David_Wheaton
David Wheaton
American author, radio host, columnist, and former tennis player
David Wheaton (born June 2, 1969) is an American author, radio host, columnist, and former professional tennis player.
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, US |
| Born | (1969-06-02) June 2, 1969 (age 54) Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
| Turned pro | 1988 |
| Retired | 2001 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $5,238,401 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 232–191 |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 12 (22 July 1991) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | QF (1990) |
| French Open | 3R (1995) |
| Wimbledon | SF (1991) |
| US Open | QF (1990) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Grand Slam Cup | W (1991) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 157–122 |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 24 (24 June 1991) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | F (1991) |
| French Open | SF (1995) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (1990, 1993) |
| US Open | F (1990) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (1990) |
| Wimbledon | QF (1989) |
| US Open | QF (1989) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | 1–1 |
| Hopman Cup | F (1991) |
| Last updated on: 29 November 2021. | |
Born in Minneapolis as the youngest of four children. During his tennis career, he dated tennis star Mary Joe Fernández around 1990-1992. Wheaton married in 2009 and has one son.
Wheaton started tennis at age four, played in his first tournament at eight, won the Minnesota State High School tennis title in 1984 as a freshman, trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for his last two-and-a-half years of high school, played one year at Stanford, and then competed for 13 years on the professional tour.
Juniors
In 1987, Wheaton won the US Open junior title and was the No. 1 ranked junior player in the US. In 1988, he helped Stanford University's tennis team win the NCAA team title and received the Block S Award as the most outstanding freshman athlete at Stanford.
Pro tour
Wheaton turned professional on July 4, 1988 and won his first top-level singles title in 1990 at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. He was also runner-up in the 1990 US Open men's doubles (with Paul Annacone).
The most significant highlights of his career came in 1991. He won the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, beating Michael Chang in straight sets in the final 7–5, 6–2, 6–4. He also reached the semifinals of singles at Wimbledon (beating Petr Korda, Cédric Pioline, Ivan Lendl, Jan Gunnarsson and Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals before being knocked-out by Boris Becker), and was a men's doubles runner-up at the Australian Open (partnering with his former Stanford teammate Patrick McEnroe). Wheaton reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in July 1991.
During his career, Wheaton won three top-level singles and three doubles titles, representing the US in Davis Cup (v. Australia, 1993) reached the semifinals or better in either singles or doubles of every Grand Slam tournament, and defeated highly ranked players such as Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, and Michael Chang.
He retired from the professional tour in 2001, following a series of injuries. Since then he has played in some senior tour events, winning the "Wimbledon Over 35 Doubles" championship in 2004 (with T.J. Middleton).
Singles: 1 (1 title)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1987 | US Open | Hard |  Andrey Cherkasov | 7–5, 6–0 |
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partnet | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1986 | US Open | Hard |  Jeff Tarango |  Tomas Carbonell Javier Sanchez | 4–6, 6–1, 1–6 |
Singles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)
|
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | May 1990 | Kiawah Island, United States | World Series | Clay |  Mark Kaplan |
6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Mar 1991 | Miami, United States | Masters Series | Hard | Jim Courier |
6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Jun 1991 | Queen's, United Kingdom | World Series | Grass |  Stefan Edberg |
2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–2 | Dec 1991 | Munich, Germany | Grand Slam Cup | Carpet | Michael Chang |
7–5, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–3 | May 1993 | Coral Springs, United States | World Series | Clay | Todd Martin |
3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 3–3 | Jul 1994 | Newport, United States | World Series | Grass |  Todd Woodbridge |
6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–5) |
| Loss | 3–4 | Jul 1995 | Newport, United States | World Series | Grass |  David Prinosil |
6–7(3–7), 7–5, 2–6 |
Doubles: 15 (3 titles, 12 runner-ups)
|
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Jul 1990 | Toronto, Canada | Masters Series | Hard | Paul Annacone |
Broderick Dyke Peter Lundgren |
6–1, 7–6 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Aug 1990 | New York, United States | Grand Slam | Hard | Paul Annacone |
Pieter Aldrich Danie Visser |
2–6, 6–7, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Jan 1991 | Melbourne, Australia | Grand Slam | Hard | Patrick McEnroe |
Scott Davis David Pate |
7–6, 6–7, 3–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 1–3 | May 1991 | Umag, Croatia | World Series | Clay | Richey Reneberg |
 Gilad Bloom Javier Sanchez |
6–7, 6–2, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1–4 | Jul 1992 | Newport, United States | World Series | Grass | Paul Annacone |
Royce Deppe  David Rikl |
4–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–5 | Aug 1992 | Los Angeles, United States | World Series | Hard | Francisco Montana |
Patrick Galbraith Jim Pugh |
6–7, 6–7 |
| Win | 2–5 | Apr 1993 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong | World Series | Hard | Todd Woodbridge |
Sandon Stolle Jason Stoltenberg |
6–1, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–6 | Jul 1994 | Newport, United States | World Series | Grass | Kent Kinnear |
 Alex Antonitsch  Greg Rusedski |
4–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2–7 | Apr 1995 | Nice, France | World Series | Clay | Luke Jensen |
Cyril Suk Daniel Vacek |
6–3, 6–7, 6–7 |
| Loss | 2–8 | Oct 1995 | Tel Aviv, Israel | World Series | Hard | Kent Kinnear |
