Dick Norman

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Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. He achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height (6 feet 8 inches), his left-handed power game and, in the last few years of his career, his age (between late 2006 and his retirement in June 2013 he was the oldest player on the ATP Tour).

After retirement Norman became involved in coaching and organizing local tennis events. In March 2018, he became the tournament director of the European Open in Antwerp.

Career

Turning professional in 1991, Norman notched up only his 14th Grand Slam appearance at the 2006 Wimbledon, where, at 35, he was the second oldest male competitor, to Andre Agassi. With Agassi's retirement immediately following the 2006 US Open, Norman succeeded him as the oldest active player on the ATP tour.

In 1995, he made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon, despite qualifying out of the lucky loser's draw. He defeated successive but aging former Wimbledon Champions Pat Cash and Stefan Edberg in the first and second rounds respectively, then doubles guru Todd Woodbridge in the third round, before falling to another former champion Boris Becker in the fourth round. At the time, it was the furthest that any player had ever advanced in a Grand Slam Tournament as a lucky loser.

He disappeared from the tennis scene after a few unimpressive seasons, but made a resurgence starting in 2003, at the age of 32, a common retirement age. He qualified for three of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments in 2003, 2005, and 2006. Nine of his 14 Grand Slam appearances have come after his 32nd birthday, although except for a surprise run in doubles at the French Open in 2009, none as successful as his 1995 Wimbledon run. He mostly lost in the first or second round. Still he has exceeded $1 million in career earnings, in large part due to his Grand Slam successes.

In November 2006, at the age of 35 years and eight months, Norman attained his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 85.

In July 2007, at Newport, Norman made it to his very first ATP semifinal, defeating eighth seed Michael Berrer along the way. His first round win was over fellow "giant", 6'9" wild card John Isner, who was playing in his first-ever ATP match.

As of February 2008, he remained the oldest active player on the ATP Tour at 36 years and 11 months; and although his ranking had dropped back to world No. 169, partly as a result of his having taken a break of several months from the tour over the preceding autumn and winter following the birth of his first child, he appeared to remain committed to continuing his career on the circuit.

While Norman was the oldest player on the tour, Jimmy Connors continued to compete regularly until the week of 10 May 1993, when he was 40 years and 8 months of age and played another six isolated tournaments over the three years to follow, the last of which took place in the week of 29 April 1996, when he was 43 years and 7 months old.

He has won over ten titles on the Challenger circuit, the most recent being at Mexico City in April 2009, at the age of 38. In January 2007, he teamed with countryman Xavier Malisse to win the doubles title at the ATP event in Chennai. In early 2009, he made the conscious decision to focus more on doubles than singles, and in February he joined forces with American James Cerretani to win the doubles title at the ATP World Tour event in Johannesburg.

In 2009, Norman teamed with South African Wesley Moodie and advanced to the final of the French Open. They lost 6–3, 3–6, 2–6 to the third seeded pair of Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander Paes. It is by far the furthest Norman has advanced in a Grand Slam tournament. It was the first time in his 19-year career that Norman had played doubles at the French Open, and only the third tournament in which Moodie (who with Stephen Huss won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2005) and Norman played together.

In the semifinals, Norman-Moodie saved three match points in a come-from-behind 0–6, 7–6, 6–4 victory over the defending champions, Bob and Mike Bryan, the second seeds. The Bryans had won the previous two Grand Slam titles, the 2008 US Open and the 2009 Australian Open. On their way to the final, Norman-Moodie had in the first round upset the seventh seed team of Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram.

In finishing runner-up for the 2009 French Open title, Norman earned 78,000 euros. The finish moved him to a career-high No. 32 in the ATP doubles rankings.

At 38 years and 3 months, Norman became the oldest male to reach a French Open final in the Open Era (since surpassed by Jean-Julien Rojer in winning the title at the 2022 French Open). He became the fifth player aged 38 or older to play in a men's doubles Grand Slam title match: Neale Fraser (39) was runner-up at Wimbledon in 1973, Ken Rosewall (38) lost the US Open final in 1973, Sherwood Stewart (38) won the Australian Open in 1984, and Bob Hewitt (38) won Wimbledon in 1978.

Two weeks later, he won the Ordina Open with his partner Wesley Moodie. It was his first grass-court title.

In November, he won the AXA Belgian Masters, as oldest man in the field.

In another career highlight, Dick (along with partner Moodie) qualified for the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals. This was the first time in his career that Dick qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals. Dick and Wesley entered the final tournament of the season, the 2010 BNP Paribas Masters, seeded eighth. Because Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner won 2010 Wimbledon, only the top seven ranked pairs qualified for the finals. Due to Dick and Wesley reaching the quarterfinals in Paris and František Čermák and Michal Mertiňák failing to reach the finals in Paris, Dick and Wesley were able to secure qualification.

