Andrew Whittington (tennis)

Andrew Whittington (born 11 August 1993) is a former Australian professional tennis player.[1] He made the world's top 200 in August 2016 following a semifinal run at the 2016 Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships. His best performance came by reaching the quarterfinals of the 2014 Australian Open with Alex Bolt. In May 2014, Whittington and Bolt won the China International Challenger, which was both players' first Challenger doubles title. He made his singles grand slam debut at the 2017 Australian Open after being given a wildcard.

Andrew Whittington
Country (sports)Australia Australia
ResidenceWilliamstown, Victoria, Australia
Born (1993-08-11) 11 August 1993 (age 31)
Williamstown, Victoria, Australia
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro2010
Retired2019
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$482,706
Singles
Career record2–3 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 160 (20 March 2017)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2017)
French OpenQ1 (2017)
Wimbledon1R (2017)
US OpenQ1 (2016)
Doubles
Career record11–9
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 74 (15 January 2018)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (2017)
Wimbledon1R (2014, 2017)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open2R (2019)
Last updated on: 11 August 2022.

Whittington turned to coaching his former doubles partner and current professional Australian tennis player Alex Bolt for the 2022 summer.[2]

Career

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2010–2012: Career beginnings

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Whittington made his first singles appearance in April 2010 at the Australian F3 where he lost in round 1 to Brendan Moore. Throughout 2010/11, Whittington played mostly on the ITF circuits across Australia and the USA where he reached two quarter finals in singles. In 2011, Whittington began partnering Luke Saville in doubles. The pair won back-to-back ITF doubles titles in November. The pair were given a wild card into the 2012 Australian Open Men's doubles. They lost in round 1. In March 2012, Whittington began partnering Alex Bolt; the pair won three ITF doubles titles before June.

Whittington made his first appearance in the singles main draw of an ATP Challenger Tour at Caloundra in February 2012, losing narrowly in round 1. The remainder of 2012 was spent on the ITF Circuit across Australia and Europe and he reached two semi-finals.

2013–2014: Doubles success

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In January 2013, Whittington was given a wild card into the Burnie Challenger where he reached the quarter-finals, before playing ITF tour across USA and Europe. In April, Whittington reached his first final in Greece. He lost to Dimitar Kuzmanov in straight sets. He returned to Australia in September 2013 and lost in the final of the Australia F6 to Adam Feeney, before winning his first single title the following week at the F7 against Alex Bolt. Following the win, he told Tennis Australia "I’ve never felt like that before, I still feel like I’m out there playing."[3] In November 2013, he won his second ITF title in Cambodia against Gavin van Peperzeel.[4]

In doubles, Whittington played with a number of partners throughout 2013 but re-joined Alex Bolt in September and commenced a successful doubles run. The pair won three consecutive ITF doubles titles in Australia and in October, the pair reached their first Challenger final at the Melbourne Challenger, losing to Thanasi Kokkinakis and Benjamin Mitchell.

In January 2014, Whittington lost in the first round of qualifying for the 2014 Brisbane International and 2014 Australian Open.

Whittington and Bolt were given wild cards into the Men's doubles. The pair defeated the number 3 seeds David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco in round two, ultimately losing at the quarter-final stage to number 8 seed Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić. The match was played on Rod Laver Arena; the pair's first appearance on centre court.[5] The pair then made a series of semi-finals across Australia circuit before winning their first Challenger title in Anning in May. This increased Whittington's double ranking to within the world's top 100.

In June, Whittington and Bolt qualified for the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles, this was the pair's first appearance at Wimbledon. They lost in round 1 to Feliciano López and Jürgen Melzer. In August, Whittington lost in the final of the Chinese Taipei F1 before returning to Australia playing in ITF and Challenger circuit. By November 2014, Whittington had reached his twentieth doubles final. Whittington ended 2014 with a singles ranking of 525 and doubles ranking of 109.

2015–2016: Focus on singles and ATP World Tour debut

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In January 2015, Whittington and Bolt made the final of the Onkaparinga Challenger, before reaching the third round of the Men's doubles. Throughout the rest of 2015, Whittington began focussing on singles matches on the ATP Challenger tour, with limited success.

Whittington commenced 2016 at the Happy Valley Challenger, qualifying for and reaching the semi-final. This was his best singles performance to date at this level. Whittington then played the Canberra and Launceston challenger events before winning his third and fourth ITF singles title in Mornington in March.[6] He played in Nanjing, Anning and Bangkok challenger events before winning his fifth ITF title in Guam in May. In June, Whittington won three ITF titles in three weeks in Hong Kong. In July, Whittington was seeded for the first time in a Challenger Event at Gimcheon and reached his first final against Max Purcell. This was followed up by a semi final result at Lexington Challenger and quarter final result at Granby. Whittington increased his singles ranking inside the top 200 for the first time. In September, Whittington contended the US Open for the first time, losing in round 1 of qualifying to João Souza.[7] Whittington then qualified for the main draw of an ATP World Tour for the first time in Shenzhen. In his ATP debut, he saved four match points against Luca Vanni, eventually winning 2–6, 7–6, 6–2 in two hours and 20 minutes.[8] He lost in round 2 to Richard Gasquet. Whittington ended the year playing challenger events in Vietnam and China. Whittington ended 2016 with a career high singles ranking of 170 and a doubles ranking of 312.

