Paul Herbert Goldstein (born August 4, 1976) is a retired
tennis player
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 cove ...
from the United States, who turned professional in 1998. He announced his retirement from professional tennis in February 2008, as he was starting working with a
clean energy
Clean may refer to:
* Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment
* Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt
Arts and media Music A ...
company.
As a junior, 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, ...
Boys' 16s National Championship in 1992, and the USTA Boys' 18s National Championships in both 1993 and 1994. He then played college tennis at
Stanford University, from which he graduated after a career in which he was named an
All-American each of the four years he played, and the team won the national championship each year. He won the
gold medal in singles at the
1999 Pan American Games
The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...
.
The right-hander reached career-high
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
rankings of World No. 58 in singles in April 2006, and World No. 40 in doubles in February 2007. He is now head coach of the Stanford Men's tennis team.
Early life
Goldstein was born Washington DC and raised in
Rockville, Maryland, and is Jewish.
He is the son of
Clark Goldstein, a former national
table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
champion. He started playing when he was nine.
He won the USTA Boys' 16s National Championship in 1992, and the USTA Boys' 18s National Championships in both 1993 and 1994 (in 1994, defeating
Jan-Michael Gambill
Jan-Michael Charles Gambill (born June 3, 1977) is an American former professional tennis player who made his professional debut in 1996. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 14, which he achieved on June 18, 2001. Best known for his unu ...
).
He also won the 1994 doubles championship with Scott Humphries.
He is a 1994 graduate of
Sidwell Friends School
Sidwell Friends School is a Quaker school located in Bethesda, Maryland and Washington, D.C., offering pre-kindergarten through high school classes. Founded in 1883 by Thomas W. Sidwell, its motto is ' ( en, Let the light shine out from all), a ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where he was a four-time ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' First Team All Met selection ('91–'94).
College career
Goldstein played college tennis at
Stanford University and graduated in 1998 with a degree in
human biology
Human biology is an interdisciplinary area of academic study that examines humans through the influences and interplay of many diverse fields such as genetics, evolution, physiology, anatomy, epidemiology, anthropology, ecology, nutrition, populat ...
.
He was an
All-American each year, and the team won the national championship each year.
In his senior year he was
Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1998, after a 33–2 season in which he was team captain.
Pan American Games
Goldstein won the
gold medal in singles at the
1999 Pan American Games
The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...
defeating
Cecil Mamiit.
Pro career
He had 26 USTA titles through November 200
Paul Goldstein: Circuit Player of the Week
In January 1999 at the Australian Open he shocked world # 8
Greg Rusedski
Gregory Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a British and Canadian former tennis player. He was the British No. 1 in 1997, 1999 and 2006, and reached the ATP ranking of world No. 4 for periods from 6 October 1997 to 12 October 1997 and from 25 ...
, 6–4, 6–7(11,) 7–6(5), 6–2. In June at Wimbledon he upset both world # 33
Jan Siemerink
Johannes Martinus ("Jan") Siemerink (born 14 April 1970) is a retired tennis player from the Netherlands. The former Dutch Davis Cup captain reached a career-high ATP ranking of 14.
Career Tennis
As a junior player, Siemerink was the Dutch 18 ...
, 6–4, 5–7, 4–6, 6–2, 6–1, and # 17
Félix Mantilla, 6–2, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–2. In August he upset world # 8
Àlex Corretja
Àlex Corretja i Verdegay (; born 11 April 1974) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. During his career, he was twice a major runner-up at the French Open (in 1998 and 2001), won the Tour Finals in 1998, reached a career-high single ...
of Spain 7–6(11), 7–6(5), in Washington, D.C..
In February 2000 he defeated world # 17
Patrick Rafter
Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He reached the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking on 26 July 1999. His career highlights include consecutive US Open ...
of Australia 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, in
Delray Beach, Florida
Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles (83 kilometers) north of Miami, Delray Beach is in the ...
.
In the 2005 US Open, Goldstein and
Jim Thomas upset defending champions and #1 seeds
Mark Knowles
Mark Knowles (born 4 September 1971) is a Bahamian professional tennis coach and former professional tennis player, becoming the former number 1 in world as a specialist in doubles tennis. He won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in ...
and
Daniel Nestor in the first round, as well as
Simon Aspelin
Simon Aspelin (; born 11 May 1974) is a former professional tennis doubles player from Sweden who turned professional in 1998. His success mainly came in doubles, winning 12 titles and reaching World No. 7 in March 2008. In men's doubles, Aspel ...
and
Todd Perry in the QFs, before losing to eventual champions
Bob Bryan
Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...
and
Mike Bryan
Michael Carl Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. With his twin brother Bob, he was the world's top doubles player for more than nine years, first achieving the top ranking in Septem ...
in the SFs. In the 2006 US Open, Goldstein and Thomas again defeated Knowles and Nestor (this time in the 3rd round).
Goldstein and
Jim Thomas lost in the doubles finals of the 2006
SAP Open
The Pacific Coast Championships was an annual men's tennis tournament. It was the second-oldest ongoing tennis tournament in the United States and ran from 1889 until 2013. Its final edition, known by its sponsored name SAP Open, was an ATP World ...
to 47-year-old
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
and
Jonas Björkman
Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...
. They also were doubles finalists in two other ATP tournaments in 2006 (
Indianapolis, won by
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals ( Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Ope ...
and
Bobby Reynolds
Robert Thomas "Bobby" Reynolds (born July 17, 1982) is an American retired professional tennis player who resides in Auburn, Alabama. He was named head men's tennis coach at Auburn University in June 2016.
Professional career
Reynolds, a nativ ...
, and
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, won by
Ashley Fisher and
Tripp Phillips
Owen Thomas Phillips III (better known as Tripp Phillips) (born August 26, 1977) is a former American professional tennis player.
Early life
Phillips was born in Newport News, Virginia. He started to play tennis at the age of four with his m ...
).
In February 2006 he beat world # 18
Robby Ginepri
Robert Louis Ginepri ( ; born October 7, 1982) is a retired American professional tennis player. He won three ATP singles titles in his career and achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 15 in December 2005. Ginepri's best Grand Slam result ...
6–7(4), 6–3, 6–1, in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, and in July he defeated world # 13
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...
6–4, 6–4 in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. In the January
Australian Open, he beat future champion
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
in the first round 6–2, 1–6, 6–3, 6–2. Paul was easily defeated in the next round by Tommy Haas 0–6, 1–6, 2–6. Haas lost to Federer in 5 sets in the fourth round.
In January 2007 he defeated world # 21
Dominik Hrbatý
Dominik Hrbatý (; born 4 January 1978) is a Slovakian former professional tennis player. Hrbatý reached the semifinals of the 1999 French Open, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in October 2005. Hrbatý is one of onl ...
of
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
6–2, 7–6(4), in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, Australia. The next month he defeated world # 45
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is ATP world no. 25, which he reached in November 2014. He formerly resided in Boulogne-Billancourt and ...
in Las Vegas, 6–1, 6–0. Despite losing in the first round of singles at the Tunica Resorts Challenger in May, he and
Donald Young won the doubles final, defeating
Pablo Cuevas
Pablo Gabriel Cuevas Urroz (; born January 1, 1986) is an inactive Uruguayan professional tennis player. Cuevas won the 2008 French Open men's doubles title with Luis Horna.
He has won six singles titles and has a career-high singles ranking of ...
and
Horacio Zeballos
Horacio Zeballos Jr. (; born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 39 achieved in March 2013 and his career-high doubles ranking is world No. 3 achieved in September 2019. In dou ...
4–6, 6–1, 10–4.
Tennis exhibitions
Goldstein has participated in exhibition events for other tennis players and their charities, including Andy Roddick, Jim Thomas, and the Bryan brothers. On September 27, 2008, he participated in The Bryan Brothers' All-Star Tennis Smash in
Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tr ...
, initially playing doubles with Justin Gimblestob, and ending up playing singles with Andre Agassi (losing 7–5).
Post-retirement
Goldstein officially retired in February 2008 and began working with a
clean energy
Clean may refer to:
* Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment
* Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt
Arts and media Music A ...
company in the
San Francisco Bay area. In 2004 he married his college sweetheart and partner of nine years, Abbie; it was she who persuaded him to play on during the 2007 season. They live in
Menlo Park, California, with their three children.
In 2014, Goldstein became head coach of the Stanford Men's Tennis Team.
Halls of Fame
Goldstein was inducted into the
ITA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.
Goldstein was inducted into the North California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
ATP career finals
Doubles: 5 (5 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 20 (13–7)
Doubles: 20 (12–8)
Junior Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
See also
*
List of select Jewish tennis players
References
External links
*
*
Goldstein World Ranking HistoryJews in Sports bio"Paul Goldstein: Circuit Player of the Week", 11/9/05
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein, Paul
1976 births
Living people
American male tennis players
Stanford Cardinal men's tennis players
Tennis players from San Francisco
Tennis players from Washington, D.C.
Tennis players at the 1999 Pan American Games
Jewish American sportspeople
Jewish tennis players
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in tennis
Universiade medalists in tennis
Universiade gold medalists for the United States
Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games
21st-century American Jews