Even if with Andy Roddick's retirement the last main force of American tennis faded, the U.S. people are lucky to have a few young players, who can make their names known on tour very soon. Let's start with USTA Australian Open WC winner, Rhyne Williams.
Born: 22.03.1991, Knoxville, Tennessee
Residence: Boca Raton, FL
Height: 6' 2" (188 cm)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Turned Pro: 2011
Coach: Christopher Williams
Current Ranking: 190 (CH)
Rhyne Williams hails from a tennis family. He's the grandson of Mike DePalmer Sr., a legendary coach at UT (University of Tennessee, from 1981-94 and is a member of the ITA Hall of Fame) and co-founder of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. The academy was created to train little Michelle DePalmer-Williams (Rhyne's mother). Michelle is a former pro and Orange Bowl 16s Champion (also played at UT). Rhyne's father, Bob, played at Duke University. Finally, he's the nephew of Mike DePalmer Jr., former ATP player (Top 35 in singles, Top 20 in doubles) who coached Boris Becker from 1994- 1999, played college tennis at UT.
He was coached by his grandfather, but he went on to train under the USTA Player's Development Program after winning the Orange Bowl 14s. Rhyne obtained a successful junior career with career high #8 ITF and won USA F16 in Pittsburgh in 2007 at the age of 16 years and 4 months, which made him the youngest U.S. male to win a Pro Circuit event in the United States (however, stats for this are held since 1998)......
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