Paul Dogger (born 4 July 1971) 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 Netherlands.

Biography

Career

Dogger, who was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, was a highly ranked junior, the national champion in multiple age levels growing up. He often outperformed close friend

Richard Krajicek Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek ( cz, Krajíček; born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. In 1996, he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon, and remains the only Dutch player to have won a major singles title. In ...

, who went on to win Wimbledon. Most notably, Dogger beat Brice Karsh to win the Under 16s title at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

in 1987. At the age of 16 he played in an exhibition tournament in Ede which included a match against

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. ...

where he was competitive in a 4–6, 4–6 loss. Only days after turning 17 in 1988, he became one of the youngest players to win a

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 1979 ...

tournament when he claimed the title at

Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. In the same month he represented the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in a

1988 Davis Cup The 1988 Davis Cup (also known as the 1988 Davis Cup by NEC for sponsorship purposes) was the 77th edition of the Davis Cup, the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. This year's tournament marked the introduction of s ...

tie against the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

in the Latvian resort town of

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 49,325 in 2019 ...

. Featuring in two singles rubbers, he lost both to his Soviet opponents,

Andrei Cherkasov Andrei Gennadievich Cherkasov (; born 4 July 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. Career Born in Ufa, Soviet Union, Cherkasov first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player. In 1987, he was ranke ...

and

Andrei Chesnokov Andrei Eduardovich Chesnokov (russian: Андрей Эдуардович Чесноков, links=no; born 2 February 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. Career Chesnokov's highest singles ranking was World No. 9 in 1991. ...

, as the Netherlands were whitewashed in the tie. He was a boys' singles quarter-finalist at the 1988 French Open and bettered that performance at the

1989 French Open The 1989 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 29 May until 11 June. It was the 93rd staging of the French Open, and the second Gran ...

by making the semi-finals. Unable to replicate his junior success on the professional tour, he peaked at 191 in the world while still only 17 and his best result on the Grand Prix/ATP Tour was a second round appearance at the 1988 Dutch Open. He struggled with injuries and illness, including hernia problems and pneumonia, before retiring at the age of 22 in 1993.

Personal life

Dogger has battled with alcohol and cocaine addition. His father Fred, a former top three player in the Netherlands, suffered from multiple sclerosis and in 1996 chose

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

to end his life. This experience was one of the catalysts for Dogger to undergo rehabilitation after emigrating to the United States in 1999. He married an American and has since returned to the Netherlands where he works as a tennis coach.

Challenger titles

Singles: (1)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dogger, Paul 1971 births Living people Dutch male tennis players Tennis players from Amsterdam