Jeff Turpin (born May 13, 1960) 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 United States.

Biography

Turpin's father Jack, a businessman, was a collegiate player at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

and is a member of the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame. Jeff also has two brothers who were involved in tennis. Eldest brother Scott played for Rice University and middle brother

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

competed professionally. A native of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas, Turpin graduated from

St. Mark's School of Texas The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys in grades 1–12 in Dallas, Texas, United States, accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. History St. Mark's traces its origins to the T ...

. As a high school senior in 1978, he won the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

Interscholastic Tennis Championships in both singles and doubles (the latter win was with Brad Stoffel, a St. Mark’s teammate). That summer, Turpin was runner-up to

Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl (; born March 7, 1960) is a Czech–American former professional tennis player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Lendl was ranked world No. 1 in singles for 270 weeks and won 94 singles titles. ...

in the boys' singles at the

1978 Wimbledon Championships The 1978 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 26 June until 8 July. It was the 92 ...

, which he followed up with a semi-final appearance in boys' singles at the 1978 US Open. Turpin then attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

, where he was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n varsity tennis player. Graduating with a business degree, Turpin turned professional in 1982. During his professional tennis career he competed in the main draws of the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

and US Open. He played singles twice at Wimbledon, in 1983 and 1984. On the

Grand Prix circuit The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with ...

he had his best performance in the 1984 Bristol Open, where he made the quarter-finals, with wins over Mike Leach,

Emilio Sánchez Emilio Ángel Sánchez Vicario (born 29 May 1965) is a Spanish former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He won five Grand Slam doubles titles and the men's doubles silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. Sanchez is the older brother of multi ...

and fourth seed John Fitzgerald. The tournament coincided with Wimbledon qualifying, so Turpin was often required to make the trip between

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

to play two matches in a day. He played a total of 10 matches in six days. In doubles, he and

Mike De Palmer Mike De Palmer (October 17, 1961 – August 7, 2021) was a professional tennis player from the United States. De Palmer enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won six tour doubles titles and finishe ...

had a good win at the 1984 Livingston Open, over the world's top-ranked doubles player Peter Fleming and his partner

Fritz Buehning Fritz Buehning (born March 5, 1960) is an American former tennis player. Born in Summit, New Jersey, Buehning grew up in Millburn, New Jersey and attended Millburn High School, where he won the New Jersey state individual tennis championship in ...

. In 1986, Turpin retired from professional tennis and became president of T Bar M, a tennis club in Dallas. He left in 1996 to become president of oil and gas investment company, Hallmark Energy, a firm founded by his father, Jack Turpin. He is married with three children: two daughters and a son.

Challenger titles

Doubles: (2)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, Jeff 1960 births Living people American male tennis players SMU Mustangs men's tennis players Tennis players from Dallas