George Livingston "Leif" Shiras (born August 21, 1959) is an American 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 and current tennis commentator.

Personal life

George Livingston Shiras was born in August 21, 1959 in

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

and raised in

Rowayton, Connecticut Rowayton is a coastal neighborhood in the city of Norwalk, Connecticut, roughly from New York City. The community is governed by the Sixth Taxing District of Norwalk and has a number of active local associations, including the Civic Associati ...

until his family moved to

Shorewood, Wisconsin Shorewood is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 13,859 at the 2020 census. History In the early 19th century when the first white se ...

in 1963 for his father's job in public relations. He attended Shorewood High School, where he played tennis, basketball, and volleyball. But he was most drawn to tennis after growing up watching his parents play the sport recreationally and he became the State High School champion in his junior and senior years, leading him to earn the No. 1-ranked under-18 player in Wisconsin.Doyle, Candace
"Serving up fund-raiser"
''Greater Milwaukee Today'', May 26, 2004. Accessed September 17, 2007. "He attended Shorewood High School, Shorewood Intermediate School and Lake Bluff Elementary School." Shiras attended his father's alma-mater of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

to pursue a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in English, where he graduated in 1981. There, he was also a collegiate tennis

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 in 1979 and 1980, and had also reached the NCAA semifinals. In 1993, Shiras moved from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and now resides in Laguna Hills, California with his wife, Maria, and his two sons, Emmett and Austin.

Tennis career

During his career as a player, Shiras reached one top-level final – at the Queen's Club Championships in 1984, where he lost to

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

1–6, 6–3, 2–6 (having beaten

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 first round). His best singles performance at a Grand Slam event came at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

in 1989, where he reached the fourth round. His career-high ranking was World No. 31 in singles (in 1984) and World No. 57 in doubles in (in 1988). Shiras retired from the professional tour in 1990. In 1995, he won the Wimbledon over-35 men's doubles title with partner Paul McNamee.

Broadcasting career

Shiras has worked as a tennis commentator on Tennis Channel since its inception in 2003 and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

. He was also the lead tennis analyst for the

Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...

ATP Tour The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

Career finals

Singles (1 loss)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiras, Leif American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American male tennis players People from Shorewood, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Norwalk, Connecticut Tennis players from Orange County, California Tennis players from Toronto Princeton Tigers men's tennis players Tennis players from Connecticut Tennis players from Wisconsin 1959 births Living people American tennis commentators Shorewood High School (Wisconsin) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen