The untold tale of brothers and sisters who wrote the history of tennis
When we say brothers or sisters in the same sentence with tennis, the first association is, of course, Venus and Serena Williams. Indeed, the two had written the last 15 years of (female) tennis history. Other players have had a chance only if the sisters were out of form or injured. But they are not the only ones. In fact, there are many successful brothers and sisters in this beautiful game.
This is the story of some of them.
There are Bob and Mike Bryan. Doubles specialists with more than 100 titles. Team that dominated the ATP doubles list for the last 12 years.
Michael Chang, the youngest ever Grand Slam champion has an older brother Carl, who was a very talented junior (winning against Sampras for example) but decided to put his US Berkeley scholarship to good use. Later they played some doubles, and Carl coached Michael for a few years.
William Renshaw in the late 19th century, won 7 titles at Wimbledon, and his brother Ernest won another one.
John McEnroe spent 170 weeks at number 1. His brother Patrick is 7 years younger and never reached those heights, but he reached 28th place in ATP rankings in singles; and in doubles he won the Grand Slam and was ranked third in the world. More recently, he led the US Davis Cup team.
Jelena Jankovic has no sibling who is a tennis player, and has never won a Grand Slam singles title, although she was number 1. However, there is a Wimbledon title-holder with his name. For it was credited her partner in the mixed doubles — the older brother of Andy Murray — Jamie. He never achieved good results in singles, but in doubles and mixed doubles he did well.
In the history of Belgian tennis, golden letters are reserved for Christophe and Olivier Rochus. Christophe, the older and taller brother was a Top 50 player, and Olivier was somewhat more successful and ranked the best at 24th place, and there are two titles next to their name. For years, both were among the shortest players on the tour (170 and 165cm).
Marat and Dinara Safina are the only ones who were No. 1 in singles on the ATP and WTA rankings. He won two Grand Slam titles, she lost all three of her singles Grand Slam finals. However, there she won one title in women’s doubles.
Black family also won many titles, but only in the doubles competition. Wayne, Byron and Cara have won more than 100 titles combined. Byron was also around the 25th place on the ATP list, and Cara was around the 30th. However, in the doubles they all were no. 1. The brothers withdrew, and Cara is still playing, and recently was the Number 1 female doubles player.
A similar story is played out among the Sanchez family. Javier, Emilio and Arantxa have reigned in both doubles and singles. Javier has reached the 23rd place of the ATP list, Emilio was 7, and Arantxa, four Grand Slam singles champion, was Number 1.
Vijay Amritraj with his brothers Anand and Ashok led India to two Davis Cup finals. Unfortunately they did not win the championship. Vijay was a top 16 player in the world, Anand came to no. 74., and the youngest Ashok never entered the top on 200.
Agnieszka Radwanska was a Wimbledon finalist and world No. 2 and her sister Urszula was a big talent as well. She was a junior Wimbledon champion, but in the senior competition still has not managed to break into the top. She reached the 29th place on the ATP list a few years ago, and is now out of the top 100.
Tracy Austin was No. 1 in the Eighties, and her brother John was No. 40 in the world. Together, they won several titles in mixed doubles, including Wimbledon in 1980, and were the first brother and sister who managed to do so. Their brother Jeff was the No. 52 player in the world, and their siste Pam also played professionally, but wasn’t as successful.
Austrian player Jürgen Melzer was world no. 8 in singles, and no. 6 in doubles. During his career he won 5 singles titles, and 13 doubles titles, including doubles Wimbledon (which he also won in mixed doubles) and US Open. His younger brother Gerald reached no. 140 in singles.
Anastasia Rodionova played for Russia until 2009 and now competes for Australia. She is usually around 200th place in the rankings, and her best result was 65th place. Her seven-year younger sister Arina is also representing Australia since 2014 and the best result of her 157th place a few years ago.
There are also sisters Bondarenko — Kateryna (29th place), Valeria (outside top 500) and Alona (19th place). Kateryna and Alona in 2008 won the Australian Open in the women’s doubles.
Adriano Panatta won the 1976 Roland Garros, and his brother Claudio has played professionally and reached the No. 46th ATP list.
Barry Moir won the first junior Roland Garros in doubles, but as the senior did not have much success. He was the 92nd player in the world, and his brother Kevin rose to to No. 162.
Sammy Giammalva, a junior, was the 28th player in the world, and his brother Tony’s top ranking was No. 70 on the ATP list.
Anca Barna was the world No. 46, and her sister Adriana Barna could not do better than No. 180.
Marcel Granollers was the 19th player in the world in singles, and in doubles he recorded great results. His younger brother Gerard could not do better than 179th on ATP list.
Luke Jensen and his brother Murphy won the 1993 Roland Garros in doubles, Luke and mixed doubles played several Grand Slam finals.
Richard Krajicek won Wimbledon in 1996, in the middle of the Sampras era. He was the fourth best player in the world, and won 17 titles. His stepsister Michaëlla, 18 years his junior, was the no. 30th player of the world and has won three WTA titles and played quarter finals at Wimbledon 2007.
That year, when Krajicek became the champion in the finals he defeated MaliVai Washington. His biggest achievement was 11th place in the rankings, and his younger sister (by 7 years), Mashona, was 50th in the WTA rankings.
Mario Ancic was a child prodigy when he appeared. In the ATP rankings progressed to 7th place, aged only 20, and he played the semifinals of Wimbledon, and won the bronze medal at the Olympics. At 21 he won the Davis Cup. However, injuries and illness have made that there is far from brilliant career as he deserved. His sister, Sanja was top 10 junior and senior competition came to 159 seats. The older brother Ivica, was about the top 400 player on ATP list, and after the end of his career he coached several players.
Ernest Gulbis was the 10th player in the world. His seven years younger sister Laura Gulbe failed yet to break into the Top 500 on the WTA list.
Kristina Kucova and Zuzana and were both in the vicinity of the Top 100. Kristina won the junior US Open in 2007 although it was not a carrier.
Karolina Pliskova the world number 12, and her sister Kristýna got to the 86th on the WTA list. Karolína won the junior Australian Open in 2010 and Kristýna won junior Wimbledon that same year.
The brothers Sandy and Gene Mayer won the doubles title at Rolland Garros in 1979. Sandy was the seventh player in the world, and Gene rose to 4th place in the eighties.
Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti was the 6th player in the world, and his brother Giovanni came to no. 110 on the ATP list.
Magdalena Maleeva was Monica Seles’ opponent when she was attacked in Hamburg. Magdalena is the youngest of three sisters. She was the fourth player of the world, Katerina was No. 6 and the oldest Manuela nN. 3 in the world.
Tim and Tom Gullikson were identical twins. Top 5 players in doubles and in singles Tim was the 15th player in the world, and Tom no. 34. Tom was the champion of the US Open in mix doubles in 1984. partnering with Manuela Maleeva.
Barbara Jordan won the singles title at the Australian Open in 1979, and her sister Kathy played the final four years later. Barbara was the 37th player of the world, and Kathy had reached the 5th place WTA list.
Chris Evert won everything. 157 titles, 18 Grand Slam titles. However, her sister Jeanne was one of the most talented juniors in the world and brother John has won prestigious tournaments in the under 12 and 14 years. However, in the senior competition, only Chris has left a serious mark on the game.
Cliff Richey was the 6th player in the world, and he also won two Davis Cups with America. His sister Nancy was the second player of the world and double Grand Slam champion in singles. In 1969, when he won the first Davis Cup, and she won the Fed Cup with the national team.
Sonchat Ratiwatana and his brother Sanchai are the best players in Thailand and rose together to the top 40 in doubles.
María Paulina Pérez and her sister Paula Andrea Pérez played for the Colombian Fed Cup team, but when it comes to the rankings did not have any noticeable success. However, both the 1996 year, there is time.
Antonella and Adriana Serra Zanetti represented Italy during the 2000s. Adriana was 38 among players of the world, and Antonella reached 60th place.
Helena Suková was the fourth player of the world, and her brother Cyril Suk was a doubles specialist and US Open champion in 1998 paired with Sandon Stolle. Paired with her sister, he won four Grand Slams in mixed doubles.
In the end, there is Novak Djokovic. His younger brothers Marko and Djordje played previous years on the ITF tour, and occasionally at ATP tournaments in doubles with their famous brother.
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The original article was published in Serbian language on leading sport news website in Serbia / Sportske.net
