3 ATP Tour doubles titles. He reached the quarterfinals in doubles at the 1992 Australian Open. Wekesa won a bronze medal at the 1987 All-Africa Games held in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the only Kenyan tennis player to reach Top 100 of ATP rankings. He also features for the Kenya Davis Cup team and was still active in 1998.[2] He was the first player to be beaten by Tim Henman in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at Wimbledon in 1995. After retirement from playing, he has served as a Kenyan national teams coach.[3] He won the "Hall of Fame" category at the 2007 Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year awards.[4] His father Noah Wekesa is a Kenyan politician and minister.[5]

Career finals

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Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (6)

Doubles (3 wins, 3 losses)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Oct 1988 Tel Aviv, Israel Hard The Bahamas Roger Smith Germany Patrick Baur
Germany Alexander Mronz
6–3, 6–3
Win 2–0 Apr 1989 Seoul, South Korea Hard United States Scott Davis United States John Letts
United States Bruce Man-Son-Hing
6–2, 6–4
Loss 2–1 Apr 1989 Singapore Hard United States Paul Chamberlin United States Rick Leach
United States Jim Pugh
3–6, 4–6
Loss 2–2 Aug 1990 Los Angeles, United States Hard Sweden Peter Lundgren United States Scott Davis
United States David Pate
6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Win 3-2 Nov 1991 Birmingham, U.K. Carpet (i) Netherlands Jacco Eltingh Sweden Ronnie Båthman
Sweden Rikard Bergh
7–5, 7–5
Loss 3–3 Aug 1994 Umag, Croatia Clay Slovakia Karol Kučera Uruguay Diego Pérez
Spain Francisco Roig
2–6, 4–6

References

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  1. ^ "NCAA.com – The Official Website of NCAA Championships". NCAA.com. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  2. ^ Stevegtennis.com: Davis Cup Results 1998 Archived 2007-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Kenyapage.net: Kenya's greatest Sporting Figures Archived 2007-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "SOYA Awards - 2007 winners". Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  5. ^ "Office of Public Communications". Archived from the original on 2007-11-22. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
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