Norman retired in June 2013, following a first-round defeat in the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, having enjoyed a tennis career of 22 years.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 2009 French Open Clay Template:Flagicon Wesley Moodie Template:Flagicon Lukáš Dlouhý
Template:Flagicon Leander Paes
6–3, 3–6, 2–6

ATP career finals

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

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0)
ATP 500 Series (0–0)
ATP 250 Series (4–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–0)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (3–2)
Indoors (1–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 [[1995 Nokia Open – Men's doubles|Template:Dts]] Beijing, China World Series Carpet Template:Flagicon Fernon Wibier Template:Flagicon Tommy Ho
Template:Flagicon Sébastien Lareau
6–7, 6–7
Win 1–1 [[2007 Chennai Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]] Chennai, India International Series Hard Template:Flagicon Xavier Malisse Template:Flagicon Rafael Nadal
Template:Flagicon Tomeu Salvá
7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–4)
Win 2–1 [[2009 SA Tennis Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]] Johannesburg, South Africa 250 Series Hard Template:Flagicon James Cerretani Template:Flagicon Rik de Voest
Template:Flagicon Ashley Fisher
6–7(7–9), 6–2, [14–12]
Loss 2–2 [[2009 French Open – Men's doubles|Template:Dts]] Paris, France Grand Slam Clay Template:Flagicon Wesley Moodie Template:Flagicon Lukáš Dlouhý
Template:Flagicon Leander Paes
6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win 3–2 [[2009 Ordina Open – Men's doubles|Template:Dts]] 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands 250 Series Grass Template:Flagicon Wesley Moodie Template:Flagicon Johan Brunström
Template:Flagicon Jean-Julien Rojer
7–6(7–3), 6–7(8–10), [10–5]
Win 4–2 [[2011 PBZ Zagreb Indoors – Doubles|Template:Dts]] Zagreb, Croatia 250 Series Hard Template:Flagicon Horia Tecău Template:Flagicon Marcel Granollers
Template:Flagicon Marc López
6–3, 6–4
Loss 4–3 [[2012 BMW Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]] Munich, Germany 250 Series Clay Template:Flagicon Xavier Malisse Template:Flagicon František Čermák
Template:Flagicon Filip Polášek
4–6, 5–7

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 30 (19–11)

Legend
ATP Challenger (13–11)
ITF Futures (6–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–5)
Clay (8–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (5–4)
Result W–L Template:NsDateTemplate:Ns Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0-1 Template:Dts Garmisch, Germany Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Nicolas Kiefer 6–7, 6–7
Win 1-1 Template:Dts Newcastle, United Kingdom Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon David Nainkin 6–1, 6–4
Win 2-1 Template:Dts Dresden, Germany Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Julian Alonso 6–4, 6–4
Win 3-1 Template:Dts Neumünster, Germany Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon John Van Lottum 6–7, 7–6, 7–6
Win 4-1 Template:Dts Poland F2, Zabrze Futures Clay Template:Flagicon Jaroslav Levinský 6–3, 7–6(7–2)
Win 5-1 Template:Dts Poland F3, Katowice Futures Clay Template:Flagicon Kim Tiilikainen 6–1, 6–4
Win 6-1 Template:Dts Luxembourg F1, Luxembourg Futures Clay Template:Flagicon Petr Dezort 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 6-2 Template:Dts Brașov, Romania Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Alexandre Simoni 5–7, 3–6
Win 7-2 Template:Dts France F19, Plaisir Futures Hard Template:Flagicon Andrei Chesnokov 6–3, 5–7, 6–4
Loss 7-3 Template:Dts Lübeck, Germany Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Zbynek Mlynarik 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), 4–6
Win 8-3 Template:Dts France F6, Poitiers Futures Hard Template:Flagicon Gregory Carraz 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Win 9-3 Template:Dts France F7, Melun Futures Carpet Template:Flagicon Gregory Carraz 6–3, 6–2
Win 10-3 Template:Dts Antwerp, Belgium Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Peter Wessels 5–3 ret.
Loss 10-4 Template:Dts Wolfsburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Jakub Herm-Zahlava 4–6, 2–6
Win 11-4 Template:Dts Magdeburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Axel Pretzsch 7–6(8–6), 3–6, 6–4
Win 12-4 Template:Dts San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Paul-Henri Mathieu 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Win 13-4 Template:Dts Andorra la Vella, Andorra Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Ivo Karlović 6–4, 6–4
Win 14-4 Template:Dts Quito, Ecuador Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Giovanni Lapentti 6–4, 6–3
Loss 14-5 Template:Dts Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Richard Gasquet 1–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win 15-5 Template:Dts San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Federico Browne 7–5, 0–6, 6–4
Loss 15-6 Template:Dts Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Marc Rosset 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–1), 6–7(3–7)
Loss 15-7 Template:Dts Andrezieux, France Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Julien Benneteau 7–6(10–8), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(5–7)
Win 16-7 Template:Dts Ischgl, Austria Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Daniele Bracciali 6–1, 3–6, 6–1
Win 17-7 Template:Dts Belgrade, Serbia Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Jeroen Masson 6–2, 6–3
Loss 17-8 Template:Dts San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Fernando Vicente 4–6, 4–6
Win 18-8 Template:Dts Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Raemon Sluiter 7–6(7–2), 6–7(2–7), 6–3
Loss 18-9 Template:Dts León, Mexico Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Phillip Simmonds 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 2–6
Loss 18-10 Template:Dts Donetsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Roko Karanušić 4–6, 4–6
Loss 18-11 Template:Dts Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Iván Navarro 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–7(10–12)
Win 19-11 Template:Dts Mexico City, Mexico Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Marcel Felder 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5

Doubles: 26 (11–15)

Legend
ATP Challenger (10–15)
ITF Futures (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–7)
Clay (6–4)
Grass (1–2)
Carpet (1–2)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Template:Dts Poznań, Poland Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Tomasz Iwanski Template:Flagicon Sergio Cortés
Template:Flagicon Vicente Solves
4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 1–1 Template:Dts Jerusalem, Israel Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Filip Dewulf Template:Flagicon Ellis Ferreira
Template:Flagicon Kevin Ullyett
6–7, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Template:Dts Bristol, United Kingdom Challenger Grass Template:Flagicon Massimo Bertolini Template:Flagicon Pietro Pennisi
Template:Flagicon Alexandru Radulescu
4–6, 5–7
Loss 1–3 Template:Dts Ponte Vedra, United States Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Ross Matheson Template:Flagicon Paul Annacone
Template:Flagicon Kelly Jones
7–6, 4–6, 3—6
Loss 1–4 Template:Dts Nantes, France Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Greg Rusedski Template:Flagicon Olivier Delaître
Template:Flagicon Guillaume Raoux
4–6, 6–7
Win 2–4 Template:Dts Adelaide, Australia Challenger Grass Template:Flagicon Mahesh Bhupathi Template:Flagicon Scott Draper
Template:Flagicon Peter Tramacchi
7–6, 7–6
Loss 2–5 Template:Dts Garmisch, Germany Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Mathias Huning Template:Flagicon Lionel Barthez
Template:Flagicon Nuno Marques
6–7, 6–7
Loss 2–6 Template:Dts Manchester, United Kingdom Challenger Grass Template:Flagicon Fernon Wibier Template:Flagicon Max Mirnyi
Template:Flagicon Lior Mor
5–7, 6–7
Win 3–6 Template:Dts Luxembourg F1, Luxembourg Futures Clay Template:Flagicon Christopher Kas Template:Flagicon Rik de Voest
Template:Flagicon Willem-Petrus Meyer
6–1, 7–6(7–2)
Loss 3–7 Template:Dts Brașov, Romania Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Wolfgang Schranz Template:Flagicon Ionuț Moldovan
Template:Flagicon Yuri Schukin
4–6, 1–6
Loss 3–8 Template:Dts Magdeburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon Djalmar Sistermans Template:Flagicon Franz Stauder
Template:Flagicon Orest Tereshchuk
4–6, 3–6
Win 4–8 Template:Dts San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Orlin Stanoytchev Template:Flagicon Ignacio Hirigoyen
Template:Flagicon Sebastián Prieto
walkover
Win 5–8 Template:Dts Zagreb, Croatia Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Tom Vanhoudt Template:Flagicon Jordan Kerr
Template:Flagicon Grant Silcock
6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Win 6–8 Template:Dts Orléans, France Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Gregory Carraz Template:Flagicon Jérôme Haehnel
Template:Flagicon Jean-Rene Lisnard
7–6(8–6), 6–1
Loss 6–9 Template:Dts Cherbourg, France Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Łukasz Kubot Template:Flagicon Michal Mertiňák
Template:Flagicon Robin Vik
2–6, 4–6
Loss 6–10 Template:Dts Bogotá, Colombia Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Fred Gil Template:Flagicon Martin Garcia
Template:Flagicon Diego Hartfield
4–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Loss 6–11 Template:Dts Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Kristof Vliegen Template:Flagicon James Auckland
Template:Flagicon Ross Hutchins
7–5, 6–7(5–7), [7–10]
Loss 6–12 Template:Dts Salinas, Ecuador Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Sebastián Decoud Template:Flagicon Júlio Silva
Template:Flagicon Caio Zampieri
6–7(6–8), 2–6
Loss 6–13 Template:Dts Rijeka, Croatia Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Alex Kuznetsov Template:Flagicon Dušan Karol
Template:Flagicon Jaroslav Pospíšil
4–6, 4–6
Loss 6–14 Template:Dts Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon James Cerretani Template:Flagicon Johan Brunström
Template:Flagicon Jean-Julien Rojer
4–6, 3–6
Win 7–14 Template:Dts Freudenstadt, Germany Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Kristof Vliegen Template:Flagicon Rainer Eitzinger
Template:Flagicon Armin Sandbichler
6–3, 6–3
Win 8–14 Template:Dts Donetsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Xavier Malisse Template:Flagicon Harel Levy
Template:Flagicon Noam Okun
4–6, 6–1, [13—11]
Loss 8–15 Template:Dts Grenoble, France Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Niels Desein Template:Flagicon Martin Fischer
Template:Flagicon Philipp Oswald
7–6(7–5), 5–7, [7–10]
Win 9–15 Template:Dts Rennes, France Challenger Carpet Template:Flagicon James Auckland Template:Flagicon Yves Allegro
Template:Flagicon Horia Tecău
6–3, 6–4
Win 10–15 Template:Dts Barletta, Italy Challenger Clay Template:Flagicon Johan Brunström Template:Flagicon Jonathan Marray
Template:Flagicon Igor Zelenay
6–4, 7–5
Win 11–15 Template:Dts Pétange, Luxembourg Challenger Hard Template:Flagicon Christopher Kas Template:Flagicon Jamie Murray
Template:Flagicon André Sá
2–6, 6–2, [10—8]

Performance timelines

Template:Performance key

Singles

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R A Q1 A A Q1 Q3 1R A A 2R A A A A 0 / 3 1–3 Template:Tennis win percentage
French Open A A 1R 3R Q1 A A Q2 Q2 1R Q2 2R 2R Q1 Q1 Q1 A 0 / 5 4–5 Template:Tennis win percentage
Wimbledon A 4R Q2 Q2 Q1 A A Q1 Q1 1R Q1 1R 1R A Q1 A A 0 / 4 3–4 Template:Tennis win percentage
US Open A Q2 A Q3 A A A A 2R Q1 Q1 1R Q1 Q1 A A A 0 / 2 1–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
Win–loss 0–0 3–1 0–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–3 2–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 14 9–14 Template:Tennis win percentage
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Q1 0 / 0 0–0 Template:Tennis win percentage
Miami Masters A A A A 1R A A A Q1 A A Q1 A Q1 A A A 0 / 1 0–1 Template:Tennis win percentage
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A Q2 A A A A 0 / 0 0–0 Template:Tennis win percentage
Canada Masters A A A A A A A A A A Q1 A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0 Template:Tennis win percentage
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 Template:Tennis win percentage
Stuttgart Masters A Q1 A A A A A A Not Held 0 / 0 0–0 Template:Tennis win percentage
Paris Masters Q2 A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0 Template:Tennis win percentage
Shanghai Masters Not Masters Series Q2 A 0 / 0 0–0 Template:Tennis win percentage
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 2 0–2 Template:Tennis win percentage

Doubles

Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A A A A A A A A A 2R A A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 0 / 6 2–6 Template:Tennis win percentage
French Open A A A A A A A A A A A A A A F SF 1R 1R A 0 / 4 9–4 Template:Tennis win percentage
Wimbledon 1R Q1 Q3 A A A A A A A A A 1R 2R SF SF 3R 1R A 0 / 7 11–7 Template:Tennis win percentage
US Open Q2 A A A A A A A A A A A A A QF QF 3R 1R A 0 / 4 8–4 Template:Tennis win percentage
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 12–3 11–4 4–4 0–4 1–1 0 / 21 30–21 Template:Tennis win percentage
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 Template:Tennis win percentage
Miami Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R 1R A A 0 / 2 1–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A SF 1R A A 0 / 2 2–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 2R 2R A A 0 / 2 0–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
Madrid Not Held A A A A A A A A 2R QF A A 0 / 2 1–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
Canada Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A QF 2R 1R A A 0 / 3 1–3 Template:Tennis win percentage
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A QF SF 1R A A 0 / 3 4–3 Template:Tennis win percentage
Paris Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 2R QF 1R A A 0 / 3 2–3 Template:Tennis win percentage
Shanghai Masters Not Masters Series QF 2R A A A 0 / 2 1–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–4 7–9 2–7 0–0 0–0 0 / 20 12–20 Template:Tennis win percentage

Mixed doubles

Tournament 1995 19962008 2009 2010 2011 2012 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A QF QF A 0 / 2 4–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
French Open A A A 1R 2R A 0 / 2 1–2 Template:Tennis win percentage
Wimbledon 3R A 1R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 5 2–5 Template:Tennis win percentage
US Open A A A 1R A A 0 / 1 0–1 Template:Tennis win percentage
Win–loss 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–4 3–3 0–1 0 / 10 7–10 Template:Tennis win percentage

External links

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