Kelly Graeme Evernden (born 21 September 1961) 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 New Zealand. Evernden turned professional in 1985 and won his first tour doubles title in 1986 at

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. His first top-level singles title came in 1987 at

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 ...

. His best singles performance at a Grand Slam event came at the 1987 Australian Open, where he reached the quarter-finals by defeating Jonathan Canter,

Johan Kriek Johan Christiaan Kriek (born April 5, 1958) is a South African–American former professional tennis player. As a tennis player, he won two Australian Open titles and reached the semifinals at the French Open and US Open, as well as the quarte ...

, Brad Pearce and Derrick Rostagno before being knocked-out by Wally Masur. Evernden represented New Zealand at the 1988 Olympic Games in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. Over the course of his career, Evernden won three top-level singles titles, the last of which was won in 1989 at

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. He also won five tour doubles titles (the most significant of which was the Canadian Open in 1989). Evernden's career-high rankings were world No. 31 in singles and world No. 19 in doubles. He retired from the professional tour in 1994. Evernden played pro tennis with only one lung, having had a lung removed as the result of an injury sustained in an accident at the age of 16. He was hit by a motorist and his heart stopped twice in five days (once for one minute and once for 45 seconds). In addition to puncturing a lung which had to be removed, he also had a broken arm, leg and ribs, however he recovered fully from the accident. He lives on Mercer Island with his wife and two sons. Prior to turning professional, Evernden played tennis for the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

(where he studied business management and psychology) and was an All-American in 1984. Evernden is a quarter Ngāti Porou Māori, and his Māori name "''Te Rangai''" means "Young Warrior". His Irish name, Kelly, means "War". Kelly is now the Davis Cup Captain for the country of New Zealand(2021-?)

ATP career finals

Singles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Doubles: 8 (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Mixed Doubles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evernden, Kelly 1961 births Living people Arkansas Razorbacks men's tennis players New Zealand expatriate tennis players in the United States Hopman Cup competitors New Zealand male tennis players Olympic tennis players for New Zealand Sportspeople from Gisborne, New Zealand Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen