US Olympic Tennis Medal Tally And Player Profiles.

USA tennis players at the Olympic games

this article is in 5 parts this is part 1

LIKE FATHER, LIKE COUSIN – Taylor Dent enters the Olympic Games with one of the most accomplished family sports pedigrees among all athletes – competing in the same Olympic Games as his cousin U.S. beach volleyball star Misty May.

Dent’s father, Phil, was one of Australia’s tennis greats in the 1970s, reaching the Australian Open singles final in 1974, losing to Jimmy Connors. He also was a French Open semifinalist in 1977 and a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 1977. In 1976, he and Billie Jean King won the mixed doubles title at the US Open. While tennis was not an Olympic sport when Phil competed, he did represent Australia for eight years as a member of the Davis Cup team, helping the Aussies win the 1977 Davis Cup title. Dent’s mother, Betty Ann Stuart, was also an accomplished player having reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon and reaching the women’s doubles final at the US Open in 1977 with Renee Richards. Taylor’s half-brother, Brett Hansen-Dent, was also an NCAA singles finalist for USC and played briefly on the professional tour.

May is a member of the U.S. Beach Volleyball Team, after having represented the U.S. in that competition at the Sydney Games. May’s father Butch (Taylor’s uncle) was a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympic volleyball team, who was a teammate of 1996 Olympic gold medallist Lindsay Davenport’s father Wink.

Dent’s first ATP singles win in 2002 at Newport, R.I., site of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was coincidentally historic as it put Taylor and his father Phil, into the tennis history books as the only father-son combination to win ATP singles titles in their careers.

BROTHERS IN ARMS – Identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan become the second set of brothers to represent the United States in Olympic tennis joining Arthur and Joseph Wear – the great, great uncles of President George W. Bush – who participated and won bronze medals at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Mo. The Wears, however, did not compete with each other - Joseph partnered Allen West, while Arthur paired with Clarence Gamble.

The Bryans have enjoyed success at nearly every level of tennis in their careers, with the Olympic Games their final hurdle. As junior players, Bob and Mike combined to win well over 100 junior doubles championships.

In 1996, they became the first doubles team in 50 years to win the prestigious USTA Boys’ 18 Doubles Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., while also winning the junior doubles title at the US Open. In college, they played two years for Stanford University, where in 1998 they won the NCAA doubles title. (Bob won the NCAA triple crown, claiming the singles title and being part of the NCAA championship winning team).

The brothers’ NCAA doubles crown was the first won by brothers since Robert and Tom Falkenburg won the 1946 doubles title for USC. One year after turning professional, the Bryans represented the United States for the first time at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, earning a bronze medal in men’s doubles. In 2001, the Bryans won their first career ATP doubles title in Memphis and went on to win 10 more ATP doubles titles entering the 2003 French Open Championships in 2003. At the famed Roland Garros venue, the Bryans made tennis history, winning their first Grand Slam men’s doubles crown and becoming the winningest all-brother doubles team in the Open era with their 11th doubles crown – one better than another set of identical twins Tim and Tom Gullikson. After reaching their second career Grand Slam doubles title at the 2003 US Open, the Bryans were named to the U.S. Davis Cup team for the first time in their careers, becoming the first set of brothers to play on the same Davis Cup team in 100 years – George and Robert Wrenn being the only other set of brothers to turn the trick back in 1903. Unlike the Wrenns, the Bryan twins were victorious in Cup play, winning a crucial match against Karol Beck and Dominik Hrbaty to help the United States defeat Slokavia 3-2 in the Davis Cup World Group Playoff Round in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Mother, Kathy (nee Blake) was a former player on the women’s circuit, who reached the doubles semifinals at Wimbledon. Father, Wayne is a lawyer, musician and tennis instructor who is very involved with the ATP Tour’s Smash Tennis Program. Wayne went to high school with Carl Wilson - the youngest of the Beach Boys. The Bryans graduated from Rio Mesa H.S. in Oxnard in 1996 and, like most twins, played many tricks on teachers with one brother attending class on before of the other. The Bryans play in a rock band led by their father Wayne. Bob plays the keyboards while Mike plays the drums. The band has played at several special events on the tennis tour and plan to record music professionally. The Bryans are also spokespeople for the USTA’s Junior Team Tennis program.

MARDY FISH – A GREAT CATCH - Mardy Fish’s tennis abilities have been a subject in the media since the age of two. It was at that age when young Mardy was the subject of a local newscast on WCCO in Minneapolis, Minn., for being the “best two-year-old tennis player in the world” as young Mardy was able to hit the ball over the net from the baseline – a rare feat for any two-year-old.

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