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Dick Norman

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Dick Norman
Country (sports) Belgium
ResidenceWaregem, Belgium
Born (1971-03-01) 1 March 1971 (age 53)
Waregem, Belgium
Height2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Turned pro1991
Retired2013
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$2,019,581
Singles
Career record30–69
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 85 (6 November 2006)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2006)
French Open3R (1997)
Wimbledon4R (1995)
US Open2R (2002)
Doubles
Career record119–121
Career titles4
Highest rankingNo. 10 (26 April 2010)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2006, 2013)
French OpenF (2009)
WimbledonSF (2009, 2010)
US OpenQF (2009, 2010)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour FinalsRR (2010)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2010, 2011)
French Open2R (2011)
Wimbledon3R (1995)
US Open1R (2010)
Last updated on: 10 April 2022.

Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. He achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height (6 feet 8 inches), his left-handed power game and, in the last few years of his career, his age (between late 2006 and his retirement in June 2013 he was the oldest player on the ATP Tour).

After retirement Norman became involved in coaching and organizing local tennis events. In March 2018, he became the tournament director of the European Open in Antwerp.

Career

[edit]

Turning professional in 1991, Norman notched up only his 14th Grand Slam appearance at the 2006 Wimbledon, where, at 35, he was the second oldest male competitor, to Andre Agassi. With Agassi's retirement immediately following the 2006 US Open, Norman succeeded him as the oldest active player on the ATP tour.

In 1995, he made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon, despite qualifying out of the lucky loser's draw. He defeated successive but aging former Wimbledon Champions Pat Cash and Stefan Edberg in the first and second rounds respectively, then doubles guru Todd Woodbridge in the third round, before falling to another former champion Boris Becker in the fourth round. At the time, it was the furthest that any player had ever advanced in a Grand Slam Tournament as a lucky loser.

He disappeared from the tennis scene after a few unimpressive seasons, but made a resurgence starting in 2003, at the age of 32, a common retirement age. He qualified for three of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments in 2003, 2005, and 2006. Nine of his 14 Grand Slam appearances have come after his 32nd birthday, although except for a surprise run in doubles at the French Open in 2009, none as successful as his 1995 Wimbledon run. He mostly lost in the first or second round. Still he has exceeded $1 million in career earnings, in large part due to his Grand Slam successes.

In November 2006, at the age of 35 years and eight months, Norman attained his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 85.

In July 2007, at Newport, Norman made it to his very first ATP semifinal, defeating eighth seed Michael Berrer along the way. His first round win was over fellow "giant", 6'9" wild card John Isner, who was playing in his first-ever ATP match.

As of February 2008, he remained the oldest active player on the ATP Tour at 36 years and 11 months; and although his ranking had dropped back to world No. 169, partly as a result of his having taken a break of several months from the tour over the preceding autumn and winter following the birth of his first child, he appeared to remain committed to continuing his career on the circuit.

While Norman was the oldest player on the tour, Jimmy Connors continued to compete regularly until the week of 10 May 1993, when he was 40 years and 8 months of age and played another six isolated tournaments over the three years to follow, the last of which took place in the week of 29 April 1996, when he was 43 years and 7 months old.

He has won over ten titles on the Challenger circuit, the most recent being at Mexico City in April 2009, at the age of 38. In January 2007, he teamed with countryman Xavier Malisse to win the doubles title at the ATP event in Chennai. In early 2009, he made the conscious decision to focus more on doubles than singles, and in February he joined forces with American James Cerretani to win the doubles title at the ATP World Tour event in Johannesburg.

In 2009, Norman teamed with South African Wesley Moodie and advanced to the final of the French Open. They lost 6–3, 3–6, 2–6 to the third seeded pair of Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander Paes. It is by far the furthest Norman has advanced in a Grand Slam tournament. It was the first time in his 19-year career that Norman had played doubles at the French Open, and only the third tournament in which Moodie (who with Stephen Huss won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2005) and Norman played together.

In the semifinals, Norman-Moodie saved three match points in a come-from-behind 0–6, 7–6, 6–4 victory over the defending champions, Bob and Mike Bryan, the second seeds. The Bryans had won the previous two Grand Slam titles, the 2008 US Open and the 2009 Australian Open. On their way to the final, Norman-Moodie had in the first round upset the seventh seed team of Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram.

In finishing runner-up for the 2009 French Open title, Norman earned 78,000 euros. The finish moved him to a career-high No. 32 in the ATP doubles rankings.

At 38 years and 3 months, Norman became the oldest male to reach a French Open final in the Open Era (since surpassed by Jean-Julien Rojer in winning the title at the 2022 French Open). He became the fifth player aged 38 or older to play in a men's doubles Grand Slam title match: Neale Fraser (39) was runner-up at Wimbledon in 1973, Ken Rosewall (38) lost the US Open final in 1973, Sherwood Stewart (38) won the Australian Open in 1984, and Bob Hewitt (38) won Wimbledon in 1978.

Two weeks later, he won the Ordina Open with his partner Wesley Moodie. It was his first grass-court title.

In November, he won the AXA Belgian Masters, as oldest man in the field.

In another career highlight, Dick (along with partner Moodie) qualified for the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals. This was the first time in his career that Dick qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals. Dick and Wesley entered the final tournament of the season, the 2010 BNP Paribas Masters, seeded eighth. Because Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner won 2010 Wimbledon, only the top seven ranked pairs qualified for the finals. Due to Dick and Wesley reaching the quarterfinals in Paris and František Čermák and Michal Mertiňák failing to reach the finals in Paris, Dick and Wesley were able to secure qualification.

Norman retired in June 2013, following a first-round defeat in the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, having enjoyed a tennis career of 22 years.

Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 1 (0–1)

[edit]
Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 2009 French Open Clay South Africa Wesley Moodie Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
India Leander Paes
6–3, 3–6, 2–6

ATP career finals

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Doubles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

[edit]
Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0)
ATP 500 Series (0–0)
ATP 250 Series (4–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–0)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–1)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (3–2)
Indoors (1–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 1995 Beijing, China World Series Carpet Netherlands Fernon Wibier United States Tommy Ho
Canada Sébastien Lareau
6–7, 6–7
Win 1–1 Jan 2007 Chennai, India International Series Hard Belgium Xavier Malisse Spain Rafael Nadal
Spain Tomeu Salvá
7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–4)
Win 2–1 Feb 2009 Johannesburg, South Africa 250 Series Hard United States James Cerretani South Africa Rik de Voest
Australia Ashley Fisher
6–7(7–9), 6–2, [14–12]
Loss 2–2 Jun 2009 Paris, France Grand Slam Clay South Africa Wesley Moodie Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý
India Leander Paes
6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win 3–2 Jun 2009 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands 250 Series Grass South Africa Wesley Moodie Sweden Johan Brunström
Netherlands Antilles Jean-Julien Rojer
7–6(7–3), 6–7(8–10), [10–5]
Win 4–2 Feb 2011 Zagreb, Croatia 250 Series Hard Romania Horia Tecău Spain Marcel Granollers
Spain Marc López
6–3, 6–4
Loss 4–3 May 2012 Munich, Germany 250 Series Clay Belgium Xavier Malisse Czech Republic František Čermák
Slovakia Filip Polášek
4–6, 5–7

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 30 (19–11)

[edit]
Legend
ATP Challenger (13–11)
ITF Futures (6–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–5)
Clay (8–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (5–4)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0-1 Mar 1995 Garmisch, Germany Challenger Carpet Germany Nicolas Kiefer 6–7, 6–7
Win 1-1 Jul 1995 Newcastle, United Kingdom Challenger Hard South Africa David Nainkin 6–1, 6–4
Win 2-1 May 1997 Dresden, Germany Challenger Clay Spain Julian Alonso 6–4, 6–4
Win 3-1 Nov 1997 Neumünster, Germany Challenger Carpet Netherlands John Van Lottum 6–7, 7–6, 7–6
Win 4-1 Jun 2000 Poland F2, Zabrze Futures Clay Czech Republic Jaroslav Levinský 6–3, 7–6(7–2)
Win 5-1 Jul 2000 Poland F3, Katowice Futures Clay Finland Kim Tiilikainen 6–1, 6–4
Win 6-1 Aug 2000 Luxembourg F1, Luxembourg Futures Clay Czech Republic Petr Dezort 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 6-2 Sep 2000 Brașov, Romania Challenger Clay Brazil Alexandre Simoni 5–7, 3–6
Win 7-2 Oct 2000 France F19, Plaisir Futures Hard Russia Andrei Chesnokov 6–3, 5–7, 6–4
Loss 7-3 Feb 2001 Lübeck, Germany Challenger Carpet Austria Zbynek Mlynarik 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), 4–6
Win 8-3 Mar 2001 France F6, Poitiers Futures Hard France Gregory Carraz 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Win 9-3 Apr 2001 France F7, Melun Futures Carpet France Gregory Carraz 6–3, 6–2
Win 10-3 May 2001 Antwerp, Belgium Challenger Clay Netherlands Peter Wessels 5–3 ret.
Loss 10-4 Feb 2002 Wolfsburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Germany Jakub Herm-Zahlava 4–6, 2–6
Win 11-4 Mar 2002 Magdeburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Germany Axel Pretzsch 7–6(8–6), 3–6, 6–4
Win 12-4 Mar 2002 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay France Paul-Henri Mathieu 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Win 13-4 Jun 2002 Andorra la Vella, Andorra Challenger Hard Croatia Ivo Karlović 6–4, 6–4
Win 14-4 Oct 2002 Quito, Ecuador Challenger Clay Ecuador Giovanni Lapentti 6–4, 6–3
Loss 14-5 Mar 2003 Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Challenger Hard France Richard Gasquet 1–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win 15-5 Apr 2003 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Argentina Federico Browne 7–5, 0–6, 6–4
Loss 15-6 Nov 2003 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Carpet Switzerland Marc Rosset 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–1), 6–7(3–7)
Loss 15-7 Feb 2004 Andrezieux, France Challenger Hard France Julien Benneteau 7–6(10–8), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(5–7)
Win 16-7 Dec 2004 Ischgl, Austria Challenger Carpet Italy Daniele Bracciali 6–1, 3–6, 6–1
Win 17-7 Feb 2005 Belgrade, Serbia Challenger Carpet Belgium Jeroen Masson 6–2, 6–3
Loss 17-8 Mar 2005 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Spain Fernando Vicente 4–6, 4–6
Win 18-8 Nov 2005 Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Netherlands Raemon Sluiter 7–6(7–2), 6–7(2–7), 6–3
Loss 18-9 Apr 2006 León, Mexico Challenger Hard United States Phillip Simmonds 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 2–6
Loss 18-10 Sep 2007 Donetsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Croatia Roko Karanušić 4–6, 4–6
Loss 18-11 Jul 2008 Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard Spain Iván Navarro 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–7(10–12)
Win 19-11 Apr 2009 Mexico City, Mexico Challenger Hard Uruguay Marcel Felder 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–5

Doubles: 26 (11–15)

[edit]
Legend
ATP Challenger (10–15)
ITF Futures (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–7)
Clay (6–4)
Grass (1–2)
Carpet (1–2)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Aug 1992 Poznań, Poland Challenger Clay Poland Tomasz Iwanski Chile Sergio Cortés
Spain Vicente Solves
4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 1–1 May 1994 Jerusalem, Israel Challenger Hard Belgium Filip Dewulf South Africa Ellis Ferreira
South Africa Kevin Ullyett
6–7, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Jul 1994 Bristol, United Kingdom Challenger Grass Italy Massimo Bertolini Italy Pietro Pennisi
Romania Alexandru Radulescu
4–6, 5–7
Loss 1–3 Oct 1994 Ponte Vedra, United States Challenger Hard United Kingdom Ross Matheson United States Paul Annacone
United States Kelly Jones
7–6, 4–6, 3—6
Loss 1–4 Nov 1994 Nantes, France Challenger Hard Canada Greg Rusedski France Olivier Delaître
France Guillaume Raoux
4–6, 6–7
Win 2–4 Dec 1994 Adelaide, Australia Challenger Grass India Mahesh Bhupathi Australia Scott Draper
Australia Peter Tramacchi
7–6, 7–6
Loss 2–5 Mar 1995 Garmisch, Germany Challenger Carpet Germany Mathias Huning France Lionel Barthez
Portugal Nuno Marques
6–7, 6–7
Loss 2–6 Jul 1996 Manchester, United Kingdom Challenger Grass Netherlands Fernon Wibier Belarus Max Mirnyi
Israel Lior Mor
5–7, 6–7
Win 3–6 Aug 2000 Luxembourg F1, Luxembourg Futures Clay Germany Christopher Kas South Africa Rik de Voest
South Africa Willem-Petrus Meyer
6–1, 7–6(7–2)
Loss 3–7 Sep 2000 Brașov, Romania Challenger Clay Austria Wolfgang Schranz Romania Ionuț Moldovan
Russia Yuri Schukin
4–6, 1–6
Loss 3–8 Mar 2002 Magdeburg, Germany Challenger Carpet Netherlands Djalmar Sistermans Germany Franz Stauder
Ukraine Orest Tereshchuk
4–6, 3–6
Win 4–8 Mar 2002 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay Bulgaria Orlin Stanoytchev Argentina Ignacio Hirigoyen
Argentina Sebastián Prieto
walkover
Win 5–8 May 2002 Zagreb, Croatia Challenger Clay Belgium Tom Vanhoudt Australia Jordan Kerr
Australia Grant Silcock
6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Win 6–8 Sep 2006 Orléans, France Challenger Hard France Gregory Carraz France Jérôme Haehnel
Monaco Jean-Rene Lisnard
7–6(8–6), 6–1
Loss 6–9 Mar 2007 Cherbourg, France Challenger Hard Poland Łukasz Kubot Slovakia Michal Mertiňák
Czech Republic Robin Vik
2–6, 4–6
Loss 6–10 Mar 2007 Bogotá, Colombia Challenger Clay Portugal Fred Gil Argentina Martin Garcia
Argentina Diego Hartfield
4–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Loss 6–11 Aug 2007 Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard Belgium Kristof Vliegen United Kingdom James Auckland
United Kingdom Ross Hutchins
7–5, 6–7(5–7), [7–10]
Loss 6–12 Mar 2008 Salinas, Ecuador Challenger Hard Argentina Sebastián Decoud Brazil Júlio Silva
Brazil Caio Zampieri
6–7(6–8), 2–6
Loss 6–13 May 2008 Rijeka, Croatia Challenger Clay United States Alex Kuznetsov Czech Republic Dušan Karol
Czech Republic Jaroslav Pospíšil
4–6, 4–6
Loss 6–14 Jul 2008 Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard United States James Cerretani Sweden Johan Brunström
Netherlands Antilles Jean-Julien Rojer
4–6, 3–6
Win 7–14 Aug 2008 Freudenstadt, Germany Challenger Clay Belgium Kristof Vliegen Austria Rainer Eitzinger
Austria Armin Sandbichler
6–3, 6–3
Win 8–14 Sep 2008 Donetsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard Belgium Xavier Malisse Israel Harel Levy
Israel Noam Okun
4–6, 6–1, [13—11]
Loss 8–15 Sep 2008 Grenoble, France Challenger Hard Belgium Niels Desein Austria Martin Fischer
Austria Philipp Oswald
7–6(7–5), 5–7, [7–10]
Win 9–15 Oct 2008 Rennes, France Challenger Carpet United Kingdom James Auckland Switzerland Yves Allegro
Romania Horia Tecău
6–3, 6–4
Win 10–15 Apr 2012 Barletta, Italy Challenger Clay Sweden Johan Brunström United Kingdom Jonathan Marray
Slovakia Igor Zelenay
6–4, 7–5
Win 11–15 Sep 2012 Pétange, Luxembourg Challenger Hard Germany Christopher Kas United Kingdom Jamie Murray
Brazil André Sá
2–6, 6–2, [10—8]

Performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

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Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R A Q1 A A Q1 Q3 1R A A 2R A A A A 0 / 3 1–3 25%
French Open A A 1R 3R Q1 A A Q2 Q2 1R Q2 2R 2R Q1 Q1 Q1 A 0 / 5 4–5 44%
Wimbledon A 4R Q2 Q2 Q1 A A Q1 Q1 1R Q1 1R 1R A Q1 A A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
US Open A Q2 A Q3 A A A A 2R Q1 Q1 1R Q1 Q1 A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Win–loss 0–0 3–1 0–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–3 2–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 14 9–14 39%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Q1 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Miami Masters A A A A 1R A A A Q1 A A Q1 A Q1 A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A Q2 A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Canada Masters A A A A A A A A A A Q1 A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Stuttgart Masters A Q1 A A A A A A Not Held 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Paris Masters Q2 A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Shanghai Masters Not Masters Series Q2 A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 2 0–2 0%

Doubles

[edit]
Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A A A A A A A A A 2R A A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 0 / 6 2–6 25%
French Open A A A A A A A A A A A A A A F SF 1R 1R A 0 / 4 9–4 69%
Wimbledon 1R Q1 Q3 A A A A A A A A A 1R 2R SF SF 3R 1R A 0 / 7 11–7 61%
US Open Q2 A A A A A A A A A A A A A QF QF 3R 1R A 0 / 4 8–4 67%
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 12–3 11–4 4–4 0–4 1–1 0 / 21 30–21 59%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Miami Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R 1R A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A SF 1R A A 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 2R 2R A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Madrid Not Held A A A A A A A A 2R QF A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Canada Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A QF 2R 1R A A 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A QF SF 1R A A 0 / 3 4–3 57%
Paris Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 2R QF 1R A A 0 / 3 2–3 40%
Shanghai Masters Not Masters Series QF 2R A A A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–4 7–9 2–7 0–0 0–0 0 / 20 12–20 38%

Mixed doubles

[edit]
Tournament 1995 19962008 2009 2010 2011 2012 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A QF QF A 0 / 2 4–2 67%
French Open A A A 1R 2R A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Wimbledon 3R A 1R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 5 2–5 29%
US Open A A A 1R A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Win–loss 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–4 3–3 0–1 0 / 10 7–10 41%
[edit]