Player Bio: Alex Kim

  Alex Kim
Alex Kim
Player Profile
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Potomac, MD
High School:
Winston Churchill
Height / Weight:
5-9 / 160
Major:
Economics

2000 NCAA Singles Champion

2000-01 (Senior): Did not play a collegiate event in the fall ... Tri-captain with fellow seniors Ali Ansari and Scotty Scott ... Ranked No. 1 in the country in singles and No. 2 in doubles (w/K.J. Hippensteel) in the ITA Preseason Rankings (Sept. 11), but fell out of the rankings in December because of inactivity ... In the 2000 ATP end-of-the-year rankings, finished 409th in singles and tied for 788th in doubles ... Member of 2000 USA Tennis Collegiate Team ... Over the summer, received a berth in the main draw of the U.S. Open by virtue of his NCAA victory ... In the U.S. Open, fell to top-seeded Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 in a nationally-televised match on center court (Arthur Ashe Stadium) on Aug. 28 ... Won the singles and doubles (w/Geoff Abrams) titles at the USTA Chandler Cup Futures in Berkeley in June ... Kim, who was unseeded in the singles draw, knocked off three seeded players, including fourth-seeded Scott Barron of Ireland (6-3, 7-5) in the finals ... In doubles, Abrams and Kim upset fourth-seeded Fazaluddin Syed of Indonesia and Ben-Quiang Zhu of China 6-2, 7-5 in the finals ... Also advanced to the singles semis of the Winnetka Challenger near Chicago.

1999-00 (Junior): Became Stanford's 13th NCAA Singles Champion, and also played a huge role in the Cardinal winning its 17th NCAA team title ... Also named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Team Championships ... Finished 48-7 in singles (22-4 in duals, 21-4 at No. 1), which set a new school record for wins in a single season, and 37-7 in doubles (21-3 in duals, all at No. 1) ... Also won 30 of his 36 singles matches against nationally-ranked opposition ... Finished the season ranked first in the nation in doubles w/Geoff Abrams and second in singles ... Abrams and Kim were atop the national rankings in doubles from Dec. 7 through the end of the season ... Began the year ranked 40th in the nation by the ITA, but broke into the top 10 for good in December ... NCAA Singles and Doubles All-American, and member of NCAA Singles and Doubles All-Tournament Teams ... Named co-Pac-10 Player of the Year with teammate and doubles partner Geoff Abrams, as well as first team all-conference ... Named Second Team Pac-10 All-Academic ... Had three singles win streaks of 10 matches or more (15, Nov. 6-Feb. 14; 12, Feb. 25-Apr. 8; 10, May 13-28) ... His 22-4 dual record gives him a 59-9 (.868) career dual mark, which is good for the 10th highest winning percentage in school history ... Also holds two of the top 20 dual single season winning percentages in school history (7. 20-1, 1998, .952; T18. 22-4, 2000, .846) ... In the NCAA Team Championships, helped lead Stanford to the title by defeating the top two players in the nation in straight sets on consecutive days ... He defeated top-ranked Jeff Morrison of Florida 6-3, 7-5 in the 4-0 semifinal win over the Gators, and knocked off No. 2 Daniel Anderson of Virginia Commonwealth 6-4, 6-2 in the 4-0 championship match win over the Rams ... He carried that success into the NCAA Singles Championships, as he marched through the 64-player field by winning five of his six matches in straight sets ... The fifth-seeded Kim defeated 18th-ranked Toby Hansson of SMU 6-2, 6-0 in the first round, 73rd-ranked Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the second round and 68th-ranked Jeff Laski of Illinois 6-0, 6-2 in the third round before meeting up with second-seeded and fourth-ranked Brian Vahaly of Virginia in the quarters ... Kim pulled off the 6-3, 7-5 win over Vahaly, and then outlasted teammate and No. 9-16 seed K.J. Hippensteel 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 in the semis ... He then needed just 62 minutes to defeat Kentucky's Carlos Drada 6-1, 6-1 in the finals and become the Cardinal's first NCAA Singles Champion since Bob Bryan in 1998 ... The win tied the largest margin victory in the history of the NCAA Championship Match (along with the 1883 and 1991 finals) ... Reached three other tournament finals, and ironically, played teammate and doubles partner Geoff Abrams on all three occasions ... Beat Abrams 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the final of the ITA Indoor Qualifier/Regional in November and 6-3, 6-2 in the National Collegiate Classic championship match in January, before bowing to the senior 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the finals of the Pac-10 Championships in April ... Reached the semifinals of the ITA Individual Indoors in February, and three weeks later, clinched Stanford's 4-3 win over UCLA in finals of the National Team Indoor Championships with a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4 tiebreaker) victory over Jong-Min Lee at No. 1 singles ... In doubles, he and Abrams formed a dominant pair that won 22 of 24 matches against nationally ranked opposition ... Won doubles title at the ITA All-American Championships in October, after beating second-ranked Leif Meineke and Wesley Moodie of Boise State 6-2, 7-5 in the finals ... After that victory, won ITA Doubles Team of the Month honors for October ... Also won the National Collegiate Classic doubles crown in January ... Advanced to the finals of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships in March, and the semis of the ITA Indoors in February ... Went a perfect 4-0 in doubles matches at the National Team Indoors ... In four NCAA Tournament victories, the pair lost a combined total of only 16 games ... The duo later fell in the round of 16 of the NCAA Doubles Championships ... Over the summer, advanced to the singles quarters of the USTA Futures ... Along with Stanford teammate K.J. Hippensteel, helped lead the U.S. to the finals of the Windmill Cup at Wimbledon.

1998-99 (Sophomore): Finished the season ranked No. 70 in the ITA Singles Rankings and No. 14 in doubles w/Geoff Abrams ... Competed in the NCAA Doubles Championships (w/Abrams) ... Singles and doubles quarterfinalist at the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai ... Reached the consolation semis at the National Tennis Classic in January ... Missed three weeks of action with a stress fracture in his lower leg ... Returned from injury to win 13 of 15 dual matches, including the final six of the regular season ... Reached the doubles semis of the ITA Regionals w/Abrams.

1997-98 (Freshman): Reached the singles finals of the Pac-10 Invitational ... Was undefeated in dual match play until the last regular season match at UCLA, finishing the year with a 20-1 dual record ... Finished the year with a 34-4 overall record ... Singles finalist at the ITA Regional as the No. 3 seed ... Qualified and reached the round of 16 at the ITA All-American Championships.

Prior to Stanford: 1997: Graduated from Winston Churchill High School ... National Merit Commended Scholar ... Columbia University Book Award winner ... 1996: Quarterfinalist at the Junior Italian Open ... Reached the Round of 16 at the Wimbledon Juniors ... Winner of the USTA Sportsmanship Award ... Also won the Allen B. Stowe Sportsmanship Award at Kalamazoo ... 1995: Semifinalist at Kalamazoo ... 1994: USTA International Hard Court Champion.

Dick Gould Says: "Alex truly had a dream season in 2000 with outstanding results in the fall, the winter, and the NCAAs. He had one of the more consistent seasons a Stanford player has ever attained throughout the course of an entire year. His challenge this year is to play to win, not to protect. He has an improved serve, quick feet, devastating forehand, and a great mind. He's also a great doubles player, and a team leader by example."