Brian Vahaly

Brian Vahaly (born July 19 1979 in Camden, New Jersey) is a former American professional tennis player.

Early career

He began playing tennis at the age of two with his parents, Barry and Karen. As a junior, Brian Vahaly captured the Easter Bowl 18's title and reached the final of the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica (losing to Nicolás Massú) in 1997. His best junior Grand Slam result was reaching the quarter final at Wimbledon that same year, where he finished 17th in the world junior rankings.

Vahaly proceeded to play four years of collegiate tennis at theUniversity of Virginia from 1998-2001, where he earned All-American honors three years and finished as the school's most successful player. In 2000, he won the United States Amateur Championships (Men's Tennis).

In 2001, Vahaly reached the singles final at the NCAA Championships, but lost to Matias Boeker of Georgia, ending a 20-match winning streak. He lost in the doubles semi-final with Huntley Montgomery, but finished as the country's number one player in doubles (34-8) and 5th in singles (40-6).

Vahaly became school's first tennis All-American in 1999 and during the previous season was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of Year after posting a 21-10 record as a freshman. In his last two seasons, he received ACC Player of Year honors and as a senior was named the Virginia Male Athlete of Year.

Post-college career

In 2003, Vahaly enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP circuit, winning a career high of 12 matches and reaching his first semi-final. He also debuted at the Australian Open and at Roland Garros, and made his first appearances at Tennis Masters Series tournaments.

In 2004, Vahaly spent most of the year on the challenger circuit. He qualified for the Los Angeles ATP tournament in July but lost in the first round to Giles Elseneer.

In 2005, Vahaly continued to improve his ranking with success at the Challenger level. He won the Talahassee Challenger in April, posting impressive wins over Robert Kendrick in the semi-final and Justin Gimelstob in the final. During the summer, he played World Team Tennis for the New York Buzz played in Schenectady, New York. In October, he won the Calabasas, California Challenger beating Gimelstob and Jeff Morrison en route to the title.

Vahaly began 2006 strongly, beating Sam Querrey in the first round of the ATP International Series event in Las Vegas. Yet, he was unable to play any tournaments after July due to a shoulder injury. Despite the injury, Vahaly tried to qualify for the U.S. Open. After he failed to qualify, Vahaly revealed that the shoulder injury had plagued him for some time. On September 7th, 2006, Brian underwent surgery to repair several tears to his right rotator cuff. At the time, Vahaly understood the seriousness of his injury but hoped to eventually return to tennis.

In 2007, Vahaly did not play a single professional match at any level while he recovered from his shoulder injury. In November 2007, Vahaly announced his retirement from professional tennis on his website. He had three surgeries in the period between fall 2006 and 2007. Vahaly will work in another field, perhaps in business, since his degree is in finance and business management.