Damien Roberts (born 26 January 1978) is a South African 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.

Biography

Roberts went to

Kearsney College Kearsney College is a private boarding, English medium high school for boys in Botha's Hill, a small town between the provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. History Kearsney College ...

until 1994, when he moved to the United States to train at the John Newcombe Tennis Academy in Texas. He attended

New Braunfels High School New Braunfels High School (commonly referred to as NBHS) is a public high school in New Braunfels, Texas, United States, that was established in 1845. Up until 2008, New Braunfels was one of the largest 4A high schools in Texas and is classified ...

. As a junior, he was ranked as high as 11 in the world in doubles and was a finalist in the

1996 Wimbledon Championships The 1996 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 110th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...

with countryman

Wesley Whitehouse Wesley Whitehouse (born 13 March 1979) is a South African-born New Zealand tennis player. Biography Whitehouse lives or has lived in between Pretoria, South Africa and Phoenix, Arizona but currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand Career J ...

. From 1996 to 2001, Roberts competed professionally on the international tennis circuit, mostly in

ATP Challenger The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...

tournaments. He won a total of five Challenger titles during his career, all in doubles. Most notably he competed in the main draw of the

1999 Wimbledon Championships The 1999 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 113th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...

. He was eliminated in the opening round of qualifying in the singles and only narrowly missed qualification in the men's doubles, he and partner

Amir Hadad Amir Hadad (Hebrew: אמיר חדד, born 17 February 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. His highest singles ATP ranking was World No. 180, achieved in April 2003, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 87, achieved in Ma ...

lost the final qualifier in five sets. However the pair received a lucky loser entry into the main draw, where they lost in the first round to South Africans

David Adams David Adams Musical Theatre Performer Starlight Express, Avenue Q, Les Miserables, Government officials * David S. Adams (State Department) (born 1961), Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs * David Adams (Labour politician) ( ...

and

John-Laffnie de Jager John-Laffnie de Jager (born 17 March 1973) is a South African former tour professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, de Jager reached the semi-finals for three different grand slam tournaments three times in three different years partn ...

. He appeared in the main draw of one ATP Tour event, the doubles at the 2001 Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. Partnering

Marcus Hilpert Marcus Hilpert (born 1 July 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. Early years Hilpert was born in India, to a Khasi Indian mother and German father. His father worked as a diplomat, so Hilpert also lived in Indonesia, Sri La ...

, they lost to

Julian Knowle Julian Knowle (born 29 April 1974) is an Austrian former male professional tennis player. Being a born left-hander, Knowle was one of the few on the ATP Tour who played his forehand, backhand, and even volleys double-handed. He was Austria's m ...

and

Lorenzo Manta Lorenzo Manta (born 16 September 1974 in Winterthur) is a former tennis player from Switzerland, who turned professional in 1992. The right-hander reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 103 in June 2000. His best achievement in the ...

in the first round. For many years after retiring he worked at the

Lawn Tennis Association The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Founded in 1888, the LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. It believes that tennis can provide "physical ...

in England as the head of physical training and a national tennis coach. Due to his role with the

Great Britain Fed Cup team The Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team represents the United Kingdom in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Lawn Tennis Association. In 2020, they lost out on a chance to secure a place at the inaugural Billie Jean King Cup f ...

and as national women's coach, he was also involved the development of

Laura Robson Laura Robson (born 21 January 1994) is a British former professional tennis player. She debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2007, and a year later won the Junior Wimbledon championships at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached th ...

and

Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri K ...

. He is now the Director of Performance Tennis at TennisGear in Brisbane, Australia.

Challenger titles

Doubles: (5)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Damien 1978 births Living people South African male tennis players Tennis players from Durban Sportspeople from New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels High School alumni South African tennis coaches South African expatriates in Australia African Games medalists in tennis African Games bronze medalists for South Africa Competitors at the 1995 All-Africa Games Alumni of Kearsney College