2017: First Grand Slam appearance

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On 2 January 2017, Tennis Australia awarded Whittington a wild card into the 2017 Australian Open. This was Whittington's first singles appearance in a grand slam.[9] He defeated Adam Pavlásek in 4 sets in round 1, before losing to Ivo Karlović in round 2.[10] Whittington partnered Marc Polmans in the 2017 Australian Open – Men's doubles, where they reached the semi-finals. Whittington played on the challenger tour before heading to USA in March, where he lost in qualifying for both Indian Wells and Miami Masters. At the French Open Whittington lost in round 1 of qualifying. In June, Whittington entered the qualifying for Wimbledon. In the first round of qualifying, he recovered from a 1–4 deficit in the final set, saving break points in the sixth game against Stéphane Robert of France, to prevail 3–6, 7–5, 6–4. In R2 of Qualifying he won from a set down again, winning 6–7, 6–4, 6–4 against Tim Smyczek before qualifying for Wimbledon for the first time 4–6, 2–6, 7–6(7), 7–6(3), 6–0. Whittington saved two match points in the third set tie-break at 4–6 after coming from 2–5 down in that same tie-break against Denis Kudla. Whittington gallantly went down to Thiago Monteiro in R1, saving match points against his serve at 4–5 in the fourth set before losing that set and the match in a tie-break.[11]

Personal life

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Whittington supports the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League.[12] He also supports Orlando Magic in National Basketball Association.

Tour finals

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Singles: 14 (8–6)

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Legend (singles)
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–0)
ATP Challenger Tour (0–2)
ITF Futures Tour (8–4)
Titles by surface
Hard (8–6)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 5 May 2013 Heraklion, Greece F5 Hard   Dimitar Kuzmanov 1–6, 2–6
Runner-up 2. 15 September 2013 Toowoomba, Australia F6 Hard   Adam Feeney 6–7, 6–4
Winner 3. 22 September 2013 Cairns, Australia F7 Hard   Alex Bolt 6–4, 6–4
Winner 4. 1 December 2013 Phnom Penh, Cambodia F1 Hard   Gavin van Peperzeel 7–5, 6–0
Runner-up 5. 24 August 2014 Chinese Taipei, F1 Hard   Liang Chi Huang 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 6. 16 November 2014 Wollongong, F9, Australia Hard   Brydan Klein 3–6, 3–6
Winner 7. 20 March 2016 Mornington, F2 Australia Hard   Gavin van Peperzeel 6–2, 6–3
Winner 8. 27 March 2016 Mornington, F4 Australia Hard   Christopher O'Connell 7–5, 6–3
Winner 9. 29 May 2016 Tumon, F1 Guam Hard   Shuichi Sekiguchi 7–6, 7–6
Winner 10. 12 June 2016 Hong Kong, F1 Hard   He Yecong 7–5, 6–3
Winner 11. 19 June 2016 Hong Kong, F2 Hard   Daniel Nolan 6–3, 6–3
Winner 12. 25 June 2016 Hong Kong, F3 Hard   Jumpei Yamasaki 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 13. 24 July 2016 Gimcheon, South Korea Hard   Max Purcell 6–3, 6–7, 1–5 (ret)
Runner-up 14. 26 November 2017 Hua Hin, Thailand Hard   John Millman 2–6, 2–6

Doubles: 33 (23–10)

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Legend (singles)
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–0)
ATP Challenger Tour (4–5)
ITF Futures Tour (19–5)
Titles by surface
Hard (17–7)
Clay (6–2)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 20 November 2011 F12 Australia Hard   Luke Saville   John Peers
  Dane Propaggia
4–6, 6–4, 10–5
Winner 2. 27 November 2011 F13 Australia Hard   Luke Saville   Matthew Barton
  Michael Look
6–7, 6–4, 12–10
Winner 3. 19 February 2012 F1 Australia Hard   Luke Saville   Brydan Klein
  Dane Propaggia
6–7, 6–2
Winner 4. 15 April 2012 F4, Italy Clay   Alex Bolt   Erik Crepaldi
  Claudio Grassi
6–3, 7–6
Winner 5. 10 June 2012 F2, Slovenia Clay   Alex Bolt   Miki Janković
  Nik Razboršek
6–4, 7–6
Winner 6. 24 June 2012 F6, Germany Clay   Alex Bolt   Jan-Lennard Struff
  Mattis Wetzel
6–1, 6–0
Runner-up 7. 15 July 2012 F10, Great Britain Grass   Andrew Harris   Lewis Burton
  Edward Corrie
1–6, 1–6
Runner-up 8. 15 July 2012 F5, Australia Hard   Jay Andrijic   Adam Feeney
  Nick Lindahl
3–6, 5–7
Winner 9. 16 September 2012 F6 Australia Hard   Luke Saville   Yuichi Ito
  Yusuke Watanuki
6–3, 6–2
Winner 10. 14 October 2012 F10 Australia Hard   Luke Saville   Matthew Barton
  Michael Look
7–6, 7–6
Winner 11. 5 May 2013 F5, Greece Hard   Joshua Milton   Filip Peliwo
  Hugo Di Feo
2–6, 6–3, 10–7
Winner 12. 15 September 2013 F6, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Adam Feeney
  Gavin van Peperzeel
6–1, 3–6, 10–7
Winner 13. 22 September 2013 F7, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Kento Takeuchi
  Isaac Frost
6–3, 6–2
Winner 14. 29 September 2013 F8, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Adam Feeney
  Gavin van Peperzeel
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 15. 21 October 2013 Melbourne, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Thanasi Kokkinakis
  Benjamin Mitchell
3–6, 2–6
Winner 16. 1 December 2013 F1, Cambodia Hard   Gavin van Peperzeel   Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul
  Danai Udomchoke
6–3, 3–6, 10–7
Winner 17. 3 May 2014 Anning, China Clay   Alex Bolt   Daniel Cox
  Gong Maoxin
6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 18. 20 July 2014 F1, Estonia Clay   Micke Kontinen   Lukas Mugevicius
  Aleksandr Vasilenko
7–6, 3–6, 6–10
Winner 19. 27 July 2014 F2, Estonia Clay   Markus Kerner   Vladamir Ivanov
  Yan Sabanin
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 20. 16 November 2014 F9, Australia Hard   Mitchell Krueger   Marc Polmans
  Steven de Waard
6–7, 6–7
Runner-up 21. 11 January 2015 Onkaparinga, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Aleksandr Nedovyesov
  Andrey Kuznetsov
5–7, 4–6
Winner 22. 29 March 2015 F4, Australia Hard   Jordan Thompson   Marc Polmans
  Steven de Waard
6–2, 7–6
Runner-up 23. 3 May 2015 Anning, China Clay   Karunuday Singh   Bai Yan
  Wu Di
3–6, 4–6
Winner 24. 11 November 2015 Canberra International, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Brydan Klein
  Dane Proppagia
7–6, 6–3
Winner 25. 28 February 2016 F1, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Marc Polmans
  José Statham
7–6, 6–3
Runner-up 26. 6 March 2016 F2, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Marc Polmans
  Steven de Waard
3–6, 7–6, 6–10
Winner 27. 13 March 2016 F3, Australia Hard   Greg Jones   Gavin van Peperzeel
  Bradley Mousley
6–3, 6–2
Winner 28. 29 May 2016 F1, Guam Hard   Toshihide Matsui   Sho Katayama
  Yutaro Matsuzaki
6–3, 3–6, 10–8
Winner 29. 5 June 2016 F6, Japan Clay   Yasutaka Uchiyama   Katsuki Nagao
  Hirosama Oku
7–6, 6–4
Runner-up 30. 11 February 2017 Launceston, Australia Hard   Alex Bolt   Bradley Mousley
  Luke Saville
1–6, 2–6
Runner-up 31 5 November 2017 Canberra International, Australia Hard   Luke Saville   Alex Bolt
  Bradley Mousley
3–6, 2–6
Winner 32 19 November 2017 Toyota, Japan Hard (i)   Max Purcell   Ruben Gonzales
  Christopher Rungkat
6–3, 2–6, [10–8]
Winner 33 15 April 2018 Taipei, Taiwan Hard (i)   Matthew Ebden   Prajnesh Gunneswaran
  Saketh Myneni
6–4, 5–7, [10–6]

Doubles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Current through 2018 Australian Open.

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R A QF 3R 1R SF 1R 0 / 6 9–6
French Open A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Wimbledon A A 1R A A 1R A 0 / 2 0–2
US Open A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Win–loss 0–1 0–0 3–2 2–1 0–1 4–2 0–1 0 / 8 9–8
Career statistics
Overall win–loss 0–1 0–0 3–2 2–1 0–1 6–3 0–1 11–9
Year-end ranking 325 274 109 116 312 76 228

References

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  1. ^ "Players". ATP Tour.
  2. ^ "Andrew Whittington".
  3. ^ "HADZIC AND WHITTINGTON CROWNED IN CAIRNS". Tennis Australia. 22 September 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  4. ^ "WHITTINGTON THRIVES ON FUTURES CIRCUIT". Tennis Australia. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Australian Open Day 9 Preview". Tennis Australia. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  6. ^ "CONSECUTIVE MORNINGTON TITLES FOR WHITTINGTON". Tennis Australia. 27 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Seven Aussies set for US Open qualifying". Tennis Australia. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  8. ^ "WHITTINGTON THRIVES IN ATP MAIN DRAW DEBUT". Tennis Austlriaa. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  9. ^ "AO WILDCARDS FOR DE MINAUR, WHITTINGTON". Tennis Australia. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Courageous Thompson and Whittingon exit". Tennis Australia. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  11. ^ "AFTER STUNNING COMEBACK, WHITTINGTON QUALIFIES FOR WIMBLEDON". Tennis Australia. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  12. ^ Andrew continues to climb the ATP rankings
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