David Wheaton

David Wheaton (born June 2, 1969) is an American author, radio host, columnist, and former professional tennis player.

Early life

Wheaton was born in Minneapolis as the youngest of four children. He started playing tennis at age four and played in his first tournament aged eight. He won the Minnesota State High School tennis title in 1984 as a freshman. He trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for his last two-and-a-half years of high school and played one year at Stanford.

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).

Personal life

During his tennis career, he dated tennis star Mary Joe Fernández around 1990–1992. Wheaton married in 2009 and has one son.

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1987	US Open	Hard	Template:Flagicon Andrey Cherkasov	7–5, 6–0

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partnet	Opponents	Score
Loss	1986	US Open	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jeff Tarango	Template:Flagicon Tomas Carbonell Template:Flagicon Javier Sanchez	4–6, 6–1, 1–6

ATP career finals

Singles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (1–0) ATP Masters Series(0–1) ATP Championship Series (0–0) ATP World Series (2–3)

Finals by surface Hard (0–1) Clay (1–1) Grass (1–2) Carpet (1–0)

Finals by setting Outdoors (2–4) Indoors (1–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	[[1990 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Kiawah Island, United States	World Series	Clay	Template:Flagicon Mark Kaplan	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1–1	[[1991 Lipton International Players Championships – Men's singles|Template:Dts]]	Miami, United States	Masters Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jim Courier	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	1–2	[[1991 Stella Artois Championships – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Queen's, United Kingdom	World Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon Stefan Edberg	2–6, 3–6
Win	2–2	[[Grand Slam Cup|Template:Dts]]	Munich, Germany	Grand Slam Cup	Carpet	Template:Flagicon Michael Chang	7–5, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	2–3	[[1993 International Tennis Championships – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Coral Springs, United States	World Series	Clay	Template:Flagicon Todd Martin	3–6, 4–6
Win	3–3	[[1994 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon Todd Woodbridge	6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	3–4	[[1995 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships|Template:Dts]]	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon David Prinosil	6–7(3–7), 7–5, 2–6

Doubles: 15 (3 titles, 12 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–2) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP Masters Series (1–0) ATP Championship Series (0–0) ATP World Series (2–10)

Finals by surface Hard (2–6) Clay (1–3) Grass (0–3) Carpet (0–0)

Finals by setting Outdoors (3–12) Indoors (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	[[1990 Canadian Open – Men's doubles|Template:Dts]]	Toronto, Canada	Masters Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Paul Annacone	Template:Flagicon Broderick Dyke Template:Flagicon Peter Lundgren	6–1, 7–6
Loss	1–1	[[1990 US Open – Men's doubles|Template:Dts]]	New York, United States	Grand Slam	Hard	Template:Flagicon Paul Annacone	Template:Flagicon Pieter Aldrich Template:Flagicon Danie Visser	2–6, 6–7, 2–6
Loss	1–2	[[1991 Australian Open – Men's doubles|Template:Dts]]	Melbourne, Australia	Grand Slam	Hard	Template:Flagicon Patrick McEnroe	Template:Flagicon Scott Davis Template:Flagicon David Pate	7–6, 6–7, 3–6, 5–7
Loss	1–3	[[1991 Yugoslav Open|Template:Dts]]	Umag, Croatia	World Series	Clay	Template:Flagicon Richey Reneberg	Template:Flagicon Gilad Bloom Template:Flagicon Javier Sanchez	6–7, 6–2, 1–6
Loss	1–4	[[1992 Miller Lite Hall of Fame Tennis Championships|Template:Dts]]	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon Paul Annacone	Template:Flagicon Royce Deppe Template:Flagicon David Rikl	4–6, 4–6
Loss	1–5	[[1992 Volvo Tennis/Los Angeles – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Los Angeles, United States	World Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Francisco Montana	Template:Flagicon Patrick Galbraith Template:Flagicon Jim Pugh	6–7, 6–7
Win	2–5	[[Hong Kong Open (tennis)|Template:Dts]]	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	World Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Todd Woodbridge	Template:Flagicon Sandon Stolle Template:Flagicon Jason Stoltenberg	6–1, 6–3
Loss	2–6	[[1994 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Newport, United States	World Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon Kent Kinnear	Template:Flagicon Alex Antonitsch Template:Flagicon Greg Rusedski	4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	2–7	[[1995 Philips Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Nice, France	World Series	Clay	Template:Flagicon Luke Jensen	Template:Flagicon Cyril Suk Template:Flagicon Daniel Vacek	6–3, 6–7, 6–7
Loss	2–8	[[1995 Tel Aviv Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Tel Aviv, Israel	World Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Kent Kinnear	Template:Flagicon Jim Grabb Template:Flagicon Jared Palmer	4–6, 5–7
Win	3–8	[[1996 AT&T Challenge – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Atlanta, United States	World Series	Clay	Template:Flagicon Christo Van Rensburg	Template:Flagicon Bill Behrens Template:Flagicon Matt Lucena	7–6, 6–2
Loss	3–9	[[1996 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Pinehurst, United States	World Series	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ken Flach	Template:Flagicon Pat Cash Template:Flagicon Patrick Rafter	2–6, 3–6
Loss	3–10	[[1998 Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Scottsdale, United States	International Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Kent Kinnear	Template:Flagicon Cyril Suk Template:Flagicon Michael Tebbutt	6–4, 1–6, 6–7
Loss	3–11	[[1999 Salem Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	international Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Andre Agassi	Template:Flagicon James Greenhalgh Template:Flagicon Grant Silcock	walkover
Loss	3–12	[[2001 Stella Artois Championships – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Queen's, United Kingdom	international Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon Eric Taino	Template:Flagicon Mike Bryan Template:Flagicon Bob Bryan	3–6, 6–3, 1–6

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 2 (1–1)

Legend ATP Challenger (1–1) ITF Futures (0–0)

Finals by surface Hard (1–0) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–1) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Template:Dts	Brasília, Brazil	Challenger	Hard	Template:Flagicon Dan Cassidy	6–1, 6–2
Loss	1–1	Template:Dts	Annenheim, Austria	Challenger	Grass	Template:Flagicon Alex Radulescu	4–6, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Legend ATP Challenger (1–0) ITF Futures (0–0)

Finals by surface Hard (1–0) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Template:Dts	Itu, Brazil	Challenger	Hard	Template:Flagicon Kent Kinnear	Template:Flagicon Nelson Aerts Template:Flagicon Marcos Hocevar	6–3, 6–4

Performance timelines

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	Template:Tennis win percentage
French Open	A	A	A	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	3R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 8	6–8	Template:Tennis win percentage
Wimbledon	A	Q1	A	1R	4R	SF	3R	4R	1R	3R	3R	A	1R	Q2	A	A	0 / 9	17–9	Template:Tennis win percentage
US Open	A	1R	A	2R	QF	4R	3R	1R	1R	2R	4R	1R	1R	A	Q2	A	0 / 11	14–11	Template:Tennis win percentage
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	Template:Tennis win percentage
Year-end Championships
Grand Slam Cup	Did not qualify				SF	W	Did not qualify								Not Held		1 / 2	6–1	Template:Tennis win percentage
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	Template:Tennis win percentage
Miami	1R	A	A	A	A	F	2R	1R	3R	3R	A	A	1R	A	A	A	0 / 7	9–7	Template:Tennis win percentage
Monte Carlo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	3–1	Template:Tennis win percentage
Rome	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage
Canada	A	A	A	A	3R	A	1R	2R	3R	1R	A	A	A	Q1	1R	A	0 / 6	5–6	Template:Tennis win percentage
Cincinnati	A	A	A	A	2R	3R	QF	1R	SF	2R	A	2R	Q1	A	A	Q2	0 / 7	11–7	Template:Tennis win percentage
Stuttgart	Not Held		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	Template:Tennis win percentage
Paris	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	QF	2R	2R	2R	Q2	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 6	6–6	Template:Tennis win percentage
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	Template:Tennis win percentage

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	Template:Tennis win percentage
French Open	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	1R	A	SF	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 6	6–6	Template:Tennis win percentage
Wimbledon	A	A	A	2R	A	A	2R	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	2–3	Template:Tennis win percentage
US Open	1R	A	QF	F	A	1R	2R	1R	2R	3R	A	2R	A	A	A	0 / 9	13–9	Template:Tennis win percentage
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	Template:Tennis win percentage
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	2R	SF	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	5–3	Template:Tennis win percentage
Miami	A	A	A	A	SF	1R	SF	3R	1R	A	A	1R	A	A	Q1	0 / 6	9–6	Template:Tennis win percentage
Canada	A	A	A	W	A	2R	2R	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	1 / 4	9–3	Template:Tennis win percentage
Cincinnati	A	A	A	A	2R	A	2R	Q1	1R	A	A	1R	A	A	A	0 / 4	2–4	Template:Tennis win percentage
Stuttgart	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	Template:Tennis win percentage
Paris	A	A	A	1R	QF	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	2–3	Template:Tennis win percentage
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	Template:Tennis win percentage

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	Template:Tennis win percentage
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0	Template:Tennis win percentage
Wimbledon	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	0 / 2	3–2	Template:Tennis win percentage
US Open	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	2–1	Template:Tennis win percentage
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	Template:Tennis win percentage

Radio and writing career

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).

Service and awards

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.

External links and sources

• David Wheaton's Radio Show – The Christian Worldview
• Template:ATP
• Template:ITF
• Template:Davis Cup player