Robert Kendrick

Robert Bradley Kendrick (born November 15, 1979) is an American retired professional tennis player.

In 1996, he led his team to an undefeated section championship.

Kendrick has been called a serve-and-volley player.

Kendrick's main strengths are his serve and his forehand.

Throughout high school, he competed in junior tennis and enjoyed some intermittent success.

In 1996, he was the runner-up in singles at the 1996 USTA Boys’ 18s National Indoor Championships.

He graduated from Bullard High School in 1997.

Then in 1997, he reached the final in doubles of the Easter Bowl and reached the singles final and took the doubles title at the USTA International Grass Court Championships.

In 1998, he attended the University of Washington, earning All-American in singles and doubles as a sophomore, with a record of 31–9 and got as high as no. 3 in the collegiate rankings that year.

He then transferred to Pepperdine University for his junior year and again attained All-American with an 18–10 record.

He reached the round of 16 at the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, where he lost to Jeff Morrison.

He turned professional in 2000.

In 2001, he and Michael Russell won the doubles championship at the USTA Futures event in Mobile, Alabama.

In 2006, Kendrick entered the top 100 for the first time in his career, ending the year at world no. 87.

Consequently, 2006 is generally considered to be Kendrick's breakthrough year to date.

Kendrick got to the second round of the 2006 ATP Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

He defeated Kevin Kim 6–4, 7–5 in the first round, but lost to eighth seed Vincent Spadea 4–6, 1–6, in his second-round match.

Kendrick went into Wimbledon ranked world no. 237.

In his first match, he beat Yen-Hsun Lu 7–6, 6–3, 6–0.

In the second round, he lost to second seed, Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard had to come back for only the second time in his career from two sets down to beat Kendrick 6–7, 3–6, 7–6, 7–5, 6–4.

Kendrick's performance surprised many.

Up until the final, Kendrick was the only player in the tournament to take sets from Nadal.

The Spaniard lost the final to top-seeded Swiss Roger Federer.

Kendrick played in the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tenis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.

He made it to the quarterfinals, but was beaten by Andy Murray 0–6, 0–6.

He made amends for the defeat by winning the doubles title with his Austrian playing partner Jürgen Melzer.

In the final, the duo beat South African Jeff Coetzee and American Justin Gimelstob.

In 2007, Kendrick played in all four Grand Slam tournaments.

In January at the Australian Open, he drew Rafael Nadal in the first round and lost 6–7, 3–6, 2–6, committing six double faults and having a low percentage of second-serve points won (38%).

Kendrick subsequently lost in the first round of several tournaments before reaching the third round at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he was defeated in straight sets by Andy Murray.

At the French Open, Kendrick again fell in the first round, losing in four sets to world no. 134 Juan Pablo Brzezicki of Argentina, again thanks to six double faults and a low percentage of second serve points won (this time, 46%).

At the Queen's Club Championships in June, he reached the second round and won a set against Novak Djokovic.

At Wimbledon, however, he was not able to reach the second round as he had the previous year, losing a five-setter to Tommy Robredo.

He went 1–3 in the US Open Series, before falling to Igor Andreev of Russia in the first round of the US Open itself 6–7, 3–6, 4–6.

Again, his second serve was a weakness: he won just 42% of second-serve points and double-faulted five times.

His career-high singles ranking is World No. 69, achieved in July 2009.

Robert Kendrick was born to Tom and Doris Kendrick and began playing tennis at the age of 5.

Tom is a real estate appraiser and Doris is a housewife.

Kendrick has three older siblings: Kerry, Tommy, and Scott.