Steven Downs (born 8 September 1975) 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 cov ...

player from New Zealand.

Biography

Downs was a leading international junior, who was the world number one doubles player in 1993 and designated

ITF World Champion The International Tennis Federation (ITF) designates a World Champion each year based on performances throughout the year, emphasising the Grand Slam tournaments,ITF Constitution, p.26, Rule 2.2(a)(iii) and also considering team events such as th ...

. He reached a final at all four Grand Slam tournaments in 1993. With partner

James Greenhalgh James Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1975) is a former professional tennis player from New Zealand. Career Greenhalgh, a doubles specialist, was born in England, but at the age of four moved to New Zealand. In his junior career he partnered count ...

, he won two boys' doubles titles, the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

and

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 Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

. Downs, who played cricket for Auckland up to the Under 14s, made the singles final at 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 Ope ...

and was runner-up to Marcelo Ríos at the US Open, for a year-end number five ranking. Following his junior success in 1993, Downs turned professional and in 1994 made his first

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 ...

tournament in Auckland. Every year from 1994 to 1997 he featured in the main draw of the Auckland Open. In 1995 he made the round of 16, with a win over the world's 45th-ranked player,

Fabrice Santoro Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...

. During his career he participated in three ties for the

New Zealand Davis Cup team The New Zealand men's national tennis team represents New Zealand in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by Tennis New Zealand. New Zealand currently compete in Group II of the Asia/Oceania Zone. They have played in the World Group ...

. In 1995 he made his debut in a tie against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by the ...

in Wellington and won both of his singles matches, in a 5–0 whitewash. He was called up again when New Zealand played a World Group qualifier that year in Hamilton, against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. His first singles match was the opening rubber of the tie, a loss to

Marc Rosset Marc Rosset (born 7 November 1970) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He is best known for winning the men's singles gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won a major doubles title, at the French Open in 1992 partnering com ...

. When he and

Alistair Hunt Alistair Hunt (born 11 November 1972) is a former professional tennis player from New Zealand. Biography Hunt grew up in Christchurch and was the top ranked junior in the country at under 18s level. As a junior he competed in the boys events at ...

lost in the doubles, the tie was lost, although he did win a reverse singles rubber over Jakob Hlasek. In 1996, he played two more singles matches, in a tie against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in Seoul, for losses to Lee Hyung-taik and

Yoon Yong-il Yoon Yong-Il (born September 23, 1973 in Daegu, South Korea) is a former professional South Korean tennis player. Yoon reached his highest individual ranking on the ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour ...

, but New Zealand still prevailed. His last ATP Tour appearance in singles came at the 1996 Infiniti Open in Los Angeles, where he lost in the first round to

Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 19 ...

. He was runner-up at a Perth

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 197 ...

event in 1996. At his peak, Downs was the second-ranked player in New Zealand, behind

Brett Steven Brett Andrew Steven (born 27 April 1969) is a former New Zealand tennis player. Steven began his tennis career at the age of 10 as a ball boy and by the age of 16 he participated at his first tournament. Steven turned professional in 1988 an ...

. A combination of factors, including an elbow injury, brought about an early retirement from professional tennis after the 1997 season.

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (2 runners-up)

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, Steven 1975 births Living people New Zealand male tennis players French Open junior champions Wimbledon junior champions Tennis players from Auckland Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles