Middleton Albert "Al" Parker (born December 22, 1968) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from the

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Early life

Parker attended Pinewood Christian Academy, where his tennis talents were recognized during middle school.

Career

Juniors

Parker won 25 USTA titles during his junior career.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> He made the boys' quarterfinals at the 1985 US Open and was runner-up to Javier Sánchez in the 1986

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

(18s).

Pro tour and college tennis

He twice appeared in the men's singles draw of the US Open, in 1986, when he lost in the opening round to 13th seed Anders Järryd and 1987, when he lost a four set first round match to

Tarik Benhabiles Tarik Benhabiles (born 5 February 1965 in Algiers, Algeria) is a former Algerian-French tennis player. He achieved his highest ATP-ranking on 8 June 1987, when the right-hander was listed as the number 22 player in the world. Benhabiles's profes ...

. He was a silver medalist at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

and was a finalist at a Raleigh Challenger tournament in the same year. Parker played collegiate tennis at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and reached the NCAA Division One singles semifinals in 1988. He was named the Academic All-American of the Year in 1990-91. In the early 1990s he played professionally but was constantly hampered by injuries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Al 1968 births Living people American male tennis players Tennis people from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Bulldogs tennis players Tennis players at the 1987 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Savannah, Georgia People from Claxton, Georgia Pan American Games medalists in tennis Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 20th-century American people