Wikipedia

Dick Norman

This article is about the Belgian tennis player. For the American football player, see Dick Norman (American football).

Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. 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).

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.

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

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. It was the furthest that any player had ever advanced in a Grand Slam Tournament coming out of the lucky loser draw. This feat was equalled by compatriot David Goffin at the 2012 French Open.

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 edit

Doubles: 1 (0–1) edit

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 2009 French Open Clay   Wesley Moodie   Lukáš Dlouhý
  Leander Paes		 6–3, 3–6, 2–6

ATP career finals edit

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   Fernon Wibier   Tommy Ho
  Sébastien Lareau 		6–7, 6–7
Win 1–1 Jan 2007 Chennai, India International Series Hard   Xavier Malisse   Rafael Nadal
  Tomeu Salvá 		7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–4)
Win 2–1 Feb 2009 Johannesburg, South Africa 250 Series Hard   James Cerretani   Rik de Voest
  Ashley Fisher 		6–7(7–9), 6–2, [14–12]
Loss 2–2 Jun 2009 Paris, France Grand Slam Clay   Wesley Moodie   Lukáš Dlouhý
  Leander Paes 		6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win 3–2 Jun 2009 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands 250 Series Grass   Wesley Moodie   Johan Brunström
  Jean-Julien Rojer 		7–6(7–3), 6–7(8–10), [10–5]
Win 4–2 Feb 2011 Zagreb, Croatia 250 Series Hard   Horia Tecău   Marcel Granollers
  Marc López 		6–3, 6–4
Loss 4–3 May 2012 Munich, Germany 250 Series Clay   Xavier Malisse   František Čermák
  Filip Polášek 		4–6, 5–7

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals edit

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   Nicolas Kiefer 6–7, 6–7
Win 1-1 Jul 1995 Newcastle, United Kingdom Challenger Hard   David Nainkin 6–1, 6–4
Win 2-1 May 1997 Dresden, Germany Challenger Clay   Julian Alonso 6–4, 6–4
Win 3-1 Nov 1997 Neumünster, Germany Challenger Carpet   John Van Lottum 6–7, 7–6, 7–6
Win 4-1 Jun 2000 Poland F2, Zabrze Futures Clay   Jaroslav Levinský 6–3, 7–6(7–2)
Win 5-1 Jul 2000 Poland F3, Katowice Futures Clay   Kim Tiilikainen 6–1, 6–4
Win 6-1 Aug 2000 Luxembourg F1, Luxembourg Futures Clay   Petr Dezort 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 6-2 Sep 2000 Brașov, Romania Challenger Clay   Alexandre Simoni 5–7, 3–6
Win 7-2 Oct 2000 France F19, Plaisir Futures Hard   Andrei Chesnokov 6–3, 5–7, 6–4
Loss 7-3 Feb 2001 Lübeck, Germany Challenger Carpet   Zbynek Mlynarik 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), 4–6
Win 8-3 Mar 2001 France F6, Poitiers Futures Hard   Gregory Carraz 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
Win 9-3 Apr 2001 France F7, Melun Futures Carpet   Gregory Carraz 6–3, 6–2
Win 10-3 May 2001 Antwerp, Belgium Challenger Clay   Peter Wessels 5–3 ret.
Loss 10-4 Feb 2002 Wolfsburg, Germany Challenger Carpet   Jakub Herm-Zahlava 4–6, 2–6
Win 11-4 Mar 2002 Magdeburg, Germany Challenger Carpet   Axel Pretzsch 7–6(8–6), 3–6, 6–4
Win 12-4 Mar 2002 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay   Paul-Henri Mathieu 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Win 13-4 Jun 2002 Andorra la Vella, Andorra Challenger Hard   Ivo Karlović 6–4, 6–4
Win 14-4 Oct 2002 Quito, Ecuador Challenger Clay   Giovanni Lapentti 6–4, 6–3
Loss 14-5 Mar 2003 Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Challenger Hard   Richard Gasquet 1–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win 15-5 Apr 2003 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay   Federico Browne 7–5, 0–6, 6–4
Loss 15-6 Nov 2003 Prague, Czech Republic Challenger Carpet   Marc Rosset 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–1), 6–7(3–7)
Loss 15-7 Feb 2004 Andrezieux, France Challenger Hard   Julien Benneteau 7–6(10–8), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(5–7)
Win 16-7 Dec 2004 Ischgl, Austria Challenger Carpet   Daniele Bracciali 6–1, 3–6, 6–1
Win 17-7 Feb 2005 Belgrade, Serbia Challenger Carpet   Jeroen Masson 6–2, 6–3
Loss 17-8 Mar 2005 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay   Fernando Vicente 4–6, 4–6
Win 18-8 Nov 2005 Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard   Raemon Sluiter 7–6(7–2), 6–7(2–7), 6–3
Loss 18-9 Apr 2006 León, Mexico Challenger Hard   Phillip Simmonds 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 2–6
Loss 18-10 Sep 2007 Donetsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard   Roko Karanušić 4–6, 4–6
Loss 18-11 Jul 2008 Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard   Iván Navarro 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–7(10–12)
Win 19-11 Apr 2009 Mexico City, Mexico Challenger Hard   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   Tomasz Iwanski   Sergio Cortés
  Vicente Solves 		4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 1–1 May 1994 Jerusalem, Israel Challenger Hard   Filip Dewulf   Ellis Ferreira
  Kevin Ullyett 		6–7, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Jul 1994 Bristol, United Kingdom Challenger Grass   Massimo Bertolini   Pietro Pennisi
  Alexandru Radulescu 		4–6, 5–7
Loss 1–3 Oct 1994 Ponte Vedra, United States Challenger Hard   Ross Matheson   Paul Annacone
  Kelly Jones 		7–6, 4–6, 3—6
Loss 1–4 Nov 1994 Nantes, France Challenger Hard   Greg Rusedski   Olivier Delaître
  Guillaume Raoux 		4–6, 6–7
Win 2–4 Dec 1994 Adelaide, Australia Challenger Grass   Mahesh Bhupathi   Scott Draper
  Peter Tramacchi 		7–6, 7–6
Loss 2–5 Mar 1995 Garmisch, Germany Challenger Carpet   Mathias Huning   Lionel Barthez
  Nuno Marques 		6–7, 6–7
Loss 2–6 Jul 1996 Manchester, United Kingdom Challenger Grass   Fernon Wibier   Max Mirnyi
  Lior Mor 		5–7, 6–7
Win 3–6 Aug 2000 Luxembourg F1, Luxembourg Futures Clay   Christopher Kas   Rik de Voest
  Willem-Petrus Meyer 		6–1, 7–6(7–2)
Loss 3–7 Sep 2000 Brașov, Romania Challenger Clay   Wolfgang Schranz   Ionuț Moldovan
  Yuri Schukin 		4–6, 1–6
Loss 3–8 Mar 2002 Magdeburg, Germany Challenger Carpet   Djalmar Sistermans   Franz Stauder
  Orest Tereshchuk 		4–6, 3–6
Win 4–8 Mar 2002 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay   Orlin Stanoytchev   Ignacio Hirigoyen
  Sebastián Prieto 		walkover
Win 5–8 May 2002 Zagreb, Croatia Challenger Clay   Tom Vanhoudt   Jordan Kerr
  Grant Silcock 		6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Win 6–8 Sep 2006 Orléans, France Challenger Hard   Gregory Carraz   Jérôme Haehnel
  Jean-Rene Lisnard 		7–6(8–6), 6–1
Loss 6–9 Mar 2007 Cherbourg, France Challenger Hard   Łukasz Kubot   Michal Mertiňák
  Robin Vik 		2–6, 4–6
Loss 6–10 Mar 2007 Bogotá, Colombia Challenger Clay   Fred Gil   Martin Garcia
  Diego Hartfield 		4–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Loss 6–11 Aug 2007 Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard   Kristof Vliegen   James Auckland
  Ross Hutchins 		7–5, 6–7(5–7), [7–10]
Loss 6–12 Mar 2008 Salinas, Ecuador Challenger Hard   Sebastián Decoud   Júlio Silva
  Caio Zampieri 		6–7(6–8), 2–6
Loss 6–13 May 2008 Rijeka, Croatia Challenger Clay   Alex Kuznetsov   Dušan Karol
  Jaroslav Pospíšil 		4–6, 4–6
Loss 6–14 Jul 2008 Córdoba, Spain Challenger Hard   James Cerretani   Johan Brunström
  Jean-Julien Rojer 		4–6, 3–6
Win 7–14 Aug 2008 Freudenstadt, Germany Challenger Clay   Kristof Vliegen   Rainer Eitzinger
  Armin Sandbichler 		6–3, 6–3
Win 8–14 Sep 2008 Donetsk, Ukraine Challenger Hard   Xavier Malisse   Harel Levy
  Noam Okun 		4–6, 6–1, [13—11]
Loss 8–15 Sep 2008 Grenoble, France Challenger Hard   Niels Desein   Martin Fischer
  Philipp Oswald 		7–6(7–5), 5–7, [7–10]
Win 9–15 Oct 2008 Rennes, France Challenger Carpet   James Auckland   Yves Allegro
  Horia Tecău 		6–3, 6–4
Win 10–15 Apr 2012 Barletta, Italy Challenger Clay   Johan Brunström   Jonathan Marray
  Igor Zelenay 		6–4, 7–5
Win 11–15 Sep 2012 Pétange, Luxembourg Challenger Hard   Christopher Kas   Jamie Murray
  André Sá 		2–6, 6–2, [10—8]

Performance timelines edit

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 edit

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 1996–2008 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%

External links edit

 
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