Christopher O'Connell
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Christopher O'Connell (born 3 June 1994) is an Australian 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. He grew up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. O'Connell reached a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 78 on 28 November 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 460 on 25 April 2022. He made his
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 ...
debut in January 2017 in his hometown at the Sydney International.


Career


2011–16: Professional career beginnings

O'Connell played his first
ITF Men's Circuit The ITF World Tennis Tour (formerly known as the ''ITF Men's World Tennis Tour'', and previously ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. ...
match in October 2011, where he defeated Robert Howe in the Australia F8 before being defeated in the second round. O'Connell ended 2011 with a ranking of 1745. In 2012, O'Connell lost in the first round of qualifying for the Caloundra Challenger while attending the Australian Institute of Sport on a tennis scholarship. He played two more ITF tournaments in Asia before having an 22-month hiatus from professional tennis. In 2014, O'Connell was given a wild card into the qualifying rounds of the
2014 McDonald's Burnie International The 2014 McDonald's Burnie International was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the twelfth edition of the tournament for the men and the sixth edition for the women. It was part of the 2014 ATP Challenger Tou ...
, where he qualified and made the quarter-final. He then played a series of ITF tournaments across Australia before travelling to Europe. In June 2014, he played in and won his first
ITF Men's Circuit The ITF World Tennis Tour (formerly known as the ''ITF Men's World Tennis Tour'', and previously ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. ...
final in Bol, Croatia. He returned to Australia and played in the Latrobe City Traralgon ATP Challenger. He ended 2014 with a ranking of 487. In 2015, O'Connell played sporadically on the ITF and Challenger circuits across Australia and Asia, without a title. His best result was a quarter-final result at Gimcheon Challenger. Also in 2015, O'Connell worked in his hometown of Sydney, Australia to save money. He ended 2015 the year with a ranking of 567. In 2016, O'Connell won five
ITF Futures The ITF World Tennis Tour (formerly known as the ''ITF Men's World Tennis Tour'', and previously ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. ...
titles across Australia and Europe. In December 2016, O'Connell said; “I decided this year just to play a lot of matches. I think I've played over 80 matches this year and I've predominantly been in Europe - I was there for about seven months just playing week-in and week-out on the clay so I've got a lot match fitness and experience.” Massively improving his ranking in 2016, O'Connell finished the year ranked 237.


2017–18: Major & ATP debuts, injury struggles, severe drop in rankings

In January 2017, O'Connell made his
ATP World 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 organi ...
debut after qualifying for the Sydney International in his hometown. He was defeated in the first round by Portugal's
Gastão Elias Gastão José Ministro Elias (; born 24 November 1990) is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes on the ATP World Tour. He became the fifth Portuguese tennis player to break into the top 100 of the Association of Tennis Profession ...
. O'Connell then received a wildcard for the 2017 Australian Open where he lost his first round match in straight sets to (then) world number 15
Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved o ...
in his
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
debut. O'Connell then competed in the
Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popu ...
and Launceston challengers, before competing on the
ATP Challenger Tour 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 ...
across Asia, Europe and North America with limited success. In October, O'Connell qualified for and reached the semi-final of the Fairfield Challenger. O'Connell finished 2017 with a singles ranking of 393. The 2018 season was interrupted by a knee injury for O'Connell where he was only able to play 24 matches across the Futures, Challenger and ATP World Tours finishing the year with a singles ranking of 1185.


2019: Return from injury and first Challenger title

O'Connell began the year receiving wildcards into Qualifying for both the
2019 Brisbane International The 2019 Brisbane International was a tournament on the 2019 ATP Tour and 2019 WTA Tour. It was played on outdoor hard courts in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was the eleventh edition of the tournament and took place at the Queensland Te ...
and
2019 Sydney International The 2019 Sydney International was a tournament on the 2019 ATP Tour and 2019 WTA Tour. It was played on outdoor hard courts in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was the 127th edition of the tournament and took place at the NSW Tennis Cent ...
, losing to
Christian Garin Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and
Guido Andreozzi Guido Andreozzi (; ; born 5 August 1991) is an Argentine professional tennis player of Italian descent. He competes mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures, both in singles and doubles. His career-high rankings are World No. 70 in sin ...
respectively. After the controversial restructuring of the ITF/ATP points system and the launch of the ITF World Tour, O'Connell returned to the Futures circuit to start his 2019 season. Playing on clay, he made consecutive finals in Mornington before travelling to Europe to play in tournaments in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
, winning titles in
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and
Doboj Doboj ( sr-cyrl, Добој, ) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Bosna river, in the northern region of the Republika Srpska. As of 2013, it has a population of 71,441 ...
while improving his ATP Singles Ranking to 559 and his ITF World Tour Singles Ranking to 52 by mid-May. “I had a fair bit of time off, so after coming back it takes longer to get into the swing of things,” O'Connell, said. “I finally feel like I'm starting to find a bit of form and get more comfortable on the court." Reaching an ITF World Tour singles ranking of 5 and leading the Tour in Finals made with 10, O'Connell returned to the
ATP Challenger Tour 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 ...
in July recording wins in San Benedetto,
Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest ci ...
and
Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
, most notably defeating former world number 5
Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...
in straight sets in their second round clash at the 2019 BNP Paribas Sopot Open. Adjusting back to the Challenger Tour quickly, O'Connell made a breakthrough at the 2019 Internazionali di Tennis del Friuli Venezia Giulia in Cordenons, Italy, claiming his first Challenger Tour title with a straight sets victory over German Jeremy Jahn in the final. With his maiden title, O'Connell's
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 ...
ranking improved from 313 to 220 in men's singles. In September, O'Connell reached the final of Sibiu Challenger, which saw his ranking inside the top 200 for the first time. In October, O'Connell defeated American Steve Johnson in straight sets to claim his second Challenger title of the year to at the 2019 Fairfield Challenger in
Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco ...
. Speaking of O'Connell's performance, four time ATP champion and former world No. 21
Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...
said: "I thought he played some of the best tennis of his life. Too good. And when that happens, you say ‘too good’ and move on." O'Connell then followed his title with a series of strong results on the Challenger Tour, making semi-finals 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
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
& a final in
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
where he was defeated by
Michael Mmoh Michael Mmoh ( ; born January 10, 1998) is a Saudi-born American tennis player. Mmoh has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 82 achieved on 20 February 2023. He has won 7 ATP Challenger titles and 4 ITF Futures tournaments, including his ...
in straight sets. He finished 2019 with a singles ranking of 119, a career-high.


2020: First Grand Slam match win

In January, O'Connell reached the quarter final of the
2020 Bendigo Challenger The 2020 Bendigo Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament which was a part of the 2020 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Bendigo, Australia between 12 and 18 January 2020 ...
. O'Connell was awarded a wildcard into the 2020 Australian Open, where he lost in four sets to 3rd seed
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (russian: Даниил Сергеевич Медведев; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and was ...
. In February, O'Connell reached the semi-final of the 2020 Challenger Banque Nationale de Drummondville, before the COVID-19 shutdown. Upon recommencement, O'Connell won his first grand slam match, defeating Laslo Djere at the 2020 US Open. O'Connell finished 2020 with a singles rank of 120.


2021: First ATP quarterfinal

O'Connell commenced 2021 at the 2021 Great Ocean Road Open, where he reached the second round. The following week having been awarded a third wildcard at the Australian Open, O'Connell achieved an upset first round victory against
Jan-Lennard Struff Jan-Lennard Struff (; born 25 April 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 29 in August 2020. In doubles, he achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 in October 2018. He ha ...
before falling to Moldovan
Radu Albot Radu Albot (born 11 November 1989) is a Moldovan professional tennis player. He is the first player from Moldova to win ATP singles (2019 Delray Beach Open) and doubles ( 2015 Istanbul Open) titles. Albot has won 1 ATP World Tour singles tit ...
in the second round. In his first participation in his career in the main draw at the French Open as a wildcard, O'Connell lost in the first round to
Tommy Paul Tommy Paul (4 March 1909 – 28 April 1991) was a world featherweight boxing champion from Buffalo, New York. He won the world featherweight championship in May 1932, defeating Johnny Pena in a boxing tournament in Detroit. He was inducted in ...
in a tight five sets match. In June, he also qualified for the first time in his career for the
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
main draw, where he lost in the first round to No. 13 seed Gael Monfils. In July, O'Connell qualified for and won his fourth and fifth career ATP main draw matches at the Atlanta Open. In Atlanta, O'Connell reached his first ATP quarterfinal and registered his first win over a top 30 player, defeating
Jannik Sinner Jannik Sinner (; ; born 16 August 2001) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 1 November 2021, and world No. 124 in doubles, achieved on 2 ...
in the second round. He would end up losing to
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
in the quarterfinals. Following the US Open, O'Connell reached the final of the Saint-Tropez Challenger. O'Connell finished 2021 with a singles rank of 175.


2022: Australian Open third round in singles & doubles, top 100 debut

O'Connell was awarded a fourth wildcard into the
2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
. He defeated
Hugo Gaston Hugo Gaston (; born 26 September 2000) is a French tennis player. His career high ATP ranking in singles is world No. 58, which he achieved on 11 July 2022, and in doubles is world No. 220, which he achieved on 16 May 2022. He won the 2018 Aust ...
in the first round. He reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career defeating thirteenth seed Diego Schwartzman in straight sets. He would lose to American
Maxime Cressy Maxime Cressy (born May 8, 1997) is a French-American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 31 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on August 8, 2022. He has been ranked as high as wo ...
in the third round. As a result he returned to the top 150 at World No. 147 on 31 January 2022. O'Connell qualified for
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, where he lost to Andy Murray in the first round, despite winning the first set. O'Connell won his 12th challenger title in
Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...
, after
Zsombor Piros Zsombor Piros (born 13 October 1999) is a Hungarian tennis player. Piros has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 138, achieved on 10 October 2022. He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 991, achieved on 8 August ...
retired in the final trailing 0–2 in the second set after O'Connell won the first. He also upset
Albert Ramos-Viñolas Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...
after qualifying for
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
before losing to 4th seed
Reilly Opelka Reilly Opelka (born August 28, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. At 6 feet 11 inches tall, he is tied (with Ivo Karlović) for the tallest-ever ATP-ranked player, and can produce serves that measure over 140 mph. He has been ra ...
in the second round. He received a second consecutive wildcard for the
2022 French Open The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair ...
in May. He made his top 100 debut on 18 July 2022 following the
2022 Wimbledon Championships The 2022 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tier tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentlemen's singles title ...
where he did not participate. He reached his first ATP semifinal at the
2022 San Diego Open The 2022 San Diego Open was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 2nd edition of the event for the men and the 1st edition of the Southern California Open for the women since 2015. The event is ...
defeating eight seed
JJ Wolf Jeffrey John "J. J." Wolf (born December 21, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 56 on 17 October 2022. Wolf played collegiately at Ohio ...
and second seed
Jenson Brooksby Jenson Tyler "J. T." Brooksby (born October 26, 2000) is an American professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 on 13 June 2022. Collegiate career Brooksby enrolled at Baylor University to play college ...
. O'Connell finished 2022 with an ATP singles ranking of No. 79.


Personal

O'Connell is a supporter of English football club
Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional football club based in Selhurst in the Borough of Croydon, South London, England, who compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Although formally created as a profes ...


Challenger and ITF/World Tennis Tour finals


Singles: 25 (13–12)


Doubles


Performance timelines


Singles

''Current through the
2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
''


Doubles


Record against top 10 players

O'Connell's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who are active in boldface. Only ATP Tour main draw matches are considered:


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Chris Australian male tennis players 1994 births Living people Tennis players from Sydney