Jim Grabb Jared Palmer |
4–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 3–8 | May 1996 | Atlanta, United States | World Series | Clay | Christo Van Rensburg |
Bill Behrens Matt Lucena |
7–6, 6–2 |
| Loss | 3–9 | May 1996 | Pinehurst, United States | World Series | Clay | Ken Flach |
Pat Cash Patrick Rafter |
2–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 3–10 | Mar 1998 | Scottsdale, United States | International Series | Hard | Kent Kinnear |
Cyril Suk Michael Tebbutt |
6–4, 1–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 3–11 | Apr 1999 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong | international Series | Hard | Andre Agassi |
 James Greenhalgh Grant Silcock |
walkover |
| Loss | 3–12 | Jun 2001 | Queen's, United Kingdom | international Series | Grass | Eric Taino |
Mike Bryan Bob Bryan |
3–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
Singles: 2 (1–1)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Apr 1989 | Brasilia, Brazil | Challenger | Hard | Dan Cassidy |
6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jun 1996 | Annenheim, Austria | Challenger | Grass | Alex Radulescu |
4–6, 2–6 |
Doubles: 1 (1–0)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Apr 1989 | Itu, Brazil | Challenger | Hard | Kent Kinnear |
 Nelson Aerts Marcos Hocevar |
6–3, 6–4 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
| Tournament | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | SR | W–L | Win % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 1R | QF | 1R | 4R | 3R | A | 4R | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 8 | 14–8 | 64% | |||
| French Open | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 8 | 6–8 | 43% | |||
| Wimbledon | A | Q1 | A | 1R | 4R | SF | 3R | 4R | 1R | 3R | 3R | A | 1R | Q2 | A | A | 0 / 9 | 17–9 | 65% | |||
| US Open | A | 1R | A | 2R | QF | 4R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 4R | 1R | 1R | A | Q2 | A | 0 / 11 | 14–11 | 56% | |||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 11–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–4 | 1–3 | 8–4 | 7–4 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 36 | 51–36 | 59% | |||
| Year-end Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Cup | Did not qualify | SF | W | Did not qualify | Not Held | 1 / 2 | 6–1 | 86% | ||||||||||||||
| ATP Masters Series | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 4–4 | 50% | |||
| Miami | 1R | A | A | A | A | F | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 7 | 9–7 | 56% | |||
| Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 3–1 | 75% | |||
| Rome | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | |||
| Canada | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | A | A | A | Q1 | 1R | A | 0 / 6 | 5–6 | 45% | |||
| Cincinnati | A | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | QF | 1R | SF | 2R | A | 2R | Q1 | A | A | Q2 | 0 / 7 | 11–7 | 61% | |||
| Stuttgart | Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||
| Paris | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | Q2 | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 6 | 6–6 | 50% | |||
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 7–4 | 7–5 | 3–5 | 9–4 | 8–6 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 32 | 38–32 | 54% | |||
Doubles
| Tournament | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | SR | W–L | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 1R | 2R | F | A | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | A | SF | A | A | A | 0 / 7 | 10–7 | 59% | ||||
| French Open | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | SF | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 6 | 6–6 | 50% | ||||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | 40% | ||||
| US Open | 1R | A | QF | F | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | A | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 9 | 13–9 | 59% | ||||
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 7–4 | 6–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 25 | 31–25 | 55% | ||||
| ATP Masters Series | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | A | A | 2R | SF | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 5–3 | 63% | ||||
| Miami | A | A | A | A | SF | 1R | SF | 3R | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | Q1 | 0 / 6 | 9–6 | 60% | ||||
| Canada | A | A | A | W | A | 2R | 2R | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1 / 4 | 9–3 | 75% | ||||
| Cincinnati | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | Q1 | 1R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% | ||||
| Stuttgart | NH | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||
| Paris | A | A | A | 1R | QF | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | 40% | ||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 7–4 | 4–3 | 6–3 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 / 20 | 27–19 | 59% | ||||
Mixed doubles
| Tournament | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | SR | W–L | Win % | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | |||||||||
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||||||
| Wimbledon | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% | |||||||||
| US Open | QF | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | 67% | |||||||||
| Win–loss | 5–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0 / 4 | 6–4 | 60% | |||||||||
In 2002, Wheaton embarked a new career in radio, writing, and speaking. He is the producer and host of The Christian Worldview, a live talk radio program that airs on 250 stations in the US. He is a tennis columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the author of two books, University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus (Bethany House, 2005) and My Boy, Ben—A Story of Love, Loss and Grace (Tristan Publishing, 2014).
Wheaton serves on the board of The Overcomer Foundation, a non-profit organization that directs his radio ministry. He also served on the board of directors of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) from 2003-2006. He is a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame (class of 2012) and the USTA Northern Section Hall of Fame (class of 2005). Wheaton received the Eugene L. Scott Renaissance Award in 2011—an award presented to a national/international tennis champion who demonstrates excellence in promoting and developing the sport of tennis in public parks.
