Steven Downs (born 8 September 1975) 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 c ...

player from New Zealand.

Biography

Downs was a leading international junior, who was the world number one doubles player in 1993 and designated ITF World Champion. He reached a final at all four Grand Slam tournaments in 1993. With partner James Greenhalgh, he won two boys' doubles titles, the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...

and

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...

. Downs, who played cricket for Auckland up to the Under 14s, made the singles final at the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...

and was runner-up to Marcelo Ríos at the US Open, for a year-end number five ranking. Following his junior success in 1993, Downs turned professional and in 1994 made his first

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organisa ...

tournament in Auckland. Every year from 1994 to 1997 he featured in the main draw of the Auckland Open. In 1995 he made the round of 16, with a win over the world's 45th-ranked player, Fabrice Santoro. During his career he participated in three ties for the New Zealand Davis Cup team. In 1995 he made his debut in a tie against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

in Wellington and won both of his singles matches, in a 5–0 whitewash. He was called up again when New Zealand played a World Group qualifier that year in Hamilton, against Switzerland. His first singles match was the opening rubber of the tie, a loss to Marc Rosset. When he and Alistair Hunt lost in the doubles, the tie was lost, although he did win a reverse singles rubber over

Jakob Hlasek Jakob Hlasek ( cz, Jakub Hlásek; born 12 November 1964) is a Swiss former professional tennis player of Czech origin. He won a major doubles title at the 1992 French Open, partnering Marc Rosset. Career The major highlights of Hlasek's caree ...

. In 1996, he played two more singles matches, in a tie against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in Seoul, for losses to Lee Hyung-taik and Yoon Yong-il, but New Zealand still prevailed. His last ATP Tour appearance in singles came at the 1996 Infiniti Open in Los Angeles, where he lost in the first round to

Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 19 ...

. He was runner-up at a Perth Challenger event in 1996. At his peak, Downs was the second-ranked player in New Zealand, behind

Brett Steven Brett Andrew Steven (born 27 April 1969) is a former New Zealand tennis player. Steven began his tennis career at the age of 10 as a ball boy and by the age of 16 he participated at his first tournament. Steven turned professional in 1988 a ...

. A combination of factors, including an elbow injury, brought about an early retirement from professional tennis after the 1997 season.

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (2 runners-up)

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, Steven 1975 births Living people New Zealand male tennis players French Open junior champions Wimbledon junior champions Tennis players from Auckland Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles