Michael Westphal
Michael Westphal 
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| Nation: |
 Germany
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| Birthday: | February 19, 1965 | ||||||||||||
| Date of death: | June 19, 1991 | ||||||||||||
| Size: | 190 cm | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 78 kg | ||||||||||||
| Playing hand: | Right | ||||||||||||
| Prize money: | $ 255,317 | ||||||||||||
| singles | |||||||||||||
| Career record: | 80: 106 | ||||||||||||
| Highest ranking: | 49 (March 17 1986) | ||||||||||||
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| Double | |||||||||||||
| Career record: | 6:22 | ||||||||||||
| Highest ranking: | 293 (May 15 1989) | ||||||||||||
| Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links ) | |||||||||||||
Michael Westphal (born February 19, 1965 in Pinneberg , † June 19, 1991 in Hamburg ) was a German tennis player .
Life
Westphal began playing tennis at the age of nine and won the U-16 European Junior Championship in 1980. In 1981 he won the individual title of the Challenger tournament in Travemünde . In 1984 he reached the final of the ATP tournament of Livingston and in the semi-finals of Munich and Toulouse . The following year he reached the final in Kitzbühel . In 1989 he was both singles and doubles - at the side of Markus Zoecke - in the quarterfinals of Hamburg . His best placement in the tennis world rankings was 49th place in singles in 1986 and 293th place in doubles in 1989.
He became known to a broader public in Germany through his appearances in the German Davis Cup team, to which he belonged between 1982 and 1986 and for which he played 19 individual games. His greatest success with the team was participation in the final in 1985. In the semi-finals he won as a clear underdog against Tomáš Šmíd from Czechoslovakia in five sets with 6: 8, 1: 6, 7: 5, 11: 9 and 17:15; with 85 games the singles with the most games in the Davis Cup. This encounter on October 4, 1985 lasted 5 hours, 29 minutes. Germany finally won 5-0.
The Michael Westphal Award is named after him and is given to people who have made a name for themselves in tennis. His longtime partner was the actress Jessica Stockmann , who was later married to Michael Stich .
Westphal died on the night of June 20, 1991 at the age of 26 of complications from AIDS . He was buried in the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg. (Grid square AD 12 148-51) His illness, which was diagnosed in 1988, was kept secret from the public for fear of being ostracized. It was not until ten years after Westphal's death, in 2001, that Jessica Stockmann reported on a talk show about the cause of her former partner's death.
Final participation
singles
| No. | date | competition | Topping | Final opponent | Bottom line |
| 1. | 5th August 1984 |
 Livingston
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Hard court |
Johan Kriek
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2: 6, 4: 6 |
| 2. | August 11, 1985 |
 Kitzbühel
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sand |
 Pavel Složil
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5: 7, 2: 6 |
Performing in Grand Slam tournaments
singles
| competition | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| French Open | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 2 |
| Wimbledon | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| US Open | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Web links
- ATP profile of Michael Westphal (English)
- ITF profile of Michael Westphal (English)
- Davis Cup stats by Michael Westphal (English)
- Michael Westphal in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Michael Westphal: A shadowy existence. In: NDR.de. Retrieved June 21, 2016 .
- ↑ Davis Cup against Tomáš Šmíd, report and video on tennisnet.com
- ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Michael Westphal
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Westphal, Michael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German tennis player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 19, 1965 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hamburg , Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 19, 1991 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |