Geoff Abrams

Geoff Abrams
Born (1978-05-10) May 10, 1978
Newport Beach, California
Turned pro June 2000
Retired November 2001
Plays Right-handed
College Stanford University

Geoff Abrams (born May 10, 1978) is an American former tennis player.[1]

Abrams was ranked # 1 in the U.S. in the Boys 14s singles in 1992. In 1994, he finished the year ranked # 1 in doubles in the USTA Boys' 16 rankings with Michael Russell. That year he was also the Boys 16 Doubles National Champion. In 1995, he was the USTA National Indoor 18 Champion. He competed in the 1996 juniors in the U.S. Open, French Open, and at Wimbledon.

Playing in college for Stanford University, he had a 26–0 record in singles in 1998, the best in Stanford men's tennis history. He was an All-American in singles and doubles in his senior year, as well as the Pac-10 Champion. That year he was also part of the # 1-ranked college doubles team in the nation, and the 8th-ranked college player in the U.S. in singles. His college team won the NCAA national championship his freshman, sophomore, and senior years.

Abrams as a professional had a high ranking in singles of 501, on July 16, 2001, and a high ranking in doubles of 397, on August 6, 2001.

Biography

Abrams is the son of Nancy, a travel consultant, and Gil, an engineer.[2] He grew up in Newport Beach, California.[2]

At 11 years of age, he was already 6 feet (1.8 m) tall.[2] Because of Abrams' height, parents of some of his opponents insisted on seeing his birth certificate.[2] By the age of 13 he was 6 feet 3.5 inches (1.918 m) tall, and by the age of 14 he could serve a tennis ball at 118 miles per hour (190 km/h).[3][4]

Junior tennis career

Abrams was ranked # 1 in the U.S. in the Boys 14s singles in 1992.[5][6][7] In March 1992, he defeated Bob Bryan in the finals of the Long Beach Junior.[4] He defeated him again in the semifinals of the Easter Bowl Junior Boys 14 Singles Tennis Championship, which he went on to win.[4][8][9] He then won an Ojai title by defeating Bob's brother Mike Bryan in the semi-finals, and Bob in the title match.[4] In April 1993 he won his second consecutive Ojai title.[10]

In 1994, he finished the year ranked No. 1 in doubles in the USTA boys' 16 rankings with Michael Russell, and was the Boys 16 Doubles National Champion.[7][11] He won the 1994 USTA National Boys' 16 Championships doubles title with Russell.[11]

In 1995, he was the USTA National Indoor 18 Champion, and reached the doubles final with Russell at the 1995 USTA National Boys' 18 Clay Court Championships.[7][11] He competed in the juniors in the 1996 U.S. Open, French Open, and at Wimbledon.[7][12]

High school and college tennis careers

Abrams starred in tennis at Newport Harbor High School, from which he graduated in 1996.[7][13][14][15] He also attended Palmer Tennis Academy.[16][17]

He then attended Stanford University where he had a 26–0 record in singles in 1998, the best record in Stanford men's tennis history, and was an All-American in singles and doubles in his senior year.[5][7][12][18][19][20][21] In 1998, he also won the Mercedes Benz Cup Wild Card.[22] That year he also won the USTA Amateur Champions Men's Doubles, with Edward Carter.[23]

In his senior year in 2000 he was named to the USA Tennis Collegiate Team – an elite training program for the top American college players, was the Pac-10 Champion, and the eighth-ranked college player in the U.S.[5][24][25] And – along with teammate Alex Kim – he was part of the top-ranked doubles team in the nation, which also was named the ITA National Doubles Team of the Year.[13][26][27][28] He was team captain that year, and also received Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year honors.[7][29] Abrams became the first player in the Pac-10 tournament's 100-year history to win the boys' 14, 16, California Interscholastic Federation, and men's Pacific 10 singles titles.[24] Stanford's head coach Dick Gould said in April 2000: "He has the best winning percentage ever, of anyone who's been here four years. He's risen from 5 or 6 on the team to No. 2 in singles, and from No. 3 in doubles to No. 1 in the country."[12] The team won the NCAA championships his freshman, sophomore, and senior years (1997, 1998, and 2000).[30]

At Stanford he was pre-med, and had a 3.3 grade point average, but his coach said he might never reach his full tennis potential due to his pre-med career.[5] Abrams graduated in 2000 with a B.A. in Human Biology – Neuroscience.[31]

Pro career

After graduating from Stanford, Abrams began playing in the Futures circuit.[32] In June 2000, he won the doubles title with Alex Kim at the USTA Chandler Cup Futures.[33] He also won the 2000 Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center USTA Pro Classic in Claremont, California.[34]

Abrams had a high ranking in singles of 501, on July 16, 2001.[1] His high ranking in doubles was 397, on August 6, 2001.[1] He finished his pro career in November 2001 with one singles title and two doubles titles.[5]

Post-tennis

Abrams attended the University of California, San Diego, from 2003–07, where he obtained an M.D.[34][35] In 2009, Abrams was back at Stanford as an intern at Stanford Hospital, where he completed his residency in orthopedic surgery, and thereafter he trained further in orthopedic sports medicine and shoulder surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois.[36][37] He specializes in sports medicine and arthroscopy, upper extremity joint replacement, and ligament reconstructive surgery of the shoulder, knee, hip, and elbow.[37]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Geoff Abrams". ATP World Tour. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Pressure Is on This Talented Teen". Los Angeles Times. April 25, 1993. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Program gives juniors 'every chance to win'". USA Today. November 1, 1994. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Beating Abrams, 13, is a Very Tall Order Tennis: Newport Beach player, 6 feet 3 1/2 and barely a teen-ager, is ranked No. 1 in nation in his age group". Los Angeles Times. May 5, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Richard Dunn (November 15, 2001). "Tennis: Abrams retires from pro tennis circuit". Daily Pilot. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  6. ↑ Ray Murray (July 23, 1992). "ABRAMS MAKING SHORT WORK OF 14S". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Player Bio: Geoff Abrams". GoStanford.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Abrams, Weiner Advance at Easter Bowl Tennis". Los Angeles Times. April 6, 1996. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  9. ↑ Ray Murray (July 26, 1992). "Abrams Dominates Brill In Boys' Title Match". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  10. ↑ Dave McKibben (April 25, 1993). "Abrams Easily Wins 16 Singles Title at Ojai". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 "Michael Russell: Circuit Player of the Week | Pro Tennis". USTA. May 25, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Keith Peters (April 7, 2000). "He's a big fish in a big pond; Geoff Abrams' steady improvement ranks him among best 4-year players in Stanford history". Paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Abrams Selected for Elite Tennis Training Program". Los Angeles Times. June 1, 2000. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  14. ↑ Dave McKibben (April 28, 2000). "Abrams Still Has Moore's Number". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Newport Harbor's Abrams Stays Loose to Win Title". Los Angeles Times. May 13, 1993. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  16. ↑ Dave McKibben (April 25, 1996). "Tournament Has Abrams Coming Back for More". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Trade School: Leaving Home to Attend a Tennis Academy Isn't an Easy Step. But Those Who Have Done It Say It Will Improve Their Chances of Making the Big Time". Los Angeles Times. April 11, 1995. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  18. ↑ Dave McKibben (April 25, 1999). "Abrams Falls in Semifinals". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  19. ↑ Rick Eymer and Keith Peters (May 17, 2006). "Stanford tennis history rich with NCAA moments". Palo Alto Weekly. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  20. ↑ Richard Dunn (November 11, 2001). "Catching Up With: Geoff Abrams". Daily Pilot. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Geoff Abrams Signs to Play Tennis for Stanford". Los Angeles Times. November 9, 1995. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Abrams passes final exam". Daily News of Los Angeles. July 20, 1998. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  23. ↑ USTA Year Book (PDF). usta.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  24. 1 2 Steve Pratt (May 1, 2000). "Stanford's Abrams Is Historic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  25. ↑ "ABRAMS STUNS TOP PAC-10 SEED". Daily News of Los Angeles. April 24, 1999. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Cunha, Hemmeler Named ITA Doubles Team of the Year". GoDuke.com. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  27. ↑ "SPARTANS SWEEP PAST FRESNO ST.; STANFORD'S ABRAMS CAPTURES TENNIS TITLE". Mercury News. May 1, 2000. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  28. ↑ "Tennis: Morrison Win Streak Over". The Gainesville Sun. May 23, 2000. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  29. ↑ "Stanford Sweeps Pac-10 Tennis Player of the Year Awards". Stanford Daily. May 9, 2000. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  30. ↑ "Home of Champions". GoStanford.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  31. ↑ "Curriculum Vitae; Geoffrey D. Abrams, MD". wsimg.com. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  32. ↑ Dave McKibben (November 30, 2000). "Abrams a Man With Options". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  33. ↑ Dasher, Anthony (May 19, 2001). "Soft-spoken standout". Online Athens. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  34. 1 2 Carter, Tom (November 10, 2009). "Stanford's Klahn Reaches Pro Classic Final". Insidetennis.com. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  35. ↑ "Abrams coming full circle". Daily Pilot. May 2, 2003. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  36. ↑ Eymer, Rick (February 12, 2009). "Bryans are the 'Bash Brothers' of pro tennis". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  37. 1 2

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