Jeff Turpin (born May 13, 1960) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from the United States.

Biography

Turpin's father Jack, a businessman, was a collegiate player at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and is a member of the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame. Jeff also has two brothers who were involved in tennis. Eldest brother Scott played for Rice University and middle brother

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

competed professionally. A native of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas, Turpin graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas. As a high school senior in 1978, he won the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and devel ...

Interscholastic Tennis Championships in both singles and doubles (the latter win was with Brad Stoffel, a St. Mark's teammate). That summer, Turpin was runner-up to

Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl (; born March 7, 1960) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player and coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis ...

in the boys' singles at the

1978 Wimbledon Championships The 1978 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 26 June until 8 July. It was the 92 ...

, which he followed up with a semi-final appearance in boys' singles at the 1978 US Open. Turpin then attended

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

, where he was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n varsity tennis player. Graduating with a business degree, Turpin turned professional in 1982. During his professional tennis career he competed in the main draws of the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

and US Open. He played singles twice at Wimbledon, in 1983 and 1984. On the

Grand Prix circuit Grand Prix Circuit may refer to: * ''Grand Prix Circuit'' (video game), a 1988 motor sports video game *Grand Prix tennis circuit The ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix ...

he had his best performance in the 1984 Bristol Open, where he made the quarter-finals, with wins over Mike Leach,

Emilio Sánchez Emilio Ángel Sánchez Vicario (; born 29 May 1965) is a Spanish former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He won five Grand Slam doubles titles and the men's doubles silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. Sánchez is the older brother of ...

and fourth seed John Fitzgerald. The tournament coincided with Wimbledon qualifying, so Turpin was often required to make the trip between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

to play two matches in a day. He played a total of 10 matches in six days. In doubles, he and

Mike De Palmer Mike De Palmer (October 17, 1961 – August 7, 2021) was a professional tennis player from the United States. De Palmer enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won six tour doubles titles and finished ...

had a good win at the 1984 Livingston Open, over the world's top-ranked doubles player Peter Fleming and his partner

Fritz Buehning Fritz Buehning (born March 5, 1960) is an American former tennis player. Born in Summit, New Jersey, Buehning grew up in Millburn, New Jersey and attended Millburn High School, where he won the New Jersey state individual tennis championship ...

. In 1986, Turpin retired from professional tennis and became president of T Bar M, a tennis club in Dallas. He left in 1996 to become president of oil and gas investment company, Hallmark Energy, a firm founded by his father, Jack Turpin. He is married with three children: two daughters and a son.

Challenger titles

Doubles: (2)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, Jeff 1960 births Living people American male tennis players SMU Mustangs men's tennis players Tennis players from Dallas 20th-century American sportsmen