Darren Cahill is a
tennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
coach and former professional tennis player from Australia.
Nicknamed "Killer", Cahill turned professional in 1984. He won his first tour doubles title in 1985 at
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, and his first top-level singles title in 1988 at
GstaadGstaad is a village in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Berne in southwestern Switzerland. Part of the municipality of Saanen, Gstaad is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world....
.
Cahill's best performance at a
Grand SlamThe four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
event came at the
1988 US OpenMats Wilander defeated Ivan Lendl, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 in the final to win the Men's Singles title at the 1988 US Open.-Seeds:The seeded players are listed below...
, where he knocked-out
Boris BeckerBoris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
in the second round on the way to reaching the semi-finals, where he lost to eventual champion
Mats WilanderMats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
.
In 1989, Cahill finished runner-up in the men's doubles at the
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
(partnering
Mark KratzmannMark Edward Kratzmann is a former Australian professional tennis player.As the world's #1 ranked junior player in 1984, he won the Boys Australian, the Boys Wimbeldon and the Boys US Open...
).
Cahill was a member of the Australian team which reached the final of the
Davis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
in 1990. (The team lost 3–2 to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the final.) Cahill compiled a 6–4 career Davis Cup record (4–0 in doubles and 2–4 in singles).
Cahill won his last tour singles title in 1991 at
San FranciscoSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. His last doubles title came in 1994 in
SydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. His career-high rankings were World No. 22 in singles and No. 10 in doubles (both achieved in 1989). Cahill retired from the professional tour in 1994 due to a knee injury.
Since retiring from the tour, Cahill has been a successful tennis coach, working with high-profile players such as
Lleyton HewittLleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
,
Andre AgassiAndre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
,
Fernando VerdascoFernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
, and
Daniela HantuchováDaniela Hantuchová is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.She is currently coached by Larri Passos...
. In 2011 Cahill is coaching Ernest Gulbis and Andy Murray and works as a tennis analyst for
ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
Darren is the son of
Australian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
player and coach John Cahill.
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