Sean Sorensen (born 11 December 1955) 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

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Career

When Sorensen qualified for the

1977 Wimbledon Championships The 1977 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 20 June until 2 July. It was the 91 ...

, he became the first Irishman to appear in the main draw of a

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in the

Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...

. He was beaten in the opening round by Rod Laver.ATP World Tour Profile
/ref> In 1980 he was a quarter-finalist at the Grand Prix event in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

, defeating Craig Wittus and

Kim Warwick Kim Warwick (born 8 April 1952) is an Australian former professional male tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1970–1987, reaching the singles final of the Australian Open in 1980. He defeated over 35 players ranked in the top ten ...

en route. Later that year, Sorensen played at Wimbledon for a second time, but was again unable to reach the second round, losing to

Patrice Dominguez Patrice Dominguez (12 January 1950 – 12 April 2015) was a French tennis player born in Algeria. He reached a career high ranking of 36 in 1973. He represented France in the Davis Cup between 1971 and 1979. Dominguez was runner–up at the 197 ...

. He had one of the best wins of his career in the 1984 German Open, where he upset Sammy Giammalva Jr. The man who won that tournament, Juan Aguilera, a top 20 player, would be defeated by Sorensen in a Davis Cup match that year. Sorensen's Davis Cup career started in 1976 and he took part in 21 ties before retiring in 1987. The Irishman was a member of the team which competed in the World Group in 1983, playing ties against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He won 28 matches out of the 54 matches that he played for Ireland, with a 19/15 record in singles and 9/11 record in doubles rubbers. His doubles partnership with Matt Doyle, which resulted in six wins, is the most successful in Irish Davis Cup history.

Personal

During his career and for another 20 years after, Sorensen lived in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but has since returned to Ireland. While in Stuttgart he had two sons,

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

and Louk, who have both also played Davis Cup tennis.''

Cork Independent The ''Cork Independent'' is a free newspaper in Cork, Ireland. The paper is published weekly and contains local news, health and beauty, business, opinion, social events, entertainment, motoring and property as well as input from a number of colu ...

''
"Like father, like son"
15 September 2011, Brian Hayes Curtin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorensen, Sean 1955 births Living people Irish male tennis players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Irish people of Norwegian descent