- Brian Vahaly
Brian Vahaly (born
July 19 1979 inCamden, New Jersey ) is a former American professionaltennis player and graduate of the Mcintire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.Early career
He began playing tennis at the age of two with his parents, Barry and Karen. As a junior, Brian Vahaly captured the Easter Bowl 18's title and reached the final of the Coffee Bowl in
Costa Rica in1997 . His best junior Grand Slam result was reaching the quarter final at Wimbledon that same year, where he finished 17th in the world junior rankings.Vahaly proceeded to play four years of collegiate tennis at the
University of Virginia from 1998-2001, where he was a three time All-American and finished as the school's most successful player. In 2000, he won theUnited States Amateur Championships (Men's Tennis) .In
2001 , Vahaly reached the singles final at the NCAA Championships, and lost in the doubles semi-final with Huntley Montgomery, but finished as the country's number one player in doubles and 5th in singles (40-6).Vahaly became school's first tennis All-American in
1999 and during the previous season was named theAtlantic Coast Conference Rookie of Year. In his last two seasons, he was two-time ACC Player of Year and as a senior was named the University of Virginia Male Athlete of Year. He was also named an Academic All-American.Professional career
In
2003 , Vahaly enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP circuit, advancing to the semifinals of Memphis and the quarterfinals ofIndian Wells . He defeated three top 10 ranked playersFernando Gonzalez , (2003 French Open Champion and former world #1)Juan Carlos Ferrero , andTommy Robredo at Indian Wells and later teamed withAndy Roddick inWashington DC to defeat the #1 ranked doubles team ofBob and Mike Bryan . During the year he also posted wins overMichael Chang andVince Spadea . He also debuted at theAustralian Open losing to eventual championAndre Agassi and at Roland Garros losing toLleyton Hewitt , and made his first appearances atTennis Masters Series tournaments. Vahaly was the only college graduate in the top 100 in the world and was recognized byPeople Magazine in their 25 Hottest Bachelors issue.In 2003, Vahaly also started the Brian Vahaly Brighter Future Foundation raising over 300,000 dollars for his own local charity within the Georgia community. It serves to help underprivliged kids with after-school programs by providing academic and tennis opportunities to children in need. Additionally, Vahaly worked with the
St Vincent de Paul society to give back to families in disadvantaged circumstances. Since retiring from the tour, the Foundation has currently partnered with the Georgia Tennis Foundation to continue to assist young children in localYMCA community centers.In
2004 , Vahaly spent most of the year on the ATP circuit playing events inIndianapolis ,Los Angeles ,Newport ,Houston ,Indian Wells , San Jose,Adelaide , and theAustralian Open (losing to finalistMarat Safin ).In
2005 , Vahaly continued to improve his ranking with success at the Challenger level. He won the Tallahassee Challenger in April, posting impressive wins overRobert Kendrick in the semi-final andJustin Gimelstob in the final. During the summer, he playedWorld Team Tennis for theNew York Buzz . In October, he won the Calabasas, California Challenger beating Gimelstob andJeff Morrison en route to the title. He also competed at Indian Wells and posted wins in the ATP event inDelray Beach .Vahaly began
2006 strongly, beatingSam Querrey at the ATP International Series event in Las Vegas. He was unable to play any tournaments after July due to a shoulder injury. Despite the injury, Vahaly played his last tournament at the U.S. Open. After the tournament, Vahaly revealed that the shoulder injury had plagued him for some time. On September 7th, 2006, Brian underwent surgery to repair several tears to his right rotator cuff. At the time, Vahaly understood the seriousness of his injury but hoped to eventually return to tennis. He had two additional surgeries later that year.Retirement
In November 2007, Vahaly announced his retirement from professional tennis on his website. He had three surgeries in the period between fall 2006 and 2007. Vahaly now works for
UBS AG , a global provider of financial services, in their private wealth management division in Atlanta.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.