Frank Dancevic

Frank Russell Dancevic (/ˈdæntsɪvɪk, ˈdæntʃɪvɪtʃ/ DANT-siv-ik, DAN-chiv-itch;[1][2] Serbian: Френк Расел Данчевић, romanized: Frenk Rasel Dančević,[3] pronounced [dǎːntʃevitɕ]; born September 26, 1984) is a retired Canadian professional tennis player.

In August 2011, Dancevic became the first men's singles player, in one calendar year, to enter the main draw of all four Grand Slam tournaments by playing the qualifying competition for each event.

Dancevic's best tournament results to date, all in singles, have been reaching the final of the 2007 Indianapolis Tennis Championships, the final of the 2009 Aegon International, the quarterfinals of the 2007 Rogers Cup, the semifinals again in Indianapolis in 2009, the semifinals of the 2008 Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships, and winning the 2003 and 2006 Granby and 2003 Lexington, 2006 Waikoloa, 2008 Surbiton Challenger, and 2012 Dallas Tennis Classic events.

His best doubles result has been reaching the final of the 2007 Japan Open, partnering Stephen Huss and winning Granby in 2004 while playing with Brian Baker.

Dancevic was coached by former tour player Leo Lavalle from sometime in 2008 until June 2009, when he returned to former mentor and Canadian Davis Cup captain, Martin Laurendeau.

Dancevic began 2003 on a roll, winning the first two tournaments he entered and reaching the semifinals of a third, all Futures played in consecutive weeks in January in Florida.

Despite a disappointing year, in September Frank narrowly lost to Max Mirnyi in the deciding rubber of a Davis Cup World Group Play Off tie.

Dancevic's better year continued as he won the Granby Challenger in July and in August reached the second round of the Canada Masters for the first time in five attempts.

After returning to play in May he struggled, going 1–1 twice in back-to-back Challenger tournaments in Morocco (on clay) before losing in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II International Series tourney.

Dancevic's ranking was good enough however to allow him to gain entry into the main draw of the French Open, which marked the first time a Canadian had done so since Daniel Nestor in 1999.

Dancevic began his 2008 grass-court tennis season in style, winning the Surbiton Challenger in late May – early June as he defeated Kevin Anderson in the final in three sets.

In the final grass court event of the year, the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Dancevic defeated Taylor Dent, Brendan Evans, and Igor Kunitsyn to reach the semifinals where he lost to Prakash Amritraj.

He was not ranked high enough to enter directly the main draw in Cincinnati or Los Angeles, but took part in the singles event the Olympics as a late alternate replacement, losing in the first round to No.

Despite being ranked outside the top 110 in the world since July 27, Dancevic received direct entry in the main singles draw of the US Open where he lost in straight sets to No.

On the American Challenger circuit in the autumn, injury once again flared up as Dancevic was forced to retire in his quarterfinal match at the Tulsa, Oklahoma event and skip Waco, Texas.

However, he reached the finals of Lubbock Challenger, defeating Peter Polansky, Tim Smyczek, Rajeev Ram, and Dušan Vemić before falling to John Isner.

8 seed, defeated Kaden Hensel, André Sá, and Daniel Cox to qualify for the main draw of the Aegon Championships, where he lost in the first round to Dustin Brown, 5–7, 7–6, 4–6.

[17] He used one of these to be a regular entrant in the main draw of the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, a tournament with an entry cut-off ranking of world No.

6 seed Igor Sijsling 7–5, 6–3, Toshihide Matsui 6–4, 7–5, and veteran and two-time singles champion here Takao Suzuki in the quarterfinals 7–6, 6–3, before retiring due to an injured thigh in his semifinal tie against No.

The very next week however Dancevic lost in the first round in both singles, to unseeded and eventual semifinalist David Guez, 5–7, 1–6, and in doubles partnering Ilija Bozoljac.

The following week, the last of October, Frank lost in the first qualifying round of the Open Sud de France World Tour event, to Belgian teenager David Goffin, 2–6, 3–6.

Early March saw Canada win their 2011 Davis Cup Americas Zone Group I tie away to Mexico, despite Dancevic squandering a two-set lead to loss to the in-form Daniel Garza in the opening rubber.

This week Dancevic is playing neither Davis Cup nor defending ranking points for a quarterfinals appearance at the Hall of Fame Championships, on grass.

[18] While he has not officially retired,[citation needed] his last doubles match came in April 2019 at the 2019 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger where he lost in the second round partnering Peter Polansky.

He debuted in 2002, when he played a dead rubber in each of the early season ties before losing the opening singles match versus Brazil in World Group qualifying.

He missed 2008 Davis Cup action due to injury and/or lack of fitness, as the team again lost in the Americas Group I semifinal stage.

Dancevic defeated Giovanni Lapentti in straight sets to level Canada at 1 with Ecuador in a 2009 first-round Americas Zone 1 tie played indoors at the Rexall Centre.

He was a late replacement for Raonic in the third day of opening round World Group play versus France, going down to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 4–6, 4–6, 1–6, as Canada lost the tie, 1 match to 4.

In September, he was again selected and won a dead rubber over upcoming player Nikala Scholtz as Canada defeated South Africa to remain in the World Group in 2013.

Dancevic played arguably the best match of his career in defeating Marcel Granollers, ranked 132 places ahead of him, 6–1, 6–2, 6–2 to help Canada shock a Spanish side missing its top players, three rubbers to two.

Dancevic hitting a groundstroke at Wimbledon 2008
Dancevic returning a shot during play in Indianapolis, 2009
Dancevic at the 2013 US Open
Dancevic during qualifying at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships
Dancevic during qualifying at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships
Dancevic in Davis Cup action versus Ecuador, 2009