Ken Flat

Ken Flat
Nation:	United States
Birthday:	May 24, 1963
Date of death:	March 12, 2018
Size:	185 cm
Weight:	75 kg
1st professional season:	1983
Resignation:	1996
Playing hand:	Right
Prize money:	$ 2,064,571
singles
Career record:	52:80
Highest ranking:	56 (December 9 1985)
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	443: 215
Career title:	34
Highest ranking:	1 (October 14, 1985)
Weeks as No. 1:	5
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Olympic games
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Ken Flach (born May 24, 1963 in St. Louis , † March 12, 2018 in San Francisco ) was an American tennis player . He led the world rankings in doubles several times.

Life

Flach studied at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville , for which he competed in singles and doubles . Between 1981 and 1983 he won the NCAA Division II title, and in 1983 he made it to the double-finals of Division I. At his side was Robert Seguso , who was to become his long-term partner.

Flach was one of the best men's doubles players in the second half of the 1980s and first half of the 1990s. In 1985 and 1993 he won the doubles competition at the US Open , in 1987 and 1988 at Wimbledon . Except for the US Open in 1993, where he was victorious alongside Rick Leach , he won all Grand Slam titles with Robert Seguso. He also won the mixed competition at the French Open and Wimbledon in 1986 , both alongside Kathy Jordan . On October 14, 1985, Flach took the lead in the world rankings for the first time , at the top of which he stood for a total of five weeks with interruptions.

In singles he did not achieve nearly as great success as in doubles. He couldn't reach an ATP final . His greatest success in singles was getting into the round of 16 at the 1987 US Open ; He achieved his best placement in the world rankings in 1985 with position 56.

Flach completed a total of 13 double encounters for the US Davis Cup team between 1985 and 1991 , of which he won eleven. In the 1991 final, he and Robert Seguso lost to Henri Leconte and Guy Forget ; France won the game 3-1 and thus the Davis Cup. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul , he also competed with Seguso and they won the gold medal for the United States.

After retiring from professional sports, Flach was a tennis coach at Vanderbilt University . In 1986 he married the former model Sandra Freeman, with whom he had four children. He got his second marriage in March 2010. Flach died on March 12, 2018 at the age of 54 of complications from pneumonia .

Tournament victories

Legend (victories in brackets) Grand Slam (6) Olympic Games (1) Tennis Masters Cup (1) ATP Masters Series (2) ATP International Series Gold (2) ATP International Series (24)

Title after covering Hard Court (16) Sand (7) Grass (6) Carpet (7)

Double

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Bottom line
1.	June 11, 1984	Rome	sand	Robert Seguso	John Alexander Mike Leach	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
2.	July 23, 1984	Boston	sand	Robert Seguso	Gary Donnelly Ernie Fernández	6: 4, 6: 4
3.	August 13, 1984	Indianapolis	sand	Robert Seguso	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7: 6, 7: 5
4th	17th September 1984	los Angeles	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Wojciech Fibak Sandy Mayer	4: 6, 6: 4, 6: 3
5.	October 29, 1984	Hong Kong	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Mark Edmondson Paul McNamee	6: 7, 6: 3, 7: 5
6th	November 6, 1984	Taipei	carpet	Robert Seguso	Drew Gitlin Hank Pfister	6: 1, 6: 7, 6: 2
7th	January 6, 1985	London	carpet	Robert Seguso	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 0
8th.	April 1, 1985	Fort Myers	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Sammy Giammalva David Godfather	3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3
9.	May 13, 1985	Forest Hills	sand	Robert Seguso	Givaldo Barbosa Ivan Kley	7: 5, 6: 2
10.	June 17, 1985	Queen's Club	race	Robert Seguso	Pat Cash John Fitzgerald	3: 6, 6: 3, 16:14
11.	July 29, 1985	Indianapolis	sand	Robert Seguso	Pavel Složil Kim Warwick	6: 4, 6: 4
12.	August 19, 1985	Montreal	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Stefan Edberg Anders Järryd	5: 7, 7: 6, 6: 3
13.	September 9, 1985	US Open	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Henri Leconte Yannick Noah	6: 7, 7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 0
14th	October 29, 1985	Tokyo	carpet	Robert Seguso	Scott Davis David Godfather	4: 6, 6: 3, 7: 6
15th	February 10, 1986	Memphis	carpet	Robert Seguso	Guy Forget Anders Järryd	6: 4, 4: 6, 7: 6
16.	March 31, 1986	Chicago	carpet	Robert Seguso	Eddie Edwards Francisco González	6-0, 7-5
17th	October 20, 1986	Tokyo	carpet	Matt Anger	Jimmy Arias Greg Holmes	6: 2, 6: 3
18th	July 6, 1987	Wimbledon	race	Robert Seguso	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez Vicario	3: 6, 6: 7, 7: 6, 6: 1, 6: 4
19th	August 24, 1987	Cincinnati	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Steve Denton John Fitzgerald	7: 5, 6: 3
20th	June 13, 1988	Queen's Club	race	Robert Seguso	Pieter Aldrich Danie Visser	6: 2, 7: 6
21st	4th July 1988	Wimbledon	race	Robert Seguso	John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd	6: 4, 2: 6, 6: 4, 7: 6
22nd	August 15, 1988	Toronto	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Andrew Castle Tim Wilkison	7: 6, 6: 3
23.	September 26, 1988	Seoul	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez Vicario	6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 7, 6: 7, 9: 7
24.	November 14, 1988	Wembley	carpet	Robert Seguso	Marty Davis Brad Drewett	7: 5, 6: 2
25th	April 24, 1989	Tokyo	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Kevin Curren David Godfather	7: 6, 7: 6
26th	August 21, 1989	Cincinnati	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Pieter Aldrich Danie Visser	6: 4, 6: 4
27.	May 6, 1991	Tampa	sand	Robert Seguso	David Godfather Richey Reneberg	6: 7, 6: 4, 6: 1
28.	August 12, 1991	Cincinnati	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Grant Connell Glenn Michibata	6: 7, 6: 4, 7: 5
29	August 19, 1991	Indianapolis	Hard court	Robert Seguso	Kent Kinnear Sven Salumaa	7: 6, 6: 4
30th	March 23, 1992	Miami	Hard court	Todd Witsken	Kent Kinnear Sven Salumaa	6: 4, 6: 3
31.	April 12, 1993	Tokyo outdoor	Hard court	Rick Leach	Glenn Michibata David Godfather	2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
32.	June 21, 1993	Manchester	race	Rick Leach	Stefan Kruger Glenn Michibata	6: 4, 6: 1
33.	September 13, 1993	US Open	Hard court	Rick Leach	Martin dam Karel Nováček	6: 7, 6: 4, 6: 2
34.	February 28, 1994	Scottsdale	Hard court	Jan Apell	Alex O'Brien Sandon Stolle	6-0, 6-4

Mixed

No.	date	competition	Topping	Partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	1986	French Open	sand	Kathy Jordan	Rosalyn Fairbank Mark Edmondson	3: 6, 7: 6 3 , 6: 3
2.	1986	Wimbledon	race	Kathy Jordan	Martina Navratilova Heinz Günthardt	6: 3, 7: 6 7

Web links

• ATP profile of Ken Flach (English)
• ITF profile of Ken Flach (English)
• Davis Cup stats by Ken Flach (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Cobb: Ken Flach, Olympic gold medalist in doubles tennis and SIUE star, this on March 54th, 13th 2018, accessed on March 13th, 2018 